By Ken Cross
KISSIMMEE, Fla. – The No. 16 Florida Gators took a huge step defensively this week as Florida held Wichita State to 29.8 percent from the floor in rendering the Shockers an 88-51 setback in the championship game of the ESPN Events Invitational at ESPN Wide World of Sports in Disney World.
The Gators took over the game by producing a 27-0 run over the last 7:26 of the first half and the first 3:02 of the second 20 minutes and handed Wichita State its fifth-worst loss in team history. Defensively, Florida held the Shockers to 0-of-9 from their field with six turnovers during that stretch.
“It’s more complete, more consistent and again, going back to the defensive side of the ball, we held Wake to 58 last night, held a really good Wichita team to 51 today,” said Gators head coach Todd Golden. “I’m saying the same thing again, if we can continue to to do that on the defensive end, we’re going to be tough.”
Walter Clayton scored nine of his game-high 19 points in that stretch as he nailed a three and scored on an alley-oop from Chris Richard in that stretch.
Florida’s assault continued in the second half as the Gators led Wichita State, 77-31, where Sam Alexis and Denzel Aberdeen scored on back-to-back three-pointers.
Alex Condon scored 17 points on his 3-for-3 shooting from behind the arc and Rueben Chinyelu posted a double-double of 14 points and 11 rebounds. The Gators’ defense held Wichita State to 6-of-32 from the floor in the first half.
“We knew it was going to take time for this team to come together and gel, but I feel like the way he stepped up over the last two games provided another level for us,” Golden said of Chinyelu’s back-to-back efforts.
Florida outrebounded the Shockers, 56-30 for the game and posted 20 points off of 20 offensive rebounds.
Matej Bosnjak led with 11 points while Bell scored 10. Florida held Wichita State leading scorer Harlond Beverly to three points as he only found four shots in 22 minutes.
“I don’t think effort was the issue,” said Shockers coach Paul Mills. “It was more about how everybody was trying to burden themselves with ‘I need to make a play’ rather than ‘I need to make the right basketball play.’