The story of David and Goliath dates back to the Old Testament. It tells the journey of a young boy who bravely faced and defeated a giant warrior against all odds. On Friday, the No. 16 seed in the West Region of the NCAA Tournament looked to steal a page out of David’s playbook — but to no avail.
Giving an underdog a sense of belief in the opening minutes of a March Madness game is dangerous territory for a team on the top-seed line. Before Norfolk State could muster even a glimmer of hope, the Gators showed just why they were deserving of a Goliath-like No. 1 seed.
A highlight-reel worthy play by UF senior guard Alijah Martin in the second half encapsulated the utter dominance displayed. With under seven minutes remaining in regulation, Martin stood firm with the ball in the corner without a Spartan in sight. The former FAU March Madness star bursted towards the rim for a dunk, and with the help of sophomore center Rueben Chinyelu sealing off his defender to clear the way, Martin threw down a ferocious jam.
With a potential deep run on the horizon, No. 1 seed Florida (31-4, 14-4 SEC) inched one step closer to its national championship goal. The Gators notched a 95-69 victory over No. 16 Norfolk State (24-11, 11-3 MEAC) in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Raleigh, North Carolina.
“Really proud of the way we played for the first 15 minutes of the game,” UF head coach Todd Golden said. “I thought we played exceptionally well in all three facets – offensively, defensively and on the glass. Credit Norfolk, obviously we got up to a big lead. I thought they did a great job competing.”
Fresh off an AP first-team All-American nod and an SEC Tournament MVP nomination, UF senior guard Walter Clayton Jr. looked the part of a reigning superstar. The Lake Wales, Florida, native led all scorers with 23 points on 4-of-9 shooting from 3-point range. Martin followed with 17 points on a 5-for-6 clip from the charity stripe.
Sophomore forward Alex Condon was everywhere for the Gators, stuffing the stat sheet with 12 points, five rebounds and three assists. Condon held it down defensively as well, tallying two steals and two blocks. Sophomore forward Thomas Haugh rounded out Florida’s double-digit scorers with 13 points.
“We haven't played since last Sunday, so I think we're pretty fresh anyways, but it was good to be able to limit everybody. It looks like we were able to limit everybody to under 28 minutes,” Golden said.
As prolific as UF has been shooting from distance this season, the Gators feasted down low to grab an early edge. Six of their first nine points came from inside the paint, including an emphatic dunk by Chinyelu to put Florida ahead 9-2 a little over three minutes in.
Nevertheless, it was fitting that UF’s leading 3-point shooter this season kickstarted the barrage of deep balls that were to come. Clayton Jr. had the hot hand early, knocking down three shots from behind the arc in the first five-and-a-half minutes of regulation. However, his third make from distance was anything but ordinary.
With the shot clock expiring, Clayton Jr. hoisted a contested 3-pointer. Norfolk State fouled him on the way up, but it didn’t stop the senior guard from splashing the shot. Clayton Jr. made the free throw afterwards, giving the Gators a 16-3 advantage at the 14:30 mark of the first half.
“I think that was everybody’s mindset [to] come out [and] set the tone,” Clayton Jr. said. “Those first minutes everybody was locked in we were just kind of doing what we [were] doing all year.”
When Florida is clicking, the depth of its scoring attack nearly always comes into play. That narrative held true for the Gators near the midway point of the opening period. Clayton Jr. made three free throws to extend UF’s lead to 19-5, but the team’s next 10 points came from players off the bench.
The senior guard pushed the ball in transition and lobbed a pass to Haugh for an alley-oop and-one layup. On Florida’s ensuing offensive possession, junior center Micah Handlogten followed with an easy 2-pointer underneath. The Gators’ spark off the bench was capped off with five points in just over one minute by junior guard Denzel Aberdeen. Not even 10 minutes into the contest, it appeared Norfolk State’s Cinderella hopes were already slipping away.
A deep ball from Aberdeen pushed the Gators ahead 29-9 without a single point coming from their second-leading scorer, Martin. However, that changed in a hurry. Martin scored 11 of Florida’s next 13 points in versatile fashion. The senior guard put the ball on the deck and drove the baseline before taking flight and finishing an and-one layup.
Less than one minute later, he buried a 3-pointer from the right corner that gave UF a 35-11 edge with under nine minutes before halftime. Martin capped off his 11-point scoring surge with a fastbreak layup off a solid dish from Richard. Golden noted his team’s quality ball movement was an important part of its success.
“We're elite that way,” he said. “Our team is really unselfish. We do a great job of sharing the ball. A big part of our scout was to make the simple play. Norfolk, the way they guard, they really do a good job of keeping you out of the paint and helping off that next player.”
Despite Florida’s lead growing as large as 32, it didn’t stop the Gators from keeping their foot on the gas. Richard flew in transition with just over five minutes left in the first half and tossed a lob to Haugh, who flushed it in high-flying fashion. Haugh continued to stay aggressive on UF’s next possession with a put-back tip-in that extended the lead to 49-19.
It was seemingly all Gators late into the evening, though the Spartans showed fight in the final minutes of the opening period. Norfolk State ripped off an 11-0 run near the end of the first half. Senior guard Brian Moore Jr. came through with a pair of fastbreak layups to spark the run and cut Florida’s lead to 53-21 heading into halftime.
“I think we got complacent,” Martin said. “We kept looking at the scoreboard, and when you do that and you see you're up 20, you think like you could take a play off. We can't do that at this level. We can't give no team no hope. Just got to be better going forward.”
Norfolk State could’ve easily packed it in and let Florida run over them in the second half, but the result was anything but that. The Spartans outscored the Gators 48-42 in the final 20 minutes of the game behind an exceptional 15-for-30 shooting performance from the field.
Back-to-back buckets by Norfolk State senior guard Jaylani Darden drew the Spartans within 18 points of the Gators. However, that was as close as they’d get. Florida had an instant answer with a 9-3 run that started with a 3-pointer by Condon and was capped off by a pair of free throws from Richard to push UF back ahead by 23.
“They went on [that] 11-0 run, so we were pretty pissed,” Martin said. “But we know we just have to tighten up. We had some lazy plays, some careless plays, some uncharacteristic plays, and stuff like that. So we just had to get after it coming out.”
As lopsided as the scoreboard may have looked, Norfolk State found some success against the Gators. The Spartans shot 28 of 61 from the field (48%) and scored 48 points inside the paint to UF’s 36. Moreover, taking care of the basketball will likely be a point of emphasis for a Florida team that turned the ball over 12 times, leading to 14 points on the other end.
It wasn’t the sharpest shooting performance from 3-point range for the Gators, who shot just 10 of 32 (31%) from distance. However, UF still managed to score from the floor at an efficient rate, shooting nearly 50% with a 29 of 60 clip.
Next, Florida will play the winner of No. 8 seed UConn and No. 9 seed Oklahoma in Raleigh. Tipoff time for UF’s second round matchup in the NCAA Tournament will be on Sunday at a time yet to be determined.
“It’s important to get every win at this point in the season,” Clayton Jr. said. “We lose, we go home.”
Contact Max Tucker at mtucker@alligator.org. Follow him on X @Max_Tuckr1.
Max Tucker is a senior transfer student at UF. After obtaining his A.A. in Journalism from Santa Fe College in 2023, he chose to 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.
