Despite Texas A&M all but gifting Florida basketball first-place on the SEC, there’s no denying the Gators have simply gotten better in their last eight games.
Florida (17-6, 8-2 SEC) took down the Aggies 86-67 to own lone possession top spot in the conference for the first time since 2014.
There’s no question that in the last month, the Gators have only gotten better.
For Florida coach Todd Golden, he believes part of the reason that his team’s play has elevated is that they have stopped focusing on the past.
“Over the last month and a half, we’ve done a really good job of accepting the fact that we aren’t last year’s team,” Golden told SEC Network. “We had an incredible backcourt, explosive scoring. We masked a lot of our deficiencies with our ability to put the ball in the basket. We do not have that this year, and that’s fine.
“We have great guard play. We haven’t shot it well, so we got to do a really good job of defending and rebounding. I think again, early on in the season, when we’ve had some slip-ups we didn’t take enough pride on the defensive end or clean it up on the glass, but over the last month and a half, we’ve done a great job that way.”
While that’s true here are three other reasons as to why the Gators have only gotten better.
The front court is even better
Since Florida has embraced its identity as a defensive team and aggressive under the boards, the Gators’ center Rueben Chinyelu has flourished.
Chinyelu has recorded a double-double in seven of his last eight games. Chinyelu posted 10 points and 15 rebounds against Texas A&M.
“If we could ever start knocking it down, we’d be pretty dang good man, but we’ll settle for our ability to take it to teams in the paint (and) provide second chances,” Golden said. “I thought across the board, we just did a good job of taking care of the ball, but our front court has been amazing.
“I think we have the best front court in America. For us to come into this great environment tonight, and play the way we did, I think says a lot about our group.”
Chinyelu’s effort has allowed Florida to rely less on leading scorer Thomas Haugh, who scored 21 of his 22 points in the second against the Aggies.
The Gators have become elite in transition
At the beginning of the season, Florida was already a good team defensively.
However, in the last eight games, the Gators have scored 126 points off 74 turnovers. In the latest stretch, UF has averaged 15.7 points off turnovers, which is a mark that would be good for 10th best in the country.
At the same time, Florida was already a high-scoring team on the fastbreak as they entered the Texas A&M matchup at No. 16, averaging 16.4 fastbreak points per game this season.
In the last eight games, the Gators have outscored teams 147-46 in the fastbreak. That stretch has seen their season average increase to 18.3 points and would put them as the fifth-highest scoring team in the country in that category.
The only game Florida was outscored on the fastbreak was in its loss to Auburn, 14-12.
Florida has gotten better from the 3-point line
Compared to last year, Florida is nowhere near as good at shooting the 3-ball.
This year, the Gators’ season mark of 28.87% from the 3-point line ranks 354th out of 361 teams in the country.
Yet, like UF’s defense in transition in the last eight games, the 3-point shooting rises to 30%, which is largely due to Urban Klavzar’s efforts off the bench.
Klavzar has scored in double figures in eight of UF’s 10 SEC games this season, and in the last eight games, he is 19 of 46 from the 3-point line to put him at a shooting clip of 41% in the stretch.
Florida basketball now at top of SEC standings after win over Texas A&M.
Reach Florida Gators writer Andrew Abadie at AAbadie@usatodayco.com or on X (formerly Twitter) at @AndrewAbadie. You can also find him on Facebook at Andrew Abadie Sports Reporter or on Instagram @andrewabadie_sports.
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: How Florida basketball has gotten better as Gators take top spot in SEC
Reporting by Andrew Abadie, Gainesville Sun / The Gainesville Sun
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