Monday marked the 162nd birthday of basketball’s inventor James Naismith. The Florida Gators men’s basketball team found their own form of celebration at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center.
UF sophomore guard Denzel Aberdeen dribbled away the last seconds toward a season-opening victory in front of 7,023 spectators in the O’Dome.
A sign of potential with a small glimpse of what’s to come. Some of those glimpses, however, may not have been best on offense.
“I don’t think we played as well as we had in the first couple of scrimmages to be honest,” said UF head coach Todd Golden. “As we play tougher teams in our schedule, we have to take advantage of the line better tonight.”
The Florida Gators (1-0) pounded the Loyola Maryland Greyhounds (0-1) 93-73 in their season opener at home in the Exactech Arena. The Gators shot 58.1% from the field, 50% from the free throw line and held LMU to shoot at a 45.8% clip.
The game opened with a basket in transition by Florida sophomore guard Riley Kugel. Junior guard Walter Clayton Jr. started the break with his first steal as a Florida Gator.
This became a trend through the first three minutes of play. UF stole the ball twice and converted points on the other end within this span.
Florida’s transition offense became an issue for Loyola Maryland’s defense. Clayton drilled a 3-pointer to extend the Gators lead to 9-0 early. Greyhounds head coach Tavaras Hardy called a timeout soon after the shot.
The timeout didn’t resolve anything, however. Loyola Maryland failed to make a three from the floor and turned the ball over five times in the first five minutes of the game.
The Greyhounds took the lid off the basket with seven and a half minutes of play. Loyola Maryland sophomore guard Tyson Commander hit a jumper to end the visiting team's cold streak.
UF freshman forward Alex Condon was the first player off the bench for Florida. The Australian’s first collegiate baskets were back-to-back triples to extend UF’s lead to 19-2 with 13 minutes left before the break.
A majority of the Gators' depth was in full effect early. Florida graduate student guard Julian Rishwain found the bottom of the net from beyond the arc to add to UF’s dominance on offense.
Aberdeen took advantage of Loyola Maryland’s man defense as he was mismatched against Greyhounds 5-foot-8-inch sophomore guard Deon Perry.
Aberdeen scored three points and collected an assist through eight minutes in the first half solely against Perry.
Florida took a step back offensively past the 10-minute mark of the first half. Gators head coach Todd Golden took advantage of a media timeout and attempted to fix a UF team that went three minutes of scoreless basketball. Florida led 29-15 with 7:39 remaining in the first half.
The Gators got back on track with a mid-range jumper by Clayton. However, it was the only field goal made by UF in its last seven shots going into the last five minutes of the half.
The Greyhounds failed to take advantage as they too went on a scoring drought to end the half. The tide changed with a lobbed pass by Walter to Kugel, who ran across the baseline for a one-handed jam. Despite the basket, Loyola Maryland didn’t wither away.
A buzzer-beater 3-pointer by Greyhound junior guard David Brown III ended the first half and cut the gap. The Gators led 42-30 at the break.
Florida found themselves at the charity stripe multiple times throughout the first half due to the Gators brushing by Loyola Maryland's man defense. UF converted 10 free throws off of 17 attempts in the half.
The Greyhounds became more aggressive on defense to open the second half with blood in the water. Graduate student forward Golden Dike packed Clayton at the rim in the first possession of the second. Samuel responded for his teammate with a ferocious yam on the head of Loyola Maryland junior forward Milos Ilic.
The frontcourt trio of Samuel, Condon and sophomore forward Micah Handlogten combined for 44 of Florida’s points. It’s a connection Samuel believes will continue to grow.
“We work well together,” said Samuel. “We’re going to continue to get better, we’re going to play different teams, and everyone is going to have their night one day. One day it could be Micah, one day it could be Condon.”
UF gradually got hot on offense as the second half ran by. Florida went on a run where they made seven straight field goals. A 3-pointer by Handlogten pushed UF’s lead back to 20, 58-38, with around 15 minutes left.
The triple by Handlogten marked one of two 3-pointers he made on his way to a 16-point scoring performance.
LMU did its best to combat Florida’s success by attacking the basket effectively. Unfortunately for Loyola Maryland, Kugel woke up.
The Southeastern Conference preseason honoree finished the first half with nine points and shot three of seven from the field. Kugel led the way toward a 7-0 Gators run that started with a layup by the sophomore. The run, which was all within a minute, pushed UF to a 67-42 lead with 13 minutes left.
Kugel ended the game with a team-leading 23 points and shot 10 of 15 from the floor.
“I get better each year just by the confidence I get each year and it really starts with the guys around me,” Kugel said.
Loyola Maryland kept the fight alive by knocking down 62.5% of its shots through the 10-minute mark of the later half. Still, LMU didn’t break a thread in the Gators’ rhythm.
Florida’s size and defensive prowl on the ball gave them more opportunities to create possessions. Four of UF’s 11 steals came in the second half.
Condon found himself on the floor the majority of the game. The freshman scored 13 points and corralled three rebounds in his first game. He shot at a 62.5% clip from the field, which tied former Florida forward Donell Harvey for fifth-best field goal percentage for a UF freshman’s first game in program history.
Tensions turned high for LMU with three minutes to spare in the game. Perry committed a reach foul on Clayton and the two sized up one another — Clayton looking down onto the opposing guard.
The brief display of emotions by Perry didn’t solve the Greyhounds’ problems. Despite shooting 53.6% in the second, Loyola Maryland never broke into Florida’s lead. The Gators won their season opener 93-73.
Florida will travel to Charlotte, North Carolina, for its Hall of Fame series matchup against the Virginia Cavaliers. The game will be broadcast on ACC Network.
Contact Brandon Hernandez at bhernandez@alligator.org. Follow him on X @BranH2001.
Brandon Hernandez is currently the enterprise sports writer and sports podcast host for The Independent Alligator. He likes long walks on the sidewalk and watching basketball tape in his off time. You can find most of his work @BranH2001 on X and on The Courtside Podcast on Spotify.
