Writing its own story, Florida is an SEC champion — and looks like a 1 seed
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GAINESVILLE — Florida’s the reigning national champion, but Todd Golden wanted this Florida Gators team to write its own story.
That story now includes at least a share of the SEC regular-season championship, which the Gators can win outright with a win on Tuesday night at Mississippi State.
If the NCAA Selection Committee does its job properly, that story will also include a 1-seed in the NCAA Tournament come Selection Sunday.
How could anyone reasonably argue otherwise after watching the Gators dismantle red-hot Arkansas 111-77 on Saturday night in an electric, sold-out Stephen C. O’Connell Center?
The stakes of Saturday night’s contest with No. 20 Arkansas were evident all week.
Gainesville buzzed with an excitement befitting the national basketball power it has become, with old men in coffee shops talking about a chance to clinch at least a share of the SEC championship and kids on school buses fired up that College GameDay would be in the building.
Writing its own story, this version of Florida, the latest brilliant iteration of the SEC’s best basketball program this century, met its biggest moment to date.
John Calipari’s immensely talented team came into Gainesville having lost just once in the month of February, and that loss was a 2-point, double overtime thriller at Alabama in one of the best college basketball games of the regular season. Ranking fourth nationally in offensive efficiency behind magnificent freshman guard, All-American and SEC Player of the Year candidate Darius Acuff Jr., who scored an astonishing 49 earlier this season in said defeat at Alabama, Arkansas figured to test the Gators defensively in a way that hadn’t happened since a daunting nonconference gauntlet that saw the Gators drop close games to potential NCAA Tournament 1-seeds Duke, Michigan and UConn.
Challenge accepted.
On Saturday night in Gainesville, Acuff was contained, frustrated by Florida’s physicality and length and limited to just 17 points. He compounded the difficulties with 3 turnovers, all while shooting a season-worst 5-for-16 from the floor.
Containing Acuff was important, but only one chapter in a 40-minute tale of dominance.
In equaling the worst defeat ever handed to a John Calipari-coached team, Florida was better in every facet of basketball.
Will Florida repeat as national champion? Here’s what the Kalshi markets say:
Florida’s defense contained the high-octane Razorbacks from the perimeter, limiting Arkansas to just 4 3-pointers, 2 of which came with the game well out of reach, and forced Arkansas to make tough 2s over length all night. Arkansas missed 15 layups and, after entering the game shooting 57.3% from 2, wasn’t close to that against the Gators, finishing 42% from 2 on the evening against Florida’s massive front-court.
Florida was better offensively than the Razorbacks, too, burying 8 3-pointers at a 42% clip and opening driving lanes all night, which the Gators cashed in for a staggering 23 layups and dunks.
Florida had the deeper, more productive bench, led by blossoming 8th man Isaiah Brown, who scored 11 points, made 2 3s, added instant energy defensively on Acuff and the Arkansas guards, and consistently found his way into the paint as a driver, helping the Gators dominate the Hogs 56-44 in the paint. Brown was an incredible plus-21 in box-plus minus in the opening half, helping the Gators turn a 5-point deficit with 14 minutes remaining into a 19-point lead at intermission.
Florida’s stars showed up, too.
Thomas Haugh, Florida’s do-everything All-American candidate and likely lottery pick, was the best player in the building, stuffing the stat sheet with 22 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, a block, and a steal. In the second half, Haugh was switched to primary defender on Arkansas wing Billy Richmond, who torched Florida for 14 in the opening 20 minutes. Richmond was less effective thereafter, shooting 3-for-8 in the second half with 2 turnovers.
Rueben Chinyelu, Florida’s mountain in the middle, posted 12 points and 16 rebounds for his 17th double-double, the most among Power 5 players this season. The Gators, not coincidentally, are 17-0 when Chinyelu registers a double-double.
Florida’s much-maligned backcourt, the subject of extensive criticism during Florida’s sluggish start, was marvelous.
Xaivian Lee continued his upward trajectory of play, diving into the paint and finishing at the rim on his way to 13 points and 5 assists. A Xaivian Lee effort play also settled the Gators early. Trailing by 3 6 minutes into the game, Lee missed a 3-pointer but dove between 2 Arkansas players for a loose ball rebound, quickly calling timeout before Arkansas could get on the floor and secure a jump ball.
“It was great to see X dive on a loose ball like that, you know, it set the tone for the rest of the game,” Florida junior forward Alex Condon said after the victory.
It was Condon, of course, who dove on a loose ball to secure the national championship against Houston a season ago, making him a most fitting player to discuss the impact of Lee’s loose ball effort.
“I think everyone seeing that—you know, X is not the biggest guy, but he’s just playing as hard as he could. You could see that and it really set the tone for the rest of the game I think.”
Florida scored 20 of the next 26 points, including a 12-0 run that seemed to rattle the younger Razorbacks.
It wasn’t just Lee.
Urban KlavĹľar, the Slovenian sniper shooting 41% from 3 on the season, continued his spectacular run of play, knocking down 4 triples and posting a game-high plus-31 in box-plus minus.
Boogie Fland, playing against his former school, was terrific in the second half, scoring 14 points and dishing out 2 assists on an efficient 4-of-5 from the floor in the final 20 minutes, in addition to his now signature tremendous perimeter defense.
A season ago, Florida won a national championship led by one of the greatest backcourts in SEC history. But it was the frontcourt trio of Haugh, Chinyelu, and Alex Condon (17 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists on Saturday night) that provided the complementary grit to the backcourt’s title-winning swagger. This season, as Chinyelu, Haugh, Condon, and key reserve Micah Handlogten have transformed into one of the greatest frontcourts in SEC history, Florida’s backcourt is becoming a capable complement plenty good enough to win a championship.
Write your own story.
Be your own team.
That’s what Todd Golden, now just 1 victory from becoming the fastest Florida head coach to 100 wins, is doing with this group of Gators, who can now forever call themselves SEC Champions.
“As I continue in my career, you just realize that every year is different,” Golden said after the game, donning a backwards SEC Championship hat and fresh championship tee shirt. “Every team is different, and we were incredibly fortunate to return some really impactful players off that national championship team. But you know, it took us a while to get comfortable and find our own way. The credit that this team deserves more than anything is staying together, believing in each other when guys weren’t playing at their best, not pointing fingers. Our staff did a great job of keeping our guys aligned and on the same page. And as I’ve said before, even when we were 5-4, we thought we had a chance to have a special season if we just improved incrementally over the year, and we’ve done that. I think we’re playing as good a brand of basketball as any team in the country right now.”
They are, but Golden and his team know there are more games to win.
The SEC championship celebration was hardly over when the calendar quietly slipped from February to March.
But in a week with 2 massive résumé opportunities, Florida didn’t just pass the test.
It made a statement that the story of this Florida team might end the way last year’s Florida team finished.
With orange and blue confetti falling on the Final Four floor.
Neil Blackmon covers SEC football and basketball for SaturdayDownSouth.com. An attorney, he is also a member of the Football and Basketball Writers Associations of America. He also coaches basketball.
