Myreon Jones was in complete control Wednesday night on his way to nine points and career highs of 10 rebounds and eight assists in the Gators' win over the Gamecocks.
Jones Does It All in Rout of Gamecocks
Wednesday, January 25, 2023 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Myreon Jones has a great smile, but Florida basketball fans haven't gotten to see it very often during his two seasons as a Gator. Shooting woes can do that to a prideful player who's falling short of his personal standards.
Through the power of perseverance, though, Jones has rediscovered an altogether different way to be productive and the full buffet of "Myreon 2.0" was on display Wednesday night in UF's 81-60 thrashing of South Carolina in its Southeastern Conference game at Exactech Arena/O'Connell, as Jones led the Gators (12-8, 5-3) to a fifth win in six games.
Once a 3-point shooting specialist at Penn State, Jones' prowess from deep may not have accompanied him in the transfer portal, but the court-savvy veteran took his highly efficient court game to another level against the Gamecocks in flirting with a triple-double before finishing with nine points and career highs of 10 rebounds, eight assists and — get this — zero turnovers in just over 31 minutes.
"Is that good?" UF coach Todd Golden deadpanned afterward.
Rhetorical question, obviously.
The question put to Jones a few minutes earlier was more direct.
Have you remade your game?
"I played on the ball some at Penn State, but now I have more responsibility as an older player to make sure everyone is in the the right place," Jones said. "Doing that, I think, has made me a different player. I'm not worried about scoring. I have to make sure everything else is going right."
Myreon Jones on the move against the Gamecocks. (Photo: Maddie Washburn/UAA Communications)
Things went right enough against the Gamecocks (8-12, 1-6) for the Gators to shoot 47 percent from the floor with a season-high 21 assists on 31 made field goals. Those numbers came on the heels of Saturday night's road win at Mississippi State, where UF tallied 16 assists, which was its high mark in SEC play. The Gators beat that number by five Wednesday.
They did it, like they have since the start of the SEC season, with Jones paired almost exclusively alongside fellow fifth-year Kyle Lofton, the St. Bonaventure transfer, who together passed through and around the South Carolina defense to the point the home team was firing at 65 percent in the second half and leading by 30 when it came time to empty the bench.
The last two games, Jones and Lofton have combined for 22 assists and no turnovers.
"Playing [Myreon] and Kyle has been really helpful for both those guys. They take pressure off each other as playmakers," Golden said. "Just for [Myreon], now, knowing he's going to be out there for a long time gives him a little more freedom and confidence to go out and make plays. But that secondary ball-hander, I think, was something we were missing earlier in the season and I probably should have done a better job figuring that out. Credit for him, though, for playing so well. It's hard to keep him off the court right now."
Fifth-year forward Colin Castleton led UF with 18 points, hitting seven of his 10 attempts from the floor, to go with three rebounds, three assists and three blocked shots. Sophomore wing Kowacie Reeves equaled his highest scoring output in nine games with 15 points, including a trio of 3s, further distancing himself from that woeful 2-for-28 slump he snapped four nights earlier with a couple 3s in Starkville. Freshman guard Riley Kugel, making his first start since Dec. 7 (and fourth of the season) in place of the injured Alex Fudge, scored a career-best 14 points, with sophomore guard Will Richard and Lofton each tossing in 10 points.
South Carolina was led by forward Gregory "GG" Jackson II, the projected 2023 NBA lottery pick, who had 20 points and 10 rebounds, but was limited to just seven of 18 from the floor, as UF held the Gamecocks to just 34.5 percent. Make that seven SEC games (out of eight) the Gators have held opponents to under 40-percent shooting. UF's struggles on the glass continued, especially with the 6-foot-10 Fudge sidelined and going to a smaller lineup, as USC won the boards 45-36, including 12-6 on the offensive glass, with 21 second-chance points.
But the Gators still won going away.
Sophomore wing Kowacie Reeves(14) with the nasty second-half throw down on his way to 15 points.
"We knew we had to take care of business, come out and just have a good effort," said Castleton, as he looked ahead to a brutal four-game run of three games against top-five with three of them on the road, starting Saturday night against fifth-ranked Kansas State (and former UF star Keyontae Johnson) in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge. "We know we have a good stretch coming up here with a lot of good teams, so we just got to stay connected as ever."
For the first time in league play this season, the Gators got off to a decent start at home, taking a 15-6 lead six minutes in. The Gamecocks hung around, however, and trailed by only eight at halftime and scored the first two points of the second to close within a half-dozen.
That was that.
A 12-2 spree for Florida, including a 3-pointer by Kugel and old-time 3-point play from a cutting Jones on a great feed from Castleton, helped the home team go up 16. The margin was 20 after a slam from Castleton on a nice low-post pitch from reserve guard Niels Lane.
At their best, the Gators not only shared the ball (four players with at least three assists), but got out in transition (21-3 edge in fast-break points), worked the ball inside or hit cutters diving the lane (40-26 advantage on points in the paint) and just basically looked better on offense — more "connected," as Castleton put it — for a second consecutive game.
"We're hitting that stride where we're really just playing together, playing for each other, and also just making shots at the same time, too," Jones said. "A lot of assists come from just getting stops on defense and then hitting the open shooters. A lot of it just comes from playing with each other long enough, and now we're getting comfortable."
Smiling Myreon Jones breaks down the game with the Gator Radio Network crew. (Photo: Hannah White/UAA Communications)
With eight minutes to go and the Gators in the middle of a 10-0 run on the way to opening a 30-point lead, Richard grabbed a defensive rebound and away UF went in transition. Jones took a short jumper that missed, but grabbed the rebound then pitched it to Richard for an open 3. That one missed too, but again Jones gathered the board. This time, he eyed Kugel in the corner for a 3.
Swish.
Jones looked toward the Florida bench. And smiled.
