MBB OGT: #1 UcheaT at #8 FLORIDA -- January 7, 2025 -- 7 PM [ESPN2]

wow

 

After beating them by 30 I’m ok with that treatment at UT. We will only win by 10.

 

I'm late to the post match party but was able to watch the whole game, I am so impressed by how we bounced back after Saturday's disappointing loss! I thought we could win this game if we recovered and played well, I am shocked at how we dominated the #1 team and made them look quite poor in a 30 point win!

 

That was when there was little college hoops on tv. I remember we watched it at our fraternity house (not UF)

 

Great to watch. Tremendous hustle.
This team can win in different ways. Not the usual big offensive games from Clayton and/ or Richard. Tonight it was the inside game and solid D.

 

Todd Golden is proving himself to be a coach who is growing in his understanding of how to build a team and adjust to adversity. His first team was undersized and so he recruited to fix that. Last year we struggled defensively and he recruited to fix that. Now he's got a team that is big, talented, deep and plays hard-nosed defense. And he used the loss at Kentucky to motivate his team to play tenaciously tonight. Plus he's a passionate coach. I like him more & more.

 

Went to the UTenn board. Hearing fans of a Barnes coached team complain about officiating and “UF getting away with murder” is music to my ears. SEC has allowed bully ball for years and Barnes was all in. Great to be on the other side!

 

Tennessee shot lousy (that can happen on away games) but this was all about a REALLY good team playing a good game. Good job, guys.

 

This is a huge key. We can compete in an offensive game like the one at Rupp or in a defensive slugfest like this. We can score inside and outside, in transition or half court, we have guards who can score from the arc or in the paint, bigs who can pass and guards who can rebound. And, ofc, we rebound both ends as well as anyone in college hoops. That’s the recipe for a team that can compete with anyone, no matter the game.

What made this game so interesting to me is I wondered how we would fare against team that slowed the pace, made us execute against a good defense in the halfcourt, and took away Clayton. UT did all of those things relatively well. They gave Clayton a ton of attention, hard hedged him on ball screens and surrounded him the moment he got below the free throw line. He could do nothing. But we turned up the defensive intensity, dominated the glass, and used those defensive rebounds (and relatively high turnovers) to get out in transition and get early offense. We also got a ton of backside drives to the basket from Martin and Aberdeen, and Condon in particular dove nicely to the post when they hedged off him.

 

Were the other two undefeated?