GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The home team was coasting, up 24 in the second half, when senior guard Will Richard intercepted a pass at midcourt and took it in for an uncontested dunk. Twent seconds later, Richard came up with another swipe and took off for another clean break. This time, however, he looked off his left shoulder and saw center Rueben Chinyelu trailing the play.
Richard shoveled a two-handed drop pass for his 6-foot-10½ teammate. Chinyelu flushed the ball with authority, much to the delight of the Exatech Arena/O'Connell Center crowd.
"This team is super unselfish and they play for each other," UF coach Todd Golden said.
The stat sheet backed him up. The Gators (3-0), with three wins to open a season for the first time in three years, had five players in double figures and three more with at least eight points. Chinyelu, the Washington State transfer with just eight points in his first two games in his new uniform, led the way by equaling his career-high of 14 points.
Three teammates – Richard, point guard Walter Clayton Jr. and backup forward Sam Alexis, the transfer from Tennessee-Chattanooga – each chipped in 12 points. The two Richard steals gave him a career-high five for the game, while Alexis had six rebounds. Sophomore forward Alex Condon had 10 points, a game-high eight rebounds and two blocks. Guard Alijah Martin, the Florida Atlantic transfer, had his third across-the-box-score effort in as many games as a Gator with nine points, seven rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocks.
Backup forward Thomas Haugh scored nine points and grabbed seven rebounds, while reserve point guard Denzel Aberdeen threw in eight points.
Unselfish? Yes. Playing for each other? Definitely.
Playing for their coach. Absolutely.
"Challenging," was how he described the last several days, but Golden praised the work of his players and staff over the weekend and what everyone brought to the floor Monday.
"I think they know who I am and, again, they're mature," he said. "They're all really good guys and all super-focused. We had really good practices. We had a great shoot-around today and I thought they were all really locked in. I felt like we were going to play really well tonight."
UF, which had struggled rebounding the ball in its first two games, built a 15-point lead in great part due to its work on the glass. The Gators had a 25-10 rebounding advantage at the break, including 9-1 on the offensive end and a 12-0 advantage in second-chance points.
Though they started the half just 4-for-17 shooting from the floor (with a 1-for-9 drought), the Gators still were up 19 and finished the game by making 11 of their final 15 shots.
Golden was asked what's getting him through each day.
"Respecting the situation, my family, my team, my coaching staff," he said. "We're just continuing to attack it like we normally would every day."
Email senior writer Chris Harry at chrish@gators.ufl.edu
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