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No. 6 Florida’s frontcourt was a combined 6-for-20 against No. 4 Tennessee 0n Saturday, the Gators worst shooting day of the season.
Finishing in the paint; something Florida coach Todd Golden stressed in Monday’s practice. Tennessee (18-4, 5-4 SEC) was able to take away the post with double-teams and help-side defense, posting seven blocks. Florida (18-3, 5-3), which dropped a spot in this week’s Associated Press ranking, was outscored 34-14 in the paint.
Despite horrible offensive efficiency down low, Golden plans to still feed his big men against Vanderbilt (16-5, 4-4) on Tuesday at the O’Connell Center (7 p.m., SEC Network, 98.1-FM/850-AM WRUF).
“We’ll continue to try to get the ball inside when it calls for that,” Golden said. “Obviously we want to be more efficient and effective on the perimeter than we were on Saturday.”
Florida head coach Todd Golden on last Saturday’s slate and the expectations of his team following a loss in Knoxville.
“Saturday I definitely felt better going to bed and seeing 9 teams in the top 15 or whatever it was lose.” pic.twitter.com/GVJcJP8UOV
— Jesse Bratman (@jessebratman) February 3, 2025
Alexis Silver Lining
Chattanooga transfer Sam Alexis was a bright light for the Gators in the 64-44 loss in Knoxville. Prior to Saturday’s contest, he was a combined 3-for-8 with six points in his last four games. He imposed his will down low against the Volunteers, hitting his first three field goals on hook shots going right.
“I thought Sam finished well early in the game,” Golden said.
Alexis had three of 13 made field goals for the Gators. Other notable Florida bigs Thomas Haugh, Alex Condon and Rueben Chinyelu had three field goals combined.
“We are always going to try to determine what goes on the floor,” Golden said. “I think our bigs, for the most part, have been able to impose their will physically on teams. We did not do that on Saturday.”
Emphasis on Improvement
Florida has averaged 29.8 field goals per game on 46.1% shooting this season. Against Tennessee, the Gators went 13-for-53 from the field (24.5%).
Florida fell one spot, from No. 5 to No. 6, in the updated AP Basketball Poll https://t.co/RCGDqq3AcF
— Inside the Gators (@InsideTheGators) February 3, 2025
For the frontcourt, finishing through contact in a physical SEC will be imperative. A lot of the Gators’ future opponents have a lot of size down low, like No. 1 Auburn, who start Johnni Broome and Dylan Cardwell together.
“We were starting to do a lot more contact drills in practice,” 6-foot-9 sophomore Thomas Haugh said. “We all noticed that we were just not finishing at the rate we were at the beginning of the season.”
Florida associate head coach Carlin Hartman even has the frontcourt finishing over 7-foot-7 redshirt center Oliver Rioux in practice drills.
“Coach Hartman’s doing a good job of using Ollie trying to go through him to finish,” Haugh said. “Or even, a lot of pad work to get stronger down the post and make those layups.”
