Florida Gators

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — A question was put to Egor Koulechov during postgame interviews Thursday night after his smashing scoring spree and University of Florida debut. It was about a particular 3-point shot he made in transition and just how in-rhythm he felt as he pulled the trigger.

Koulechov smiled.

"I'm not sure which one you're talking about," he said.

Forgive Koulechov, the graduate-transfer and former All-Conference USA standout from Rice, for his confusion. When you're in a zone like he was against Gardner-Webb, the made baskets run together. All he did in eighth-ranked UF's 116-74 blitz of the Runnin' Bulldogs at Exactech Arena was bomb in 34 points — the most by a Florida player in his debut game in 55 years — and along the way hit 11 of 17 field goals, go 6-for-9 from deep, plus grab five rebounds, dish five assists, tally a couple steals in 26 minutes as the Gators set a record for most points scored in a season opener.

When he was done, Koulechov had tied a 55-year-old school record for most points by a first-time UF player. Tom Baxley scored 34 against Miami on Nov. 30, 1962.

Shocking, right?

"No, 'cause I see him do it every day," said senior point guard Chris Chiozza, who had five points, six rebounds and six assists in 23 minutes and showed no signs of being troubled by the shoulder sprain suffered during the preseason. "Some guys can do it in practice and can't do it when they get in front of people, but he's played a lot of college basketball. And, honestly, I was really more surprised at how many shots he missed."
 
Koulechov, who averaged 18.2 points and hit 47.4 from deep last season at Rice, began the game by missing four of his first five shots — and then made seven of his final eight of the half, including four straight 3s at one point. At halftime, Koulechov had 23 points — five short of the school record of 28 for a half, set by Tony Miller against Chicago State in 1972 — and the Gators (1-0) led 55-22 after shooting 50 percent from the floor.

They went on to shoot 69 percent in the second half and go 10-for-21 from the arc (47.6 percent) for the night, with all 10 of their scholarship players who checked into the game finding the scoring column.

"In 17 years of college basketball, I don't think I've seen a team attack that quickly in transition," GWU coach Tim Craft said. "The speed at which they play is going to be hard to compete with."

Fourth-year junior Jalen Hudson, the transfer from Virginia Tech who sat out last season, scored 16 points and made six of his eight shots (3-for-5 from 3) in his first game as a Gator. Freshman swingman Deaundrae Ballard had 14 points. Classmate and guard Mike Okauru threw in 13 points and four assists. Obviously, it was their first games, too.

Meanwhile, junior shooting guard KeVaughn Allen, the team's returning first-team All-Southeastern Conference selection and preseason nominee for the Naismith Award that goes to college basketball's best player, scored just nine points.

And the Gators won by 42.

"That says a lot," Chiozza said.

Each UF player in the postgame interview room suggested it just as easily could have been Allen, Hudson or one or two other guys who put on the the scorching performance turned in by Koulechov. Even Koulechov said so.

"The way we play, we have a system. What's working, we go back to it," he said. "Today, it was me. The next time, it could be KeVaughn or Jalen or someone else."
 
The next time, Mike White hopes his defense is as on point as his offense.

The undermanned Bulldogs (0-2), who lost 77-45 at Miami on Friday after trailing by just four at the break, shot 42.4 percent for the game, including nearly 46 percent in the second half. Much of those shots after intermission were made against backup players and freshmen. They also came mostly with UF's lead floating between 30 and 40 points.

No matter, according to White.

"The lack of physicality in there, a couple missed rotations. Some of it is softness — you're there, I'm there, and you're supposed to hit a wall, but you don't — so we just have to get tougher," White said. "I don't know yet how deep we are defensively. I don't know how many consistent, accountable guys we have on the glass. That's the charge to our team right now, and it's been communicated to them a bunch."

He does, however, know how deep the Gators are offensively.

Very.

This happened to be Koulechov's night to showcase his skills as a sniper and introduce himself to the Rowdy Reptiles. Calls of "3gor!" echoed throughout the evening each time he cocked his lightning-quick release.

"I'm happy this day finally came," said Koulechov, who was born in Russia, but raised mostly in Israel before coming to the U.S. as an international prep student. "I've been waiting for this since I decided to come here. It's a great environment, a great program. This was just a lot of fun, especially when you win."

And especially when you make so many shots, you lose track of them.