#9/7 Florida 83, RV Arizona State 66
Holiday Hoopsgiving
State Farm Arena | Atlanta, Ga.
Box Score<https://floridagators.com/documents/2024/12/14/2024.12.14_Florida_vs._Arizona_State.PDF> | Season Stats<https://floridagators.com/documents/2024/11/15/2024-25_UFstats.pdf> | Courtesy Photos & Press Conferences<https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/rb8ojhaf9ygpi6d0k3c9e/ANF6-ow4Wppu1j1zjAsnMXA?rlkey=g1esu5ww8r31yd8dyekcik5iw&st=3b1ht5u5&dl=0>
Records: Florida 10-0; Arizona State 8-2
Next Up: Tuesday, 7 p.m., vs. North Carolina (at Charlotte; Jumpman Invitational), ESPN
Notable
* Florida continued its hot start with a neutral-site rout of Arizona State, led by the Gators’ trio of senior guards, who combined for 56 of UF’s 83 points
* UF has its third 10-0 start in program history, previously starting 17-0 in 2005-06 and 10-0 in 1951-52. All 10 wins this season have been by a margin of at least 13 points with a +21.1 margin on average.
* The 10-game winning streak is Florida’s 11th double-figure win streak in program history and the longest since its 30-game run in the 2013-14 season.
* Walter Clayton led all scorers with 25 points, his fourth game this season with 25+.
* Clayton hit five 3-pointers has made five in three consecutive games, the second Gator in program history to do so. He joins Anthony Roberson, who accomplished the feat in Jan. 2005 (at Auburn, at Vanderbilt, Tennessee).
* Clayton has also hit a 3-pointer in 33 straight games, tying Brett Nelson (2000-01) for the fourth-longest streak in UF history and the longest since Michael Frazier’s record 41-game streak (Jan. 2014-Jan. 2015).
* Alijah Martin posted his first double-double as a Gator (third career) with 15 points and 11 boards, hitting three 3-pointers and adding a team-high six assists.
* Will Richard scored 16 and grabbed six rebounds, playing in his home region.
* UF knocked down 10 3-pointers has made double-digit 3s in six of the last seven games, averaging 11.1 made over that span. Florida was also solid defending the 3-point line, holding ASU to seven 3s on .280 shooting (entered at .395, 9.7 made per game).
* Florida owned a 47-27 rebounding advantage, the third time this season the Gators have been +20 or better (also vs. Grambling, Wichita State).
Head Coach Todd Golden
Opening statement…
“Really proud of our players. I thought they did an incredible job of executing our game plan. John Andrzejek had the scout tonight, and I thought he did a wonderful job preparing our players, but then you have to go out and execute it. Arizona State is really good, so for us to be able to do it at such a high level was impressive. I thought well both halves, but I thought in second half we did a really good job of letting our defense lead us to transition. We were able to get out on some spurts – getting some steals, getting some run-outs, getting some dunks. I thought our depth showed up really well tonight. Sam [Alexis], Tommy [Haugh], Zel [Denzel Aberdeen] coming off the bench provided great minutes. I just think our depth wore them down a little bit. But I’m really proud of the way our players played and another really good win for us.”
Senior G Walter Clayton Jr.
On converting defense to offense…
“For sure, it’s definitely taken a big step forward from last year. Last year was a great offensive team, bad defensive team, so this year I feel like we’re still a great offensive team – even better offensive team this year actually because we’re turning so many defensive stops into transition buckets.”
Grad G Alijah Martin
On converting defense to offense…
“Definitely, we’re just trying to focus more on the defensive end this year. We’ve got a very good offensive scheme and most teams are not going to be able to hang with us offensively, so if we get stops then we’re just untouchable.”
Senior G Will Richard
On the team’s run of four straight 3-pointers made, two by Richard…
“Just trying to be aggressive. We all put a lot of work in, get a lot of reps in shooting, so when we see those opportunities we’ve got to take them, and they were going in so it was definitely good to get on a run like that.”
