It was a highly anticipated offseason for the Florida men’s basketball team. With an influx of returning starters alongside impactful transfer additions, expectations were high. By the time the final buzzer sounded in the Gators’ season-opener on Monday, Florida fans got an exciting preview of what could be yet to come this season.
UF faced its largest deficit of the game early on in the evening, as the Gators trailed by 13 points with 6:13 remaining in the first half. From there, it was all Florida.
The Gators went on to outscore the Bulls 75-47 from that point on, largely in part to senior guards Walter Clayton Jr. and Will Richard becoming the first Florida players to score 25 or more points in a contest since 2019. Richard’s 25 also set a new career high.
No. 21 Florida (1-0) leaned heavily on its veteran backcourt to muster a high-octane offensive performance against USF (0-1) in a 98-83 victory at VyStar Memorial Arena in Jacksonville.
Opening the contest shooting a shaky 0-for-5 from 3-point range, the Gators found themselves trailing USF 9-5 in the early going. The Bulls came out playing what seemed like fearless and inspired basketball, given the recent unexpected passing of USF head coach Amir Abdur-Rahim due to an undisclosed illness.
South Florida came out firing, shooting 6-for-14 from the field and 3-for-7 from long range to open the contest. Midway through the first half, the Bulls held a narrow 17-16 edge over the Gators. It’s not uncommon for ranked college basketball teams to find themselves trailing to unranked opponents early on, though Florida’s hole only seemed to get deeper and deeper.
A media timeout with 7:35 left in the first half saw UF facing its largest deficit of the game following a 16-2 run from USF in just over four minutes. While the Bulls were red hot, shooting 6-for-7 in the span, the Gators went ice cold, converting one of their 11 field goals as they trailed 28-18.
However, UF sophomore forward Alex Condon created a spark after grabbing his fourth offensive rebound of the first half. Condon capped off the play with an and-one dunk over the head of his defender. The Australia native finished with 13 points and five rebounds, shooting 5-for-6 from the field.
An eight point scoring run single-handedly led by Richard cut USF’s lead to 36-33 with 3:28 remaining in the first half and forced South Florida to call a timeout. The Bulls were unable to convert on a single field goal for the final 2:39, despite taking a 40-39 lead into halftime.
Perimeter defense was an issue for the Gators to open the second half. USF redshirt junior guard Kobe Knox knocked down the Bulls’ eighth 3-pointer of the contest to knot the score at 57-57 with 13:10 remaining in the game.
The second half opened with eight lead changes and three ties in roughly the first eight minutes. Eventually, junior Chattanooga transfer forward Sam Alexis converted on a sky hook that kickstarted a 10-2 Florida run.
Four straight made free throws by UF senior guard Alijah Martin and a mid-range jumper by Clayton Jr. gave the Gators a 69-62 lead with 8:26 remaining. Martin finished with 13 points in spite of a shaky performance from long range. The FAU transfer finished the evening shooting 0-for-6 from deep.
From there, Florida cruised to a double-digit victory and never trailed. The Gators shot 52 percent from the field amid an inconsistent 5-for-25 performance from 3-point range. However, UF turned in a quality performance at the charity stripe, converting on 23 of its 29 free throw attempts.
Next, Florida will take on Jacksonville in its home-opener Thursday at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center at 8 p.m.
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.
