GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Alex Condon had just tallied a career-high 23 points by hitting all seven of his field goal attempts, helping the 21st-ranked Florida Gators coast to a relatively easy 81-60 victory over Jacksonville in their home opener Thursday night. The 6-foot-11, 230-pound sophomore forward known as "Condo" had earned his turn at the post-game podium.
"It was a weird game for me," Condon said after besting his previous career high by 10 points, while stretching his offensive game with a couple 3-pointers. "I didn't rebound."
That's true. Condon, who averaged 6.4 rebounds per game last season (good enough for ninth in the Southeastern Conference as a freshman), pulled down one measly board against an out-sized opponent, but the rest of the Gators didn't really rebound, either, and that did not sit well with UF coach Todd Golden.
"Obviously, we want him to be better on the glass," Golden said of his Australian big man. "That was a conversation we had with him; not necessarily [just] him specifically, but with the whole team after. I thought we played a pretty good game, but we did not rebound well enough if we want to be the team we're capable of."
GuardAlijah Martinfinishes a dunk.
Besides Condon, the Gators (2-0) got a terrific all-around floor game from fifth-year guard Alijah Martin, the Florida Atlantic transfer, who scored 15 points, grabbed four rebounds, dished four assists (to one turnover) and had a career-high six steals in his UF home debut.
"I wanted to make sure my first game here would be a display of what Alijah Martin can bring to the table and the Florida Gators," Martin said in the third-person after going 5-for-9 from the floor, 3-for-6 from the arc and sinking both his free throws. "I think I did a good job of that."
Senior wing Will Richard had 11 points, five rebounds three assists and three steals, while senior point guard Walter Clayton Jr. had nine points and a career-best seven assists. Backup forward Sam Alexis, the Tennessee-Chattanooga transfer also making his O'Dome debut, finished with 10 points, seven rebounds and four blocks in just 15 minutes.
Florida shot nearly 53 percent for the game, held the Dolphins (1-1) to just under 38 percent for the game (with 10 steals) and scored 46 points in the paint. JU, though, beat UF on the glass 40-35, including an 18-12 advantage on the offensive end. At one point in the game, the Dolphins had 10 offensive rebounds and the Gators, who ranked eighth in the country last season in offensive-rebound efficiency, had just one. Jacksonville also had 16 second-chance points.
Cue the concern.
"Fundamentally, we're not great right now," Golden said of his team's rebounding. "Part of it is combination of being too amped up and trying to run and trace down the ball, as opposed to hitting bodies, holding them and going to get it. We had a couple where we were sprinting in to rebound and the ball went over our head. Some of that stuff we have to eliminate. It's an area we have not been as good as we need to be."
Sort of like the team's 3-point shooting, which was 29.2 percent against JU (7-for-24) compared to 25 in Monday's season-opening win over South Florida. Like their game against the Bulls, though, the Gators were highly efficient in the 2-point area in going 23 of 33 (69.7 percent).
UF was on the mark early, making its first eight shots of the game, but only leading by a point midway through the half before a 16-2 run helped open a 14-point lead, 46-32, at the break. The Gators hit their first five shots out of the locker room to jump ahead by 19 points.
Junior forward Sam Alexis(4), the transfer from Tennessee-Chattanooga, is pumped after an and-one finish in the second half.
On the way to building the margin as high as 27, the 6-2 Clayton had a rip-roaring slam dunk in transition traffic that sent the O'Dome crowd and his teammates into a tizzy.
"Crazy!" Martin said. "I don't know what happened. I mean, I know what happened, I still couldn't believe it."
That may be what the team is saying about Florida's rebounding when it reviews the tape the next few days in the run-up to Monday's home game against Grambling. The Gators can expect to get some criticism.
Probably even welcome it.
"If this team is going to be good, I need to get in there and rebound," Condon said.
Email senior writer Chris Harry at chrish@gators.ufl.edu
