Florida Gators basketball clinches SEC title, eyes national title
· Yahoo Sports
GAINESVILLE — Most members of the Florida men’s basketball team had done this before, putting on the championship-winning hats and t-shirts, dodging the falling confetti, posing for an on-court group picture and calmly — and safely — passing the scissors around to cut down nets at both ends of the floor.
But not after clinching at least a share of the SEC regular season title.
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“It’s the one we didn’t have yet,” forward Alex Condon would say after seventh-ranked Florida ran No. 20 Arkansas out of the gym, 111-77, on Saturday, Feb. 28.
Way back in December, when the Gators were 5-4, it seemed unlikely they would get this “one,” but look at them now.
Regular-season conference crown? Check.
Back-to-back league tournament titles? They will be favored in Nashville.
And repeat national championship? Definitely possible after they made Arkansas look like a mid-major team before a prime-time television audience and a raucous O’Connell Center crowd. Put the Gators in the same group as Duke, Michigan and Arizona.
“I think we’re playing as good of basketball as anybody in America right now,” UF coach Todd Golden said.
No argument here.
What a terrific team Florida has turned into. What a balanced team. What a menacing team.
The Gators enter March with a 23-6 record (14-2 league), 14-1 in their last 15 games and a perfect 9-0 February.
Not just 9-0, a 9-0 with many exclamation points. Wins by 23, 19, 20, 9, 14, 19, 13 and 34 points. It was actually surprising when it trailed Arkansas, 16-11. They win most nights with superior big-man play. They win with stretches of batten-hatching defense. And, this part is trouble for the rest of the nation’s elite teams, they are 27 of 60 (45%) from 3-point territory in the last three games.
“Love it,” Golden said of the February record. “Have to try to not lose in March, either.”
Who would bet against the Gators at this point?
’Great game in all phases’
Condon climbed the ladder to make the initial net-cut. Micah Handlogten was next. Thomas Haugh, Xaivian Lee and Boogle Fland followed. Later, it was Urban Klavzar. And then Isaiah Brown and finally, Rueben Chinyelu, who made the final snip, waved the net in the air and put it around his neck.
Condon and Brown then carried the ladder to the other end of the court so the coaching staff could cut down the net. Brown carried the banner that listed UF’s league titles (1989, 2000, 2001, 2007, 2011, 2013, 2014 and 2016). And Golden walked into his post-game press conference clutching the net.
Arkansas was supposed to present a stiff challenge. The Hogs had won 10 of their last 12 games and had the league’s top scorer/assist man in Darius Acuff Jr. And for a little while, this had the makings of a track meet nail-biter. The lead changed hands four times. Both teams were running the floor.
But then UF did what UF does.
A five-point deficit turned into a seven-point lead … which turned into an 11-point lead … which turned into a 17-point lead … which turned into a 19-point lead.
“Arkansas got us on our heels early with their speed, but once we got comfortable, we never looked back,” Golden said. “We played a great game in all phases.”
This UF team comes at you in waves of phases. A put-back and dunk by Condon. Eight consecutive points by Brown off the bench. A game-high 22 by the consistent Haugh. Sixteen rebounds in only 23 minutes by Chinyelu. And 14 off the bench by Klavzar.
It was tied for Calipari’s worst-career loss. It was the most points scored by UF against a ranked opponent. It was UF’s largest win ever over a ranked team. They had seven players score in double figures for the first time in nine years. Complete. Thorough. Dominating.
“On the scale of things, it’s the smallest thing we wanted to achieve,” Condon said of the league title. “Now onto the next thing (and) the SEC Tournament. We want that 1 seed and we have to play this way to get it.”
Who would bet against the Gators at this point?
Gators should be No. 1 seed
Entering March, the Gators should be on the No. 1 seed line when the NCAA Tournament bracket is revealed. Just keep winning, fellas. Handle Mississippi State and Kentucky this week (one more win equals the outright league title) and win three times in Nashville.
After their win over Arkansas, the Gators are fourth in net rankings behind Duke, Michigan and Arizona. Those four teams are a notch above Houston, Illinois, Gonzaga, Purdue and Connecticut.
Florida lost to Duke and Connecticut during its aforementioned rocky start. But there was a method to the scheduling madness. Figure things out while playing the best competition possible.
“We knew who we were as a team from the beginning,” Haugh said. “We stuck to it.”
Said Golden: “When we were 5-4, we thought we could have a special season if we improved incrementally. Every year is different and every team is different. We were incredibly fortunate to return some impact players off a national championship team, but it took us a little bit (of time) to get comfortable and find our way. The credit this team deserves more than anything is (for) staying together and believing in each other when guys weren’t playing at their best and not pointing fingers.”
The Gators opened SEC play with a dud-of-a-loss at Missouri, but since then, have really only played one bad half of basketball in 16 games (the first half in a home loss to Auburn). Lee and Fland have, to use Golden’s phrase, found their way. We knew what Haugh and Condon would do. Chinyelu is the nation’s best rebounder. And Golden settled on an eight-man rotation with Klavzar, Brown and Handlogten off the bench.
These Gators look Final Four Ready … check that, Repeat National Championship Ready.
“This can’t be the best thing that happened to us this year,” Golden said of the league title. “Because of the way we played in February, we’ve opened up a lot of opportunities for us down the stretch and if we take care of business, there isn’t a seed out there that is unattainable for us.”
Who would bet against the Gators at this point?
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This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Florida Gators basketball: SEC champs, national title next?