Rueben Chinyelu (9) recorded his seventh double-double of this season as guard Boogie Fland uses Chinyelu’s presence to get to the rim in Florida’s 94-72 win over Dartmouth. Photo courtesy of Florida Athletics.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The No. 12 Florida Gators (KenPom rating) started with a 12-1 run over the first 3:34 topost their lead by as many as 32 points in routing Dartmouth, 94-72, in Exactech Arena’s O’Connell Center, on Tuesday evening, Forward Alex Condon led five Gators in double figures with 17 points and Rueben Chinyelu posted the lone Gators double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds.
“We have been here before and won a national championship here,” said Condon. “If we want to hold them to that championship standard, we’ve got to be vocal and talk early every time. That’s important to us, and we really care about our program.”
Chinyelou checked in with his seventh double-double of the season as he averages 10.7 points and an SEC high 10.9 rebounds per game.
“I feel like I’m showcasing what I have been working on, just getting better,” said Chinyelu. “Just doing anything that I could to get my team up there. The most important thing is to put the team first…getting the win.”
Center Micah Handlogten scored on a layup and off of an offensive rebound as he figured inside of a 15-6 run where five Gators scored to up the lead to 45-20 with 4:26 left until halftime. Guard Xaivian Lee converted a pair of layups in the halfcourt as the Gators extended to a 53-27 advantage at the break.
“I thought we had a really good first half,” said Gators coach Todd Golden. “We played with great intent and obviously dominated them in the first, however many minutes on the glass, and played with great purpose. It’s difficult when you win by 22, but you are disappointed when the game ends.”
Florida took its biggest lead at 63-31 when Boogie Fland created transition off of a steal and alley-ooped a pass to Condon with 16:39 left in the game.
“It’s about us, getting better, how can we execute, and how can we stick to the scout, because that’s the most important thing. Once you get all those dots connected, everything will align,” said Chinyelu.
Fland had 10 points and five assists while Lee was 5-of-9 from the floor with 12 points in 21 minutes.
Over-Board: Florida outrebounded Dartmouth, 60- 24, which highlighted why the Gators lead college basketball by outrebounding their opponents by 15.6 boards per outing. The Gators scored 23 points off of 25 offensive rebounds in dominating the Big Green on the offensive glass, 23-5.
While Chinyelou posted the lone double-double, Condon went for 17 points and nine rebounds. Handlogten scored eight points with 12 boards, with Thomas Haugh adding nine points and eight rebounds in 27 minutes.
While the Big Green outscored Florida, 45-41, in the second half, Golden expressed that the Gators needed to play the full 40 minutes as the SEC opener is at Missouri on Saturday.
“When they (more experienced players) see some of those younger guys out there, getting an opportunity, my expectation is that they coach them up as well,” said Golden. “Our staff is doing it, but they need to have an equal amount of pride on the defensive end as well. So yes, it needs to be collective, and being player-led is best.”
SEC Play on the Horizon: Florida starts at 11-3 and faces the 10-3 Missouri Tigers on Saturday in Columbia, Mo. Missouri fell, 91-48, to No. 16 Illinois (KenPom rating) in the last game, so the loss to the Illini after losses to Kansas and Notre Dame may be more of a precursor, heading into the 8:30 EST start in Gainesville.
“It’s going to be a challenge going on the road to Missouri to start SEC play on Saturday, but from where we were at the beginning of the season to now, we have improved up to this point,” noted Golden. “But we need to continue to get better and strive for that full 40-minute game, and it’s going to be a great challenge on Saturday night.”
Florida’s depth in the post will be an interesting storyline against Missouri big man Mark Mitchell, who leads the Tigers with 17.2 ppg and 5.8 rpg, while shooting 58.6 percent from the floor.
“I think we have been better at taking care of the ball,” interjected Golden. “We had four turnovers in the first 36 minutes against Colgate, and we’ve done a good job in previous games before that. We have started to defend without fouling better. We did a good job keeping these teams off the free-throw line. We’ve regressed guarding the 3-point line these last couple of games, actually, because Colgate got us from three as well.”