Florida survived against FSU 78-76 to move to 2-1 on the season. The Gators dominated inside and were able to overcome another poor night of shooting beyond the arc. As it stands right now, Florida is 336th in the country in three-point shooting.
And at the center of Florida's struggles is transfer guard Xaivian Lee, who came over from Princeton this offseason. Even though Lee had a rough night, Todd Golden isn't ready to pull the plug just yet.
Todd Golden backs Xaivian Lee
Lee didn't have a great night shooting, as he went 1-10 from deep. This follows being 3-11 from deep against Arizona and 2-8 from deep against UNF.
Florida was able to overcome the poor shooting against FSU, but it's not a recipe for success when the competition ramps up. Golden was asked about the poor shooting night after the game:
"I think he's getting pretty good looks. You know, we'll go back and watch it and kind of evaluate the shots that he's taking and where he's getting them.
But, you know, I think especially in the second half, we got a lot of good looks and had multiple opportunities to kind of hit that dagger shot that, you know, and to Florida State's credit, they kept coming back, kept coming back, but we had them on their heels a little bit in the middle of the half, and we got up nine, and we missed some good looks to extend it.
And again, I have plenty of faith that X-Lee will start knocking them down.
He's close to a career 36, 37 percent three-point shooter, has made a lot of tough shots in his career, getting comfortable playing off the ball and just being shot-ready on the catch.
But you know, I think going back and looking at his looks that we would probably expect three or four makes out of those tonight. So from my memory of the game, I think we're getting some pretty good ones, and we got to step up and knock them down."
Now, if one wants solace that there is a pathway to turn things around from deep, these are Walter Clayton Jr.'s stats from deep during his first seven games with Florida:
- 1-2
- 1-6
- 1-4
- 3-8
- 6-8
- 1-8
- 1-6
By the end of the 2023-24 season, Clayton Jr. shot 36.5% from three.
But it is a worthwhile storyline to pay attention to if the shots don't start falling before January, when conference play starts.