Next-Day Takeaway

NEXT-DAY TAKEAWAY
Florida 83, Texas A&M 66
Three leftover thoughts from Tuesday's win at College Station.

1) The story of the game, no question, was Florida's marksmanship from the 3-point line. Up and down the Texas A&M bench, heads sunk in frustration each time the Gators banged one of their 10 treys on the way to opening a 16-point halftime lead. The bad body language continued after intermission, as the Gators made seven more 3s on the way to equaling their single-game season-high of 17. Individually, no less than UF players were sensational in the game — and one of the four did not hit a single 3-ball. Center Kevarrius Hayes simply unleashed his finest all-around game of the season. The 6-foot-9 junior finished with eight points on 4-for-4 shooting, seven rebounds, five blocked shots and a career-high four assists in a season-best 33 minutes. [Note: Hayes had six assists for the season going into the game.] Beyond those numbers, Hayes played some of his best defense to date and did so against 6-10 center Tyler Davis or 6-9 forward Robert Williams, the premier big-man tandem in the Southeastern Conference. Inside Reed Arena (which the Gators certainly quieted with their shooting prowess), you could hear Hayes barking to his teammates on the defensive end, which is something the UF coaches have been pleading for — from anyone. He flew around, challenged shots and reminded us all how good he was down the stretch last season. Remember? Hayes became the starting center by virtue of a battlefield promotion following the February knee injury to John Egbunu. He entered this season knowing he was the man in the middle and maybe (just maybe) figuring more had to come with that; more points, rebounds, notoriety, whatever. Sometimes, the biggest part of a player's development is understanding who he is, but also who he isn't. If Hayes (aka "Spidey") just runs the floor, talks on defense and does his job without expectation of numbers, more performances (and box score lines) like Tuesday will come. He was great.

2) In the second game of the season, Keith Stone had 14 points against North Florida. In the ones that followed, he struggled with defense and had trouble staying on the floor and finding a rhythm with early fouls. Stone was averaging 5.2 points per game when he got to Reed Arena. Then he bombed in four of his six 3-point tries (including a trio in the first half) on the way to a career-high 18 points to go with five rebounds. Above, there was a reference to players knowing who they are. Right now, Stone is an exceptional 3-point shooter at the "4" position — he's now at 53.6 percent from the arc for the season — which means he can spread a defense and draw opposing bigs away from the paint and allow Chris Chiozza to go to work, either driving it or finding Egor Koulechov (5-fo-6 from 3 vs the Aggies), Jalen Hudson (3-for-4), etc. He is also an adequate rebounder. What he is not (yet) is a guy who should be driving the basketball into traffic without looking to kick it out, as he did at least three times Tuesday with negative results. Stone will hear these very points in meeting with coaches and in team film review Thursday. With his feet set and trigger hand cocked on the perimeter, what a weapon he can be for an offense with a bunch of weapons out there anyway. Consistency, obviously, is the next step in his maturation process. But he was really good.

3) One hour and 41 minutes. That's how long the UF-A&M game took. Seriously. Officials called 21 fouls, but the two teams combined for just six free throws, with the Gators attempting one. One! You wonder how coaches might feel about a game called in that manner. Basically, as long as its called the same both ways, they're cool with it. And this one definitely was called even. A&M didn't have to defend a lot of driving Gators because they were making everything from long-distance. The Aggies tried to work the interior of the UF defense, but the Gators packed themselves into the paint, showed their hands and were disciplined in keeping their feet against head fakes, while also jumping vertically and avoiding obvious contact. Clean game. A byproduct of it was an arrival back in Gainesville more than an hour earlier than anticipated. Thank you, officiating crew (and that wicked tailwind).

Gators Calendar

Players Mentioned

Chris Chiozza

John Egbunu

Kevarrius Hayes

Jalen Hudson

Egor Koulechov

Keith Stone

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