Florida Basketball exploits USF's lack of interior defense to avoid upset

If one were to just glance at the final score for the season opener for Florida Basketball, they wouldn't have suspected anything was amiss. The Gators won 98-83, and Walter Clayton had 29 points to lead the way.

But the final ten minutes were not how the first 30 minutes played out, and in the end, the Gators were able to lean on their size until their entire operation kicked into full gear.

Florida Basketball: 1-0

It is somewhat wild that Florida was 5/25 from three, had just ten assists on 33 made shots, and still put up 98 points against USF. Florida kept jacking up brick after brick from downtown, even on wide-open looks. Newcomer Alijah Martin was 0-6 from three, while returner Will Richard was 2-7.

USF, meanwhile, wasn't missing early and had a 36-23 lead with 6:15 left in the first half.

Along the way, Florida figured out that USF had zero answers for them inside the paint, and the message became clear: attack the rim at all costs. It was the trio of Clayton, Richard, and Martin who kept driving with the ball and kept scoring at will. Eventually, USF ran out of gas.

With 10:44 left in the game, the score was 63-62 before Florida closed out the game on a 35-21 stretch. Fifteen of Clayton's points came during this closeout stretch.

Alex Condon had five offensive rebounds to help along his 13-point night, while Thomas Haugh had six rebounds.

Florida will next take the court on Thursday when they face Jacksonville. As we had put in our "Bold Predictions" piece, the Gators should be favored in their first ten games of the season before they take on UNC on 12/17.