The No. 21 ranked Florida Gators shot a poor 5/25 from behind the arc, yet managed to put up 98 points against USF in the first game of the college basketball season Monday night.
Walter Clayton Jr. led the way for Florida in Jacksonville, scoring 29 points on 10-of-15 shooting and 7-of-7 shooting from the stripe. Clayton’s counterpart, Will Richard, added a career-high 25 points as the Gators had two players score 25+ points for the first time since January 22nd, 2019.
You knew that USF was going to show up and fight, especially after the passing of their head coach Amir Abdur-Rahim. It just meant more. That’s exactly what the Bulls did as they got off to a 13 point lead at the 6:13 mark of the first half. However, Florida went on a 10-0 run to claw back into the game.
In his Gators debut, Alijah Martin struggled, scoring 13 points on a mere 3-of-12 from the field and 0-of-6 from three-point range. Martin transferred from FAU during the offseason where he has averaged 13 PPG the last three seasons and has made two straight March Madness appearances, including a Final Four appearance. It is scary to think about how dangerous Florida’s backcourt will be when Martin brings his “A” game. In terms of three point shooting, it is a great sign that Florida can find other ways to score and create offense when players like Martin get cold from three. Teams that make it far in March always find multiple ways to create offense.
USF got a major contribution from Cincinnati transfer Jamille Reynolds, who scored a team-high 17 points with six rebounds in his Bulls debut. With the losses of their top three scorers last year to the transfer portal (Chris Youngblood to Alabama, Selton Miguel to Maryland, and Kasean Pryor to Louisville), USF will need Reynolds to step up this season. Reynolds is in his final year of eligibility after spending the last year with the Bearcats, one year at Temple, and two years at UCF.
One thing the Bulls and interim head coach Ben Fletcher will look to improve on before the next game is fouling the opponent. It’s never a good thing to give teams free points when the clock isn’t moving. The Gators shot 33 free throws and made 27 of them. USF played at such a high level Monday, but ultimately, the fouls killed them.
As a team, the Gators shot 52.4% from the field and 19.2% from three-point range, compared to USF’s 44.4% from the field and 48.1% from three-point range.
Gators head coach Todd Golden spoke about USF’s performance:
“I want to give a lot of credit to this South Florida team and their program, obviously playing under some really difficult circumstances. I thought Coach Fletcher and their staff did an incredible job preparing them for tonight. That’s a really good team. They have great perimeter shooting, they have great play-making, they have some big bodies inside, they seem to really enjoy playing together. I saw a lot of care amongst their team. Again, just commending their effort under such tough circumstances. They’re really good, and I think they’ll continue to be really good over the rest of the year.”
It’s obviously very hard to play a team playing as emotionally and hard as USF, but the Gators handled it well. Credit has to be given to USF for putting up a fight (scoring 83 points) against a Top 25 ranked team in the Gators.
The Gators will have their home opener on Thursday against a Sunshine State foe in Jacksonville. USF, meanwhile, will travel to Charleston, who made March Madness last year as a No. 12 seed. The Bulls will look to get win No. 1 of the season.