Florida freshman guard Isaiah Brown added his name to the box score for the first time as a Gator as the first half came down the stretch. But his pair of 3-pointers did more than just that.
The Orlando native has received high praise from UF associate head coach Carlin Hartman and head coach Todd Golden, who both stated throughout the offseason that Brown would have a chance to make an immediate impact.
After Brown splashed his second 3-pointer and capped off a 19-2 run to close out the first half, the Gators never looked back.
"It was pretty exciting – first college buckets, great experience,” Brown said.
In its fourth in-state matchup through five games this season, No. 21 Florida (5-0) protected its home court in a 84-60 win over Florida A&M at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center Tuesday.
“Our expectation is to play two complete halves, play 40 minutes,” Golden said. “I thought tonight, we played 20 really good minutes in the first half, and then we were just OK in the second.”
A pair of Gators were sidelined against the Rattlers, not due to injury, but illness. Junior forward Sam Alexis and junior guard Denzel Aberdeen, who have both provided valuable production for UF off the bench this season, were ruled out.
However, Florida senior guard Walter Clayton Jr. set the tone in the early going, knocking down his first two field goals to give the Gators a 4-0 lead in the first two-plus minutes of the game.
Clayton Jr. has been a catalyst for UF’s offense through its first four contests, averaging nearly 19 points per game. He finished just under his season average against the Rattlers, recording 17 points on 7-of-13 shooting and a game-high five assists.
It was a low-scoring affair in the opening minutes, with Florida narrowly holding on to an 8-5 lead at the first under-16 timeout. The Gators opened the contest shooting 4-for-13 from the field. Nonetheless, just like Florida fans have seen on various occasions dating back to last season, Clayton Jr. and fellow senior guard Will Richard got the offense rolling.
Richard finished with 20 points to lead all scorers on 8-of-15 shooting and three 3-pointers. The senior guard also grabbed seven rebounds and dished two assists.
The duo of Clayton Jr. and Richard combined for three 3-pointers in just over one minute to cap off a 10-0 run, giving UF a 19-7 lead with 10:42 remaining in the first half.
FAU senior transfer guard Alijah Martin rounded out Florida’s offensive attack against FAMU. Martin tallied a balanced performance across the board with 14 points, nine rebounds and four assists.
“We built this team with those three guys being the main cogs on the perimeter and guys that we play off of and would lead us with their veteran leadership,” Golden said. “All three of those guys have scored 1,000 points in college.”
FAMU senior guard Sterling Young made an and-one layup and finished it off with a free throw to cut Florida’s lead to 27-20. This proved to be the closest the Rattlers would get to taking a lead for the rest of the game.
Florida went through a three-minute scoring drought and missed four straight field goals midway through the first half before completely flipping the switch on offense to surge on its massive run before the break while forcing the Rattlers into four turnovers.
In the second half, UF didn’t look nearly as sharp, shooting just 34.3 percent from the floor. Nevertheless, Florida’s lead grew as large as 30 points in the closing period, despite being outscored 30-24 for roughly the final 13 minutes of the game.
UF’s offensive woes down the stretch led to a 41.2 percent shooting performance for the game, including an inconsistent 10-of-34 display from 3-point range.
Defensively, Florida was stout, holding the Rattlers to just 34.5 percent from the field and 5-of-21 (24 percent) for the game while forcing 15 turnovers.
Sophomore forward Alex Condon anchored UF’s defense with three blocks and two steals. Fellow sophomore forward Thomas Haugh came off the bench and snagged three steals while tallying 12 points on 4-of-8 shooting.
“Without having Sam tonight, without having Denzel, obviously, our bench was shortened,” Golden said. “We needed a guy like Tommy to step up and play more minutes and we knew he'd be up to the task.”
There will be plenty left to be desired for the Gators as SEC play looms near. Moreover, Florida kept its perfect record alive despite its sloppy second half performance against the lowest rated team on UF’s schedule this season, according to KenPom.
Next, Florida will remain at home to take on Southern Illinois at the O’Dome Friday at 7 p.m.
“I just don't think we played our best [against FAMU],” Haugh said. “Coach was talking to us in the locker room, we gotta celebrate a win. But tomorrow we're gonna get out in practice and we'll definitely improve. That wasn't our standard here."
Contact Max Tucker at mtucker@alligator.org. Follow him on X @Max_Tuckr1.
Max Tucker is a junior transfer student at UF. After obtaining his A.A. in Journalism from Santa Fe College in 2023, he chose further his education at Florida's College of Journalism and Communications. Max is currently pursuing his Bachelor of Science in Journalism with a specialization in sports and media. He enjoys golfing and going to the beach with his friends in his free time.
