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The Florida Gators have undoubtedly one of the most impressive wins in college basketball this season. On Feb. 8, Florida defeated the No. 1 Auburn Tigers 90-81 on the road, a team that’s suffered just three losses the entire season.
On Wednesday night, the Gators added to their impressive win resume with a victory over the Alabama Crimson Tide.
The No. 5 Florida Gators (26-4, 13-4 SEC) defeated the No. 6 Alabama Crimson Tide (23-7, 12-5 SEC) at the Coleman Coliseum Wednesday. Florida’s frontcourt dominated against a Crimson Tide frontcourt that failed to make much momentum on the glass or offensively.
Inside the Gators’ Instant Analysis takes a quick look at how the game unfolded.
IT WAS OVER WHEN: Gators sophomore center Alex Condon landed both of his attempts at the free throw line to ice the game with fewer than 90 seconds remaining.
The sophomore shot 62 percent heading into the contest. He had arguably the best night he’s had at the charity stripe, landing seven of his nine free throw attempts.
In Florida’s midweek loss against the Georgia Bulldogs last week, the Gators failed to capitalize on the free throw line, landing just 18 of 29 shots from the line when many of their makes happened during the final moments in a free throw battle. Wednesday night, Florida finished 73% at the line with just eight misses.
THEY STOLE THE SHOW: Gators sophomore center Alex Condon scored a career-high 27 points Wednesday night.
Condon has been one of the most crucial pieces toward Florida’s success this season, controlling the boards while also adding a fair contribution offensively. His single-game performance Wednesday night was arguably the best amongst any Florida players considering the opponent.
Condon finished with 27 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks.
THESE STATS DON’T LIE: Florida came into the contest needing to control the boards to compete against a potent Alabama offense.
In the first half, the Gators won the rebound battle by six. However, the second half painted a completely different story. Florida outrebounded Alabama 26-17. Florida center Rueben Chinyelu was one point shy of a double-double and finished with nine points and 11 rebounds. Condon recorded his sixth double-double of the season with his 27 points and 10 rebounds.
THIS MATCHUP PROVED KEY: Alabama guard Marc Sears has been phenomenal over the past four games. Sears, one of the best scorers in the entire country, has tallied 30 or more points in two of his last four contests and is averaging 27.5 points and 5.8 assists per game.
WHAT A PLAY: Florida trailed by two points when Condon went up for a block attempt against Alabama forward Grant Nelson. Condon stuffed the forward, then passed the ball up court for a fastbreak dunk from Will Richard.
UP NEXT: The No. 5 Florida Gators (26-4, 13-4 SEC) wrap up their final game of the regular season against the Ole Miss Rebels (20-9, 9-7 SEC) 6 p.m. Saturday at the O’Connell Center.
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