Florida Basketball continues its state-wide preseason tour with a matchup against Florida State to open the Tuesday slate. Similar to its prior matchup with Miami, the Gators weren’t able to get much separation from the Seminoles for most of the game, leading by just a couple of points with over 10 minutes to go.
But ultimately, FSU wasn’t able to get the lead, with Florida holding on for the 81-72 victory. A lot went right for the Gators, while other things still need some improvements. Here’s a look at the biggest takeaways from the game.
1. Thomas Haugh with another POY performance
Among the 3-headed frontcourt monsters for Florida, Haugh is the player they need to deliver offensively the most. He came through on Tuesday, leading the team with 21 points and 10 rebounds in the win. On the season, Haugh is averaging 18 ppg and 9.0 rpg, including against Miami and FSU. He’s the best player on the current best team in college basketball, setting Haugh up as the early National Player of the Year favorite.
2. Denzel Aberdeen and early disappointment
After putting up 13.5 ppg in his lone year as a full-time starter at Kentucky, Aberdeen returned to Florida as a potential lead guard. But outside of shooting nearly 40% from three-point range, the eligible 5th-year senior is shooting just 33% from the field, averaging 8.7 ppg. He scored just seven points on 2/9 FG shooting and was largely a non-factor against FSU. For them to be a true title favorite, they’ll need more from Aberdeen.
3. Isaiah Brown giving them positive bench production
While some of the guards have struggled, Florida has gotten nice production from Brown, who scored nine points off the bench in 12 minutes. This isn’t a deep Gator roster overall so any production they can get from the junior guard (6.7 ppg through 3 games) is ideal, especially when the starting backcourt players have off-nights. Brown doesn’t need to change the world but some scoring from him would be very helpful.
Add us as a preferred source on Google