Gators Survive Back and Forth Battle with Instate Foe on the Hardwood

The Florida Gators hit the road to Tallahassee for a Tuesday night duel with the Florida State Seminoles on the hardwood. The Gators got everything that they asked for and more from the Seminoles.

This was Florida's first game as the No. 1 team in the country after they were named the top team in the country in the very first AP Poll ranking. The target is squarely on their back, and they are going to be ready to get everyone's best effort on a nightly basis. 

That began on Tuesday as the Seminoles gave them everything that they could have ever wanted and more.

The first half was a back-and-forth rock fight between the two teams, as it was a slow but competitive start. Florida took a two-point, 31-29 lead into halftime. They knew they were going to be in for a 40-minute battle.

The second half had one of the more fascinating game flows that you will ever see. On four separate occasions, the Gators pushed the lead to 8 or 9 points, only for the Seminoles to fight all the way back to either a one or two-point game. 

Four separate times happened until the Gators went on their final run as the clock ticked under six minutes, and that was all she wrote. They pushed the lead back to 9 and 10 points, where it yo-yoed for the rest of the game. 

Thomas Haugh led Florida with a 21-point, 10-rebound double-double, doing it all for the Gators. He attacked the rim, stretched the floor to the three-point line, and grabbed every rebound he could. He was fantastic and led the Gators to the hard-fought victory.

Boogie Fland was also really effective from the point guard position as he poured in a solid 14 points while dishing out a team-high four assists. 

If there was one thing that you could look for the Gators to vastly improve, it was their ball movement. Only 11 assists on 21 made field goals isn't quite enough to be consistent. 

The Gators, now 3-0, have a very fun four-game stretch ahead of them. It starts with Merrimack up next, before a matchup with Notre Dame, who precede Milwaukee, who precede the biggest regular-season game of the year against the Duke Blue Devils. 

It is an awesome non-conference schedule for the Gators who need to just keep on winning and keep on improving game over game.