Florida Gators
Richmond
Gators Frontcourt Manhandles Richmond 76-56
Wednesday, December 2, 2015 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- The Florida guards have a standing directive from Coach Mike White for when the ball is in the air, whether on offense or defense.
Go to the glass.
"Coach keeps telling us to go rebound," point guard Kasey Hill said. "But we can't get any of 'em."
In the case of Tuesday, that was not a bad problem to have. Not with center John Egbunu grabbing 14 rebounds and the forward duo of Dorian Finney-Smith and Devin Robinson clearing another 13 each. With those bodies and long arms flailing about, the UF frontcourt made life miserable for a Richmond team used to scoring in bunches. Instead, the Gators started fast and combined that pace with a beastly inside presence in manhandling the Spiders 76-56 in front of 8,231 at the O'Connell Center.
Egbunu had 17 points and Robinson added 12, while Finney-Smith's nine points (plus a career-high seven assists and three blocked shots) left the Gators one "Doe-Doe" point shy of having three players with double-doubles for the first time since three fellas by the name of Noah, Horford and Brewer did it in December 18, 2005 against Jacksonville.
"I've not been a part of a team like this that is as talented as we are on the glass, offensively and defensively," said White, whose front line pummeled the Spiders in the rebounding column 57-36, making holiday leftovers of a mismatched match-up zone. "We've gotten better at blocking out, putting bodies on bodies and using our length to fly around."
For at least a night, the Gators (6-1), winners of three straight, were better from the jump ball as far as bringing energy and getting off to a quick start. It was necessary because Richmond was one game removed from upsetting then 14th-ranked California last week and was averaging 86 points per game (26th nationally).
The Spiders had 17 at halftime.
"They're such a talented team, such an athletic team," UR coach Chris Mooney said after his club's lowest-scoring game of the season. "We needed to do a couple of things, which was make a few shots -- which we didn't do. That's a credit to them and their defense."
Sophomore forward Devin Robinson, who scored 12 points and grabbed a career-high 13 rebounds for his double-double of the season, goes to the rim in Tuesday night's defeat of Richmond at the O'Connell Center.
Richmond came in shooting 50.1 percent from the floor for the season. Against UF, the Spiders managed just 33.9 percent -- and that number was aided by hitting seven of its final nine shots after falling behind by 28 -- and they couldn't reach the halfway point of their per-game average (43 points) until less than four minutes remained.
"We've always been capable of defense like that," said Robinson, who has done a metamorphosis on the glass in going from 2.8 a game as a freshman last year to 8.0 as a sophomore. " We took into account that they're putting up 86 points a game. We want to be known for our defense. so we just tried to play harder."
In their two previoius, the Gators led Vermont by just five and trailed Florida Gulf Coast by one at the halves. In both instances, the second halves were different; more energized, more competitive.
White told his players they'd better bring the passion from this game's outset or the Spiders, with their multiple scoring options, would make them look silly.
This time, the Gators listened, jumping out to an 8-0 lead. The Spiders closed the gap to two, at 10-8, and were still hanging around 21-14 with eight minutes left when Florida finished the half with an 18-3 flurry during which six different players scored.
"It may have been the respect our guys had for Richmond," White said. "I could see it from the tip."
Said Egbunu: "We made a commitment to be in the right position and to stick to our defensive principles."
Forward Terry Allen, who erupted from 34 points and 13 rebounds in the upset of Cal last week, made just one of his nine first-half shots, was held to 6-for-22 from the floor for the game and 0-for-4 from the 3-point range. He finished with 15 points and eight boards.
Richmond's 17 first-half points were 14 fewer than their season-low for a half; their 20.8-percent shooting (on just 5-for-24) was a big dip from their season-worst 42.3 first-half low.
"You can't say it was anything individually," Finney-Smith said. "We just played great team defense."
UF scored 34 points in the paint and crushed the Spiders on second-chance points 23-6, thanks to 17 offensive rebounds.
And regarding those offensive rebounds, "That's a number we need to hit on most nights if we're going to shoot the ball like we're shooting it right now."
The Gators, collectively, continued to struggle with their perimeter scoring, going 6-for-22 from the 3-point line (27.3 percent) and failing to hit even 30 percent for the fourth time this season. For a game, though, freshman guard KeVaughn Allen shook off the poor shooting that has started his collegiate career -- just 18 percent from 3 going in -- to put in 10 points, including two 3-pointers on four tries.
"He's been in a little bit of slump, but Coach tells him to shoot and we tell him to shoot," Hill said of Allen. "So it was good to see them go in."
Coach also tells the guards to rebound.
Bet he continues doing so.
