Florida didn’t need long to remind Jacksonville what it looks like when the Gators’ frontcourt starts leaning on people.
By halftime Thursday, No. 1 Florida had already built a 24-11 edge on the glass, outscored Jacksonville by 16 in the paint and owned a plus-eight margin in second-chance points.
The pressure only kept building from there. When it was over, the Gators had a 52-25 rebounding advantage and a plus-24 edge in paint points on the way to an 88-57 win in the home opener.
The biggest reason was the same one that has been causing problems for opponents: Rueben Chinyelu, Alex Condon and Thomas Haugh. Florida’s starting frontcourt trio combined for 47 points, and each one left a clear imprint on the game.
Chinyelu set the tone with a career-high 21 points on 7-of-9 shooting and added eight rebounds. The senior center had 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting by halftime, and his dunk pushed Florida to a 49-28 lead with less than a minute left before the break.
Condon turned in a 12-point, 12-rebound double-double and came two assists short of becoming the first Gator to record a triple-double since Chris Chiozza did it against Missouri on Feb. 2, 2017. The Aussie had 7 points, nine rebounds and seven assists at halftime, then knocked down his only 3-pointer of the night in the second half to extend Florida’s lead to 55-37 just under three minutes after the restart.
Haugh added 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting and grabbed seven rebounds. He had 12 points at the break on 4-of-6 shooting, and his second 3-pointer of the first half helped Florida stretch the margin to 40-26 while finishing a 9-0 run with 2:57 left before halftime. Later, his steal-and-dunk in the second half capped a 7-0 burst and made it 59-37.
Florida also got steady scoring from the perimeter. Denzel Aberdeen finished with 12 points on 4-of-5 shooting from 3-point range.
He had 9 points at halftime on 3-of-4 shooting from deep, and his third triple gave the Gators a 19-point cushion with about a minute left in the first half. His final 3-pointer came with 8:09 remaining and put Florida ahead 79-45.
Urban Klavžar added 12 points off the bench, going 4-of-8 from the field and making three shots from beyond the arc. Most of his damage came after halftime, when he scored 9 points on 3-of-4 shooting. His last 3-pointer pushed Florida’s lead to 27 with 11:59 left.
Florida’s defense did the rest, holding Jacksonville to 33% shooting overall and 29% from 3-point range.
Hayden Wood and Jamie Phillips Jr. were the only Jacksonville players who found much of a rhythm. Wood had 11 points on 4-of-8 shooting in the first half but was scoreless after the break, finishing 0 for 1 from the field in the second half. Phillips ended with 10 points on 5-of-14 shooting.
The win was Todd Golden’s 105th at Florida, moving him past Lon Kruger, who won 104 games from 1990-96, for fifth place on the program’s all-time coaching wins list.
Florida is now 2-0 and will try to move to 3-0 on Tuesday when it travels to Tallahassee to face Florida State at 6 p.m.
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Williams is now in line for a bigger look as Florida sorts out its receiver rotation and tries to keep the offense from stalling out. Coaches Jon Sumrall and Faulkner have both sounded encouraged by what they have seen from the freshman, and the next stretch will tell whether that confidence turns into a real role on the field. [Read more 🡒]