JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Within the first few minutes of the game, it looked like the odds were stacked against Alex Condon. On the very first possession, Condon was called for a foul. Then a minute later, he was penalized for a ticky-tack over-the-back call, leading to him getting subbed out of the game.
However, that was just a blip in the overall fantastic night Condon had against the Miami Hurricanes. The No. 10 Gators (3-1) cruised past Miami (3-1) 82-68 Sunday, while Condon nailed 8 of 12 shots for 19 points, seven rebounds and an assist. Four Gators finished with double-digit points.
"I wish this guy would stay out of foul trouble, because he was dominant tonight," head coach Todd Golden joked after the game. "He did a great job playing poise in the paint, finishing around the rim and we saw his three ball go in a couple times."
It’s difficult to get an accurate measure of a team’s talent at the beginning of a season, but under first-year head coach Jai Lucas, Miami has looked like a significantly better team than its 7-24 finish last year.
Lucas has established a defensive-minded culture with an emphasis on physicality and attacking down low. Miami tried to rely on both elements against the Gators but fell well short of doing so.
The Gators out-rebounded the Hurricanes 47-41 and held them to 34% shooting. Miami’s offense was practically nonexistent without Malik Reneau, who took 23 of the Hurricanes’ 71 shots and finished with 22 points and 11 rebounds.
"The praise is warranted," Lucas said of Florida's front court. "Their front court is obviously really good."
The Gators also showed flashes of improvement from 3-point range, finishing 9 for 29. Urban Klavžar nailed 4 of his 7 attempts from 3, and even Thomas Haugh and Condon added three and two makes, respectively.
However, the Gators’ offensive production continued to wane among its backcourt starters: Boogie Fland and Xaivian Lee. The duo have done a fine job at orchestrating the offense and continue to look comfortable in transition and within half court, but the pair amounted for just 13 points on 3 of 17 shooting and 0 of 10 from 3-point range. Through four games, Lee and Fland are shooting 16% from 3-point range.
Klavžar took a step-up off the bench and finished with 15 points, while Rueben Chinyelu added 17 points on 7-for-10 shooting down low.
"Just trying to be confident every day, more and more," Klavžar said. "The work that we put in has just got to show every night, and you just got to stay confident and take those shots."
The Gators will return to action against Merrimack at 7 p.m. Friday at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center.
Contact Luke Adragna at ladragna@alligator.org. Follow him on X @lukeadrag.
Luke is The Alligator's Sports Editor and is a senior sports journalism student. In his free time, he enjoys playing with his cat named Pete and going down a rabbit hole of niche professional athletes (shoutout Charles Sims).
