WHAT HAPPENED: The trio of forward
Adama Sanogo, center
Donovan Clingan and guard
Jordan Hawkins combined for 48 points, but it was the all-around excellence of the fifth-ranked and unbeaten Huskies that did in the Gators Wednesday night during a one-sided 75-54 loss at Exactech Arena/O'Connell. UConn jumped on the home team early and stayed there, on the way to shooting 51.7 percent for the game (64.0 in the second half), holding UF to just 30.2 percent, pounding the Gators on the glass 42-28 and outscoring them 40-22 in the paint. Sanogo had 17 points and seven rebounds, while Clingan, the 7-foot-2, 250-pound freshman, totaled 16 points on eight of nine shooting to go with eight rebounds and three blocked shots. Hawkins had 15 points, four rebounds and three assists.The Gators were led by freshman guard
Riley Kugel's career-high 13 points. Fifth-year forward
Colin Castleton had 12 points and eight rebounds over 32 minutes, but struggled in going 4-for-14 from the floor after starting one of nine in the first half, as the Huskies buried UF into a deep halftime hole the home team had no chance recovering from. Things went south quickly, with UConn using a run of nine straight points from the 15-minute mark to just inside 12 minutes to jump ahead 16-6. The spree came during a UF dry spell of when the Gators went scoreless over 4:42, missing nine of 10 shots at one point (with eight consecutive misses) and turning it over three times (seven turnovers through first five minutes). The Gators appeared to be settling in, down just 22-15 inside five minutes, when Hawkins was fouled attempting a 3, a call that sent Florida coach
Todd Golden into a rage, complaining that Hawkins extended his leg to initiate contact. No matter. Hawkins hit all three free throws, then guard
Andrew Jackson Jr. buried a 3, then Clingan scored a layup for eight straight points and a 15-point lead, 35-20, with four minutes to go in the half. The Gators got as close as 10 once early in the second half, and had possession of the ball to make bring the margin inside double digits and maybe turn some momentum. UF misfired on its end. UConn hit a 3 on its. It was never close after that, as the Huskies put down 16 of 25 field-goal tries for the half.
UF forward Alex Fudge throws down in the first half Wednesday night.
WHAT IT MEANS: There's no shame in losing to one of the best teams in the country, as UConn came into the game ranked No. 2 in the NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) metrics. But the Gators were never really in the game in falling to 0-4 in "Quadrant-1" opportunities, with losses also to Florida Atlantic (21st), Xavier (43rd) and West Virginia (10th). Florida probably will have no fewer than 10 more Q-1 opportunities, which is great, but eventually you have to win them. Lots of them, actually.
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Any talk about national-championship contenders needs to include the Huskies, now 10-0. They have now blown out five straight high-major opponents (Oregon, Alabama, Iowa State, Oklahoma State and Florida), all by double digits, and would appear to have no weaknesses. And Sanogo, a first-team All-America candidate, played just 20 minutes.
STAGGERING STATISTIC: Sophomore guard
Will Richard, junior point guard
Trey Bonham, sophomore guard
Kowacie Reeves and fifth-year point
Kyle Lofton came into the game as UF's second-, third-, fourth- and fifth- leading scorers, averaging a combined 43.0 points per game. The quartet had combined for just two through the first nearly 27 (until two Reeves free throws at 13:05 of the second half) and finished with 11 points on 2-for-19 shooting from the floor and 1-for-9 from the arc. Richard, the transfer from Belmont who came into the game scoring 13.6 points, shooting 61 percent from the floor and 59 from 3, was held scoreless for just the second time in his 42-game career.
UP NEXT: Florida (6-4) will have the rest of the week off before heading into exams, with the Gators' next game a semi-neutral site date Wednesday against Ohio in Tampa. The Bobcats (4-4), out of the Mid-American Conference, will play Sunday at Youngstown State before heading south, as UF will return to Amalie Arena, home to the NHL Tampa Bay Lightning and site of the 2022 SEC Tournament, where the Gators lost at the buzzer to Texas A&M.
