Florida vs. FAMU score, takeaways: Gators overcome shooting struggles to rout Rattlers

Basketball

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Image Credit: UAA

Florida Gators men’s basketball got back in the win column Tuesday night with a hassle-free 89-68 win over the Florida A&M Rattlers. Though the Gators passed this relatively easy test at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center in Gainesville, Florida, it was not the best showing for a team that needs to put stronger performances together with much tougher competition coming up.

Let’s take a look at what went down Tuesday night with some Fastbreak Takeaways.

It was over when … Florida went on an 8-0 run to take a 20-point lead on FAMU with 12:08 to play. The Gators doubled their unimpressive 10-point halftime lead at that point but never led by more than 23 points as they struggled with consistency on both ends of the court. Freshman forward Alex Condon continued his impressive start to the campaign with 16 points in the second half as he made 2 of 3 attempts from downtown.

First half focus: UF opened 1 of 14 from the field, finishing the opening 20 minutes 12 of 20 from the floor while amassing that 10-point lead. Junior guard Will Richard bounced back from a rough performance against Virginia to score 12 points in 15 minutes.

Exceptional efforts: Richard finished with a team-high 20 points along with 6 rebounds, but he also had a team-high 3 turnovers. Junior G Walter Clayton Jr. was more consistent with 18 points, 5 assists, 3 boards and 2 steals. Condon finished with 17 points and 6 rebounds, while sophomore G Denzel Aberdeen posted 12 points and 4 rebounds doing most of his work in the first half.

Missing in action: Sophomore G Riley Kugel had a rough go of it Tuesday. He got poked in the eye and committed a technical foul while shooting just 1 of 7 with 5 points. He ultimately played just 20 minutes as one of a few players who saw less action than expected. Similarly, sophomore center Micah Handlogten and redshirt senior F Tyrese Samuel combined to score just 11 points in 40 minutes, though they did grab 15 boards.

Odds & ends: The Gators improved to 13-0 all-time against Florida A&M and 28-1 all-time against SWAC teams … Florida again struggled at the charity stripe (23 of 35, .657) … though the Gators won the battle in the paint (46-34 scoring, 46-31 rebounding), they gave the Rattlers far too much inside given their drastic advantages in size and strength … Florida had scoring advantages off turnovers (22-12) and on the fast break (18-8)

What it means: No doubt head coach Todd Golden wanted to see a better performance than the one the Gators put together Tuesday night. Florida was simply inconsistent across the board, and even in a 21-point victory, left a lot to be desired in all phases of the game. It’s possible UF was looking ahead to its next opponent, but nothing like that should happen at this early juncture in the season. The Gators’ inability to make free throws is especially concerning. Florida is now 49 of 80 from the charity stripe this season, making just 61.3% of its attempts. These are free points a team like UF cannot afford to give away. Considering two of its three games thus far have been at home, there’s truly no excuse.

What’s next? Florida wraps its two-game homestand Friday when it hosts Flordia State as the second part of a doubleheader with the women’s team. The Gators and Seminoles will battle at 7 p.m. ET on SEC Network after the Florida women face No. 12 Florida State at 4 p.m. on SEC Network+.