Alijah Martin lifts No. 5 Florida basketball to win over Stetson as UF maintains unbeaten start

Posted by author December 29, 2024 Basketball

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The final tuneup for Florida basketball before SEC play went as smooth as expected.

Grad transfer guard Alijah Martin led three scorers in double figures with 18 points and four steals, lifting the No. 5 Florida Gators to an 85-45 win over Stetson before a sold-out crowd of 10,676 on Sunday afternoon at the O’Connell Center.

Will Richard added 17 points for UF while Walter Clayton Jr. finished with 12 points and 7 assists.

Florida, which entered the game 37.5-point favorites, raced to a 46-27 halftime lead and extended it to 40 points at the final buzzer.

With the win, Florida (13-0) finished off its non-conference slate unbeaten and maintained UF’s best start to a season since the Gators began the 2005-06 season 17-0. Florida will open SEC play on Jan. 4 at No. 10 Kentucky (noon, ESPN).

The sellout crowd included a pair of former Florida basketball legends as Dan Cross, the point guard on UF’s first Final Four team in 1994 and Chris Richard, a center and key bench cog on UF’s back-to-back national championship teams in 2006 and 2007, were in attendance.

Here are three takeaways from the Florida win:

Florida basketball dominates on fast break

Florida was on the run throughout the game, outscoring Stetson 34-2 in fast break points. UF turned defense into offense throughout the afternoon. scoring 15 points off 15 Stetson turnovers.

Guards lead the way for Florida basketball in the first half

Florida’s three starting guards ― Martin, Richard and Clayton ― all reached double figures in scoring in the first half, accounting for 35 of UF’s 46 first half points. Martin led the way with 14 points in the first half, followed by 11 points from Richard and 10 points from Clayton. Overall, Florida shot 55.9% from the field in the first half and 42.9% percent (6-14) from 3-point range, allowing UF to take a 46-27 lead into halftime.

Florida basketball defense remains on point

Florida did another solid job on defense, holding Stetson to 45 points on 26.5 % shooting. Florida finished the game with a season-high 12 steals and seven blocked shots.

Kevin Brockway is The Gainesville Sun’s Florida beat writer. Contact him at kbrockway@gannett.com. Follow him on X @KevinBrockwayG1