Florida vs. Maryland score, takeaways: (1) Gators advance to Elite Eight behind total paint dominance

Basketball

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Image Credit: UAA

The No. 1 seed Florida Gators have largely found success through the 2024-25 season on the backs of their triumvirate of backcourt stars. Thursday night during the program’s first Sweet 16 appearance in eight years, the Gators flipped the script. Florida leaned on one of its most dominant frontcourt efforts it achieved this campaign for a runaway 87-71 win over the No. 4 seed Maryland Terrapins to advance in the 2025 NCAA Tournament and move into the program’s first Elite Eight since 2017.

The Gators now sit second all-time with nine straight Sweet 16 victories while improving to 13-1 all-time as a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Head coach Todd Golden is the third in program history to advance this far in March Madness. Florida will now eye its first Final Four appearance since 2014 while still seeking to patch up some sloppy play that has yet to cost it this postseason.

That opportunity comes Saturday as UF prepares for its Elite Eight showdown in the West Region final.

Let’s take a look at what went down Thursday night in San Francisco with some Fastbreak Takeaways.

It was over when … sophomore forward Thomas Haugh patiently waited for defenders to fly by him in the paint before laying in a basket to push the Gators back ahead by a game-high 18 points with 3:14 to play. UF again held that advantage with 36 seconds left.

Florida scored the first five points of the second half and moved ahead by 11 on a 3-pointer from redshirt senior guard Alijah Martin with 14:19 to remaining. The Gators again struggled with ball security, however, committing three turnovers across as many possessions, allowing the Terrapins to cut immediately that advantage in half.

Fueled by a Flagrant 1 foul that led to a 4-point possession along with clutch blocks from Haugh and fellow sophomore F Alex Condon, Florida erupted on an extended 13-2 run to take an 18-point lead with 7:09 to play. Big-time 3-pointers from guards junior Denzel Aberdeen and senior Will Richard allowed UF to maintain a significant advantage despite Maryland’s attempts to trim its deficit at the line.

First half focus: Florida opened 4 of 8 from downtown creating a 11-0 run boosted by three straight treys to take an 20-9 lead after 9 minutes. However, Maryland immediately answered with an extended 21-7 scoring stretch to jump ahead 30-27 as the Gators continuously coughed up the ball and committed fouls — sometimes simultaneously. Florida eventually grabbed the lead back and entered halftime with a 2-point advantage, but that came despite 13 turnovers and 11 fouls. (UF averaged 10.7 turnovers per game this season.) UM scored 63% of its points in the period off those miscues (12 points of turnovers, 12 of 15 mark from the charity stripe) and stuck in the game despite getting outrebounded 21-10 in the period.

Further exasperating issues for the Gators was Condon injuring his right ankle 8 minutes into the contest as junior center Micah Handlogten committed three fouls in just 4 minutes. Florida’s significant frontcourt depth was immediately diminished despite it entering the game aiming to force Maryland into trouble given its comparatively thinner bench.

Exceptional efforts: A season-high six Gators scored in double figures, but it was the all-around play of the frontcourt that deserves the most praise. Haugh (13 points, 9 rebounds), junior C Rueben Chinyelu (10 points, 8 rebounds) and Condon (6 points, 4 rebounds) combined for 29 points and 21 boards with Haugh and Condon adding 6 total assists. Speaking of top-to-bottom performances, Martin was stellar with 14 points and 7 rebounds despite a slow start finding the bottom of the basket.

Senior point guard Walter Clayton Jr., Florida’s best player this season, was simply not needed in the second half. Clayton scored 12 of his 13 points in the opening period but dished three of his four dimes in the latter with his distribution fueling UF’s surge. Richard was immense with 15 points on 3 of 6 shooting from deep along with 4 oards and 3 dimes, while Aberdeen flexed off the bench with 12 points.

Important injury: Condon only played 5 minutes in the first half before leaving with his ankle injury and sat out not only the remainder of the period but the start of the second half. It was therefore a bit of a surprise when he returned with 13:29 to play, but Condon made an instant impact as the Gators’ energy increased almost immediately once he stepped back on the court.

Odds & ends: Florida improved to 3-2 all-time against Maryland … the Gators are now 48-20 in NCAA Tournament play, 10-1 in the Sweet 16 … UF’s nine straight Sweet 16 wins are the second-most all-time … Florida is a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament for the third time in program history holding a 13-1 record with two Final Four appearances out of the seed (2007, 2014) … the Gators impoved to 9-2 this season against AP Top 25 opponents, 15-12 since Golden took over the program … Clayton has made a 3-pointer in 59 consecutive games, a team record …

UF under Golden is 58-9 when leading at halftime (27-0 this season), 67-5 when leading with 5 minutes left (30-0), 54-10 when outrebounding an opponent (27-3), 51-8 when shooting 45% or better from the field (24-2), 65-7 when outshooting an opponent (29-1), 60-8 when outshooting an opponent from 3-point range (30-0), 49-16 when four or more players score in double figures (23-2) and 25-3 when five or more players score in double figures (11-0)

What it means: There is a switch that Florida flips coming out of the locker rooms that makes it feel sometimes as if it is exiting a severed floor. The Gators committed 16 turnovers over the first 26:12 of the game but just one over the remaining 13:48 — and that came in the waining minutes of the second half with reserves on the court. The simple fact is that Florida was 20+ points better than Maryland on Thursday, and if it played with the same discipline in the opening 20 minutes that it did in the latter period, the contest would have been a blowout at halftime.

The Gators were as dominant in the paint as they had been against any similarly talented team this season. They posted an advantage of 42-20 on the boards, grabbed 15 offensive rebounds off 30 misses and registered a 21-9 edge in second-chance points. UF is now rebounding 55% of its missed shots through three games of the NCAA Tournament.

Maryland’s weak bench was a known quantity, but it was not expected that Florida would need to go deep into its reserves. Condon’s injury and Chinyelu’s foul trouble made that a necessity, yet Haugh and Aberdeen came through to give UF a ridiculous 29-3 scoring edge off the bench proving to again perform as among the best sixth and seventh men in the country.

The competition will only get tougher from here, but what continues to stand out for the Gators is how they can compete with all different types of opponents and styles of play. Beyond that, Florida’s ability to go from sloppy, mind-numbing play to disciplined, deliberate action remains astounding.

What’s next? UF will play No. 3 seed Texas Tech in the Elite Eight on Saturday at 6:09 p.m. ET on TBS.