This Alex Fudge (3) dunk (on FSU's 7-4 center Naheem McLeod) was the No. 4 play on Friday night's SportsCenter Top 10. (Photo: Hannah White/UAA Communications)
Energy Bar Set in Tally, Needs to be Higher in Portland
Thursday, November 24, 2022 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
Share:
By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer
PORTLAND, Ore. — By the time Alex Fudge boarded the team bus Friday night for the trip from Tallahassee back to Gainesville, his cell phone had blown up with shoutout texts from the likes of Chandler Parsons, Patric Young, Joakim Noah and even Will Wade, his former coach at LSU. They were all acknowledging the rangy, 6-foot-9 sophomore forward's jaw-dropping dunk at Florida State.
In case you missed it — hard to imagine, given the five replay angles and its place in the SportsCenter Top 10 — Fudge got a pass on the left wing from Myreon Jones, instantly attacked the baseline, two short dribbles worth, then elevated over (get this) 7-foot-4 center Naheem McLeod and used his right hand to posterize one of the tallest players in all of college basketball.
Disclaimer: Yes, the below tweet was embedded in the UF-FSU game coverage, so forgive the redundancy because it's worth it.
"I had a dunk like that once in high school, where I just caught it on the wing and ripped it. Just threw it over some dude," Fudge said this week. "This time, though, when I got up, I didn't realize he was 7-4 until I was at the top, so I knew I had to finish it. I was like, 'OK then.' "
The reaction from the UF bench was a little more than "OK then." While the Gators roared the Seminoles fans mostly groaned and grimaced.
"I was mind-blown," junior guard Trey Bonham said. "He hasn't even done anything like that in practice. That was crazy."
Added UF fifth-year forward Colin Castleton: "Best dunk I've ever seen live."
The play came toward the end of Florida's furious second-half rally from 17 down at intermission to a 76-67 victory that equaled the second-largest comeback on the road in program history, as well as the Gators' first win at FSU in 10 years. In the bigger picture, the rally gave the team an energy standard from which to operate if Coach Todd Golden's first UF squad is going to max out its potential.
Frankly, the Gators (3-1) should set that energy bar even higher, and probably will have to, starting Thursday, when they face Xavier (3-1) in opening-round play of the Phil Knight Nike Legacy Invitational, a 16-team, two-tournament basketball bonanza of mostly high-major elites that will be played out in downtown Portland over Thanksgiving weekend.
[Read senior writer Chris Harry's "Pregame Stuff" setup here]
Castleton, the 6-11 standout, fueled the comeback by scoring 19 of his game-high 25 points in the second half, but it also took big bench contributions from Bonham, Fudge and even 6-11 Jason Jitoboh to kickstart the comeback.
The Gators huddle up Wednesday following their shoot-around at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Portland.
(Photo: Maddie Washburn/UAA Communications)
Bonham replaced Kowacie Reeves in starting the second half and finished with 11 points, seven rebounds and three assists, while giving point guard Kyle Lofton a second ball-handler to play with and off of. Bonham provided big-time energy on the defensive end, also, and played pest to FSU's guards at the top of the Seminoles' offense.
"He just played with great confidence and tempo," Golden said of the Virginia Military Institute transfer. "That was the guy we expected to see, but hadn't."
The UF coaches are awaiting Bonham-like breakout moments from others, such as Reeves and freshman combo guard Riley Kugel, neither of whom played after halftime against FSU.
"We had it going in the second half," Golden said.
There was no need to switch up.
Junior guard Trey Bonham, who had a UF career-high 11 points and seven rebounds at FSU, at PK85 practice Wednesday. (Photo: Maddie Washburn/UAA Communications)
Reeves, the 6-6 sophomore, is capable of big performances, as he demonstrated late last season in averaging 16.3 points, 50 percent from the floor and 40 percent from the 3-point line in UF's three postseason games. So far, he's averaging 8.5 points and 2.3 rebounds, while shooting 40.7 overall and a team-best 47.1 from deep. OK numbers, sure, but what Golden and his staff want from him is consistency on both ends of the floor and focused next-play mentality.
The situation with Kugel is different. Arguably the best pure athlete on the team, the 6-5 Kugel is just 2-for-12 from the floor and has missed several routine at-the-rim opportunities — "bunnies," as their called — including a couple dunk attempts.
Those kinds of misses (not just by Kugel, but by a handful of Gators) were costly in the two-point upset loss at home against Florida Atlantic last week and even showed up again in the first half at Florida State.
UF shot 51.6 percent in the second half, though, and did a much better job of finishing at the rim.
Especially Fudge, who checked in at No. 4 on the SportsCenter Top 10.
"Jumping over the guy is always a good strategy," Golden said. "It certainly wasn't coaching."
