Key takeaways from Florida's dominant win at Ole Miss
· Yahoo Sports
Florida defeated the Ole Miss Rebels, 94-75, on Saturday afternoon behind big performances from Alex Condon and Thomas Haugh.
Condon led all scorers with 24 points and added six assists and four rebounds, while Haugh came up just short of a double-double with 20 points and nine rebounds. Three other Gators reached double figures in scoring. Urban Klavzaar scored 15 on 80% shooting from 3-point range, and both starting guards — Boogie Fland and Xaivian Lee — scored 11 points. Lee notched a double-double with 10 assists, too.
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Rueben Chinyelu had a relatively quiet day, scoring just three points and grabbing six rebounds, but the big man has played at an All-American level for so long it's hard to feel disappointed.
The Gators hold a 2.5-game lead over three other teams in the SEC standings and control their own destiny with a magic number of three (to win the conference) and four games left on the regular-season schedule.
Haugh and Condon put on a show
Condon and Haugh combined for 44 points, 13 rebounds, 10 assists, three blocks and two steals. It's hard to find a highlight in this one where one of them wasn't involved, and that's the way Todd Golden envisioned this team playing when he assembled it over the offseason.
Condon hasn't dominated the boards too much this season, thanks to the emergence of Rueben Chinyelu, but he's become the modern point forward that NBA executives are always looking for. Sure, the shooting is questionable at times, but there are days like this where he goes 9-for-13 from the field and 5-for-5 at the free-throw line.
What's most impressive about Condon's development is his passing ability. He averages more than three assists per game and has games like this where he doubles that total. If you watch the game closely, he's often responsible for the score, even when he isn't recording an assist. If the stat were recorded like it is in hockey, he'd be a double-double threat every night.
Haugh has played like the SEC Player of the Year all season long. He has his down games, but a 20-9-4 stat line isn't anything surprising from him. He's embraced his role at the wing by stepping up his defensive tenacity and shooting surprisingly well from deep. He got the Gators going early from 3-point range on Saturday, and it's helping the team find a rhythm when the guards aren't doing so.
3-point shooting improving?
Speaking of 3-point shooting, Florida had its best day from beyond the arc against Ole Miss. The Gators have only shot above 40% as a team from three once this season, against South Carolina on the road. Florida drained 11-of-22 shots from deep today, coming one bucket short of its season high of 12 against Providence.
Golden always said that this team would be one of the best in the country if the shots started falling, and this is the proof. Urban Klavzar has been lights out lately, and he stayed hot, going 4-for-5 on 3-pointers against the Rebels. Boogie Fland punished Ole Miss for giving him space with three of his own, and Haugh made a couple early to ignite things.
If the Gators can ride this momentum over the final four games of the regular season, they'll be Final Four favorites heading into the NCAA Tournament.
Todd Golden knows how to make a team better
The beginning of the season was full of questions about whether or not Todd Golden swung and missed in the transfer portal. With all of the hype surrounding Boogie Fland and Xaivian Lee, experts and fans held too high of expectations for the incoming backcourt tandem. Both played recklessly, trying to fill the shoes of Walter Clayton Jr., Alijah Martin and Will Richard, and he led to some ugly performances.
As the season progressed, both found their true roles on the team. Lee has turned into a distributor with some hot nights from beyond the arc, and Fland has started attacking downhill more, even with teams giving him space to shoot. The need to be the star has slowly evaporated from both players' games, but they aren't afraid to attack when the opportunity to presents itself.
The bigs were always the focal point, but getting everyone to play that way took some time. Golden deserves some Coach of the Year attention for pulling things together, for a second straight season no less.
It took Florida time to figure out how to be the best version of itself last year, and the result was a national championship. After a slow start, it seems like the Gators are more than capable of making a similar run this year.
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This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Recap, takeaways from Florida basketball's win at Ole Miss Rebels