What Happened
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Senior guard
Walter Clayton Jr. scored 27 points, with 18 coming in a second half when host and 13th-ranked Florida shot 64 percent from the floor and zipped to a 87-69 rout of Virginia Wednesday night in the ACC/SEC Challenge at Exactech Arena/O'Connell Center.
Clayton went 10 of 19 from the floor, including five of 12 from the 3-point line to lead four Gators into double-figure scoring. He also had four assists, two steals and just one turnover in 34 minutes. Sophomore forward
Alex Condon added 19 points and eight rebounds, with fifth-year guard
Alijah Martin chipping in 16 points and five boards. Junior guard
Denzel Aberdeen had 12 points off the bench, providing a 10-point first-half spark when his team needed it.
The victory improved the Gators to 9-0, equaling their best start through nine games since 2005, when that UF team that eventually claimed its first NCAA title opened that season with 17 straight wins. The 9-0 mark is only the third in the program's 119-year history. UF started the day as one of 14 unbeaten teams remaining in the country.
UVA was hot from the tip, raining four 3s in just over five minutes to take an 18-9 lead before the Gators reeled off 15 consecutive points to go up 29-20 before the Cavs settled in and trailed just 39-35 at halftime.
The Cavs dropped a couple 3s in the first three-plus minutes of the second half and trailed 46-41 when back-to-back driving layups by Clayton and Martin started a 15-4 run, with the final six points coming from Condon, including a 3-pointer. The Gators led 66-52 when Clayton hit a 3 from the top of the key, was fouled and converted the free throw. Less than a minute later, he scored on a run-out layup off a steal to push the margin to a game-high 20 with inside eight minutes to go, basically clinching yet another -- make that nine out of nine -- double-digit wins in this young season. UF's average margin of victory stands at 21.5 per game.
The Gators were out-rebounded for the game 34-30 (13-11 on offensive end), but forced 15 turnovers leading to 20 points, while giving it away only six times for four points.
The Cavs shot 45.6 percent for the game, going 8-for-21 from deep, but hurt by turnovers. Virginia (5-3) was led by forward
Elijah Saunders 19 points and five rebounds.
UF guard Walter Clayton Jr. drives on the UVA defense during Wednesday night's first-half on his way to 27 points.
What it Means
The number of unbeaten teams will shrink by night's end, while the Gators did nothing to damage their debut at No. 6 in the first NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) rankings of the season.
In the Spotlight
Clayton, the team's scoring lead at 17.4 points per game coming in, maintained his fabulous level of play, coming off his MVP performance in the ESPN Events Invitational last week.
Staggering Statistic
Going plus-16 in points off turnovers is going to win a lot of games.
Up Next
Florida (9-0) will take some time off for Reading Days leading into semester exams and return to the floor Dec. 14 with what now looms as a challenging showdown against Arizona State (8-1), part of the Holiday Hoopsgiving slate at State Farm Arena in Atlanta. The Sun Devils, coached by
Bobby Hurley, have rocketed up the NET rankings with three straight wins against Top 100 teams, including an upset of unbeaten St. Mary's, and sit at No. 30. The game will be a Q1 for both teams.
Email senior writer Chris Harry at chrish@gators.ufl.edu
