Things were set up for the Tide to show the nation what they had. A rare Sunday game at noon CT on ABC against Florida, with no football on. The 23rd ranked Tide, that will no longer be rated when the next poll comes out, had no answer for the Gators size, speed, and extremely physical play. After hanging close for the first 10 minutes or so, Florida ran away with the game, winning 100-77. Alabama fell to 14-7 overall and 4-4 in the SEC while Florida improved to 16-6 and 7-2 in league play.
Alabama did get Amari Allen back from injury, but coach Nate Oats stayed with the starting lineup of Labaron Philon, Aden Holloway, Latrel Wrightsell, Aiden Sherrell, and Charles Bediako. Florida countered with Alex Condon, Boogie Fland, Xaivian Lee, Ruben Chinyelu, and Thomas Haugh. The quintet is a big, strong, physical group, just the type team that the Tide as being folding against.
Philon hit from deep for an early 3-0 Bama lead. Things went back and forth with Holloway and Philon both connecting from behind the arc. Allen scored a hoop inside and when Wrightsell made 2-3 free throws the Tide took a 22-20 lead with 8:59 left in the period. A Wrightsell three with 6:10 left tied the game at 28 each. Things quickly turned. The Gators went on a 13-2 run and per his norm, Oats refused to call a timeout. With the score 41-30 the under four timeout finally stemmed the wave of blue and orange. Sherrell scored an old fashioned three point play and Holloway splashed from deep to close within six at 42-36. Florida scored the last four points and took a 46-36 lead into the locker room at halftime.
In first half the Tide shot well enough at 12-29 with 6-14 from three point range, but turnovers didn’t allow them to get enough shots up. Bama added 6-9 at the free throw line, actually won the rebounding battle with 19 boards, had five assists, three blocks, zero steals, and committed nine big turnovers. Holloway led the Tide with 13 points while Bediako contributed four points, five rebounds, and blocked three shots.
Florida shot 19-38 in the first half with almost all in the paint. The Gators were 2-6 from three, 6-7 at the free throw line, grabbed 18 rebounds, had 12 assists, one block, and six steals, and did not turn the ball over a single time. Condon paced the home team with 14 points, Haugh tossed in 13, Fland scored eight with four assists and three steals. Chinyelu scored only two points but grabbed eight rebounds. UF out scored the Tide 32-12 in the paint, 15-0 on fast breaks, and 12-0 off of turnovers.
The Tide sent out the same starters for the second half, and things just continued to get worse. It took the Tide six minutes before scoring in the stanza. By that time Florida was ahead 58-36. A London Jemison three pointer took the lid off the hoop for Bama. The Gators continued to get break away baskets after turnovers and dunk after dunk on moves in the paint. With 12:04 left the margin was 21 at 66-45. The lead stayed between 15-20 the rest of the way. Bama continued to connect from deep at a decent rate, but just couldn’t get a stop or a rebound. Florida’s 7’9” center Oliver Rioux scored the basket to reach the century mark after missing a shot, but grabbing the offensive rebound and putting it back.
In the second half Bama shot 15-33 for 45%, 8-20 from three for 40%, and 3-4 at the charity stripe. Overall the Tide shot well enough to win a lot of games, 27-62 for 44%, 14-34 for 41% from three, and 9-23 for 69% at the free throw line. Alabama finished with 33 rebounds, 16 assists, five blocks, one steal, and 18 huge turnovers. Holloway finished with 19 points, three rebounds, three assists, and three turnovers. Philon made 4-7 three pointers but only 5-13 overall, finishing with 14 points, three assists, two rebounds, and five turnovers. Sherrell scored 13 points, grabbed five rebounds, and dished out five assists. Wrightsell added 11 points and four rebounds. Bediako scored six points, and led the team with seven rebounds and four blocked shots before fouling out.
Florida shot 21-40 in the second half with only 1-7 from deep. The Gators made 11-19 free throws. Overall UF was 40-78 for 51%, 3-13 from deep for 23%, and 17-26 at the free throw line. Florida turned it up on the boards and finished with 44 rebounds, 15 of which were offensive, while having a ridiculous 24-2 assists to turnover margin. Florida blocked five shots and made 13 steals. Condos scored 25 points with seven rebounds, six assists, two blocks, and two steals. Haugh added 22 points with five rebounds , Fland controlled the game with 15 points, eight assists, and eight steals. Chinyelu was a beast down low with 14 points, 17 rebounds, three assists, two blocks, and a steal, all while playing outstanding defense.
There is no way to sugarcoat this just a total butt kicking. The Gators were allowed to play physical and the Tide had no answer. Florida outscored Bama 72-26 in the paint, 25-0 off of turnovers, 26-3 on fast breaks, and 15-9 on second chance points. The “‘Blue Collar Basketball moniker that Oats tries to live by really is a misnomer for this year’s team and should embarrass any actual blue collar worker. Short of Amari Allen and at times Houston Mallette, Tide fans aren’t seeing much blue collar effort. The team’s health is still a problem, but their want to may be a bigger one. There is still time to turn things around, but at some point you are what you are.
Next up is the leagues first place team, Texas A&M, who will bring Bucky Ball to Tuscaloosa on Wednesday. The game is at 6 p.m. CT and will be shown on the SEC Network
Roll Tide
