After struggling to put away South Florida in its season opener, No. 21 Florida hopes to have an easier time against another in-state foe Thursday night when it hosts Jacksonville in Gainesville, Fla.
Walter Clayton Jr. scored 29 points and Will Richard added 25 to rescue the Gators (1-0), who overcame a 13-point deficit in a 98-83 victory Monday over South Florida in the Jacksonville Sports Foundation Invitational.
Meanwhile, four miles away, host Jacksonville (1-0) also had trouble putting away an in-state foe as it grinded to a 78-65 win over Division II Trinity Baptist.
After the victory, Dolphins coach Jordan Mincy reminded his players that Florida will be an entirely different challenge.
“I said, ‘Hey look, a lot of you guys weren’t really focused on this, but I hope you have elite attention to detail in our practice coming up because you’ll have your hands full come Thursday,'” Mincy said.
For much of their game Monday, the Gators got all they could handle from an emotional South Florida squad still recovering from the shocking loss two weeks ago of head coach Amir Abdur-Rahim, who died following complications from a medical procedure.
The inspired Bulls raced to a 36-23 lead 14 minutes into the first half before the Gators rallied.
The catalysts for Florida’s struggles were its 3-point offense and defense. While the Gators made just 5 of 25 shots (20 percent) from beyond the arc, they surrendered 13-of-27 shooting (48.1 percent) from deep by the Bulls.
“In transition, we were giving them open threes, something we had keyed in on our scout, so we had to get back to what we do,” Richard said.
In the second half, when the Gators took control, they did it by attacking the rim. During a 13-point run that transformed a one-point lead into a 76-62 advantage, Florida made nine free throws in a row.
The Gators’ focus on taking the ball inside was such that they went nearly 10 minutes in the second half without shooting a 3.
“I thought we were settling. We weren’t putting pressure on the rim. We weren’t putting pressure on the refs to make any calls. We only shot four free throws in the first half,” Florida coach Todd Golden said. “A big part of the message at halftime was not allowing them to keep us on one side of the floor, working on getting downhill, getting middle, and then putting pressure on the rim.”
Veteran guards Clayton and Richard did their part, making a combined 20 of 32 shots from the floor. They also combined to hit all 10 of their free-throw attempts.
Alex Condon and Florida Atlantic transfer Alijah Martin each added 13 points and combined for 11 rebounds for the Gators.
Jacksonville also struggled from deep in its win on Monday, hitting just 6 of 32 3-point shots (18.8 percent). But the Dolphins used their superior strength inside to collect more rebounds, 51-34.
In just 20 minutes of playing time, Stephon Payne III led the Dolphins with 18 points and 13 rebounds. The team’s top threat, Robert McCray, who averaged 18.4 points per game last year, had nine points.