Florida finished off a 2-0 week with a 71-63 win over Arkansas, advancing to 2-1 in SEC play and 15-1 overall.
In many ways, Florida’s win over No. 1 ranked Tennessee on Tuesday felt easier than Saturday’s victory over Arkansas. Neither game was sloppy, but hardly anything fell in the latter matchup. Florida is used to rotating big nights in its backcourt, but it wasn’t anyone’s night to step up offensively.
Alijah Martin’s 14 points led the team, followed by Walter Clayton Jr., Alex Condon and Will Richard with 12 apiece. The top three Arkansas shot-takers combining for 8 of 34 shooting helped ease those scoring deficiencies. Florida won the rebound battle with ease, 49-39, and capitalized on second-chance opportunities, outscoring Arkansas, 19-6.
Ugly first half for both offenses
It’s not surprising to see Florida’s opponent without 30 points at halftime this season, but for both teams to stay under that threshold requires more than just good defense.
Neither squad had a feel for the ball, especially from 3-point range. Florida made 3 of 16 shots from deep before the break, and Arkansas only made 1 of 6 attempts.
A combined 1 of 10 effort from Florida’s two best shooters, Walter Clayton Jr. and Will Richard, explains the offense’s first-half woes. Clayton didn’t get to the free-throw line at all, which hurt his scoring numbers, but it’s the disappearance of a reliable 3-point shot that has been most noticeable lately.
Alijah Martin (8 points, 3 of 8 shooting) and Thomas Haugh (6 points, 3 of 4 shooting) combined for half of the Gators‘ first-half 28, and Sam Alexis was effective with 4 of 4 over seven minutes.
Fortunately, Johnell Davis and D.J. Wagner went a combined 1 of 12 from the field to offset Florida’s struggles.
Florida figures it out after halftime
Clayton and Richard returned to form after the break, combining for 18 points on 50% shooting. Alex Condon also came to life with 12 points and six rebounds in the second half — that’s three double-doubles on the year and two in SEC play.
Florida’s defense held, allowing the lead to drift into double-digit territory, but it wasn’t until a decisive 3-point dagger from Condon with two minutes left to feel secure about a win.
Not much stands out here except for some poor shooting and Florida winning on a talent gap over 40 minutes. If it’s a recuperation game after the 30-point statement win over Tennessee, then it’s fine, but the funk needs to break with a series of trap games coming.
Too many fouls
After 15 games of clean play, Florida had three players foul out in the same night. Rueben Chinyelu, Thomas Haugh and Martin all reached five personal fouls before the final whistle, leaving Todd Golden scarce with options in a game not quite sealed away. Condon and Richard both had to be careful with three apiece, too.
Haugh fouling out feels like it should have happened sooner. For as much heart and hustle as Haugh plays with, it comes out a little sloppy on the court at times. He’s a potential four-year player with two more years to refine his approach behind guys like Condon. Staying out of foul trouble for the rest of the month would be a fine repentance.
Chinyelu is another unsurprising name to foul out. He lives in the paint and isn’t the most agile guy on the court at all times. In many ways, one of his main jobs is to be in foul situations. He came into the game tied for second on the team with 30 personal fouls this season. Having two bigs out of a four-man rotation in the frontcourt is scary, but Florida wasn’t in danger tonight.
Martin is the only surprise name to foul out after being saint-like with just 24 fouls over 453 minutes of play. He’s the main on-ball defender of that guard trio and is usually in tune with what the officials are calling. It wasn’t the best night for the zebras, but that’s conference ball.
Next up for Florida
The Gators return home to host the Missouri Tigers on Tuesday, Jan. 14. Tipoff is slated for a late 9 p.m. ET start and the game will be broadcast on ESPNU.
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This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Top takeaways from Florida’s low-scoring win at Arkansas on Saturday
