Gators Head Into the New Year Undefeated, Trouncing Stetson

The Gators pound Stetson to win the in-state matchup and head into the 2025 calendar year still undefeated

The Gators cruise into the new year with another win / Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images

Gainesville, Fla. – The No. 6 Florida Gators men’s basketball team kept their perfect season alive on Sunday, winning 85-45 over the Stetson Hatters. They are now 13-0 on the season. 

Most of the light in this one will be shined on the trio of Walter Clayton Jr., Alijah Martin and Will Richard. 

The leader of these three on Sunday would be Martin. He ended the game with a team-high 18 points on 50 percent shooting (8-for-16, 2-for-9 from 3), four steals, three rebounds and two assists. 

For Clayton Jr. and Richard, the latter finished with 17 points, four assists, two rebounds and two steals while the prior logged 12 points, seven assists and three rebounds. 

In addition to these three, the bench also played a hefty role in this contest. The bench combined for 34 points and 26 rebounds against Stetson. 

Richard Caps Off Dominant First Half with Ferocious One-Hand poster

It was a great overall start to the game on Sunday for Florida. They were forcing difficult shots for their opponents on defense and were lighting the nets on fire on offense. This play led to an early 17-5 lead over their opponents through the first seven minutes of the game. 

There was one play in specific as well that highlighted the Gators' dominance in the early going. With just over 13 minutes left in the half, Thomas Haugh nailed a wide-open three-pointer, but it was the beautiful passing from one side to the other and great off-ball movement by all the Gators that caught the attention. 

From here, Florida eventually pushed their advantage to 33-14 over Stetson. 

However, the Hatters did show some life in this first half. After going up 19 points, the Gators surrendered an 8-0 run to their opponents, which led to their lead being cut to 11 with 3:41 left. 

But it didn’t seem to impact the players too much. 

This was because the offense responded with a quick 6-0 run of their own shortly after to push them out in front 44-24 with just around a minute left in the half. 

Then, after going up 20, Will Richard gave the sellout crowd in Exactech Arena something that forced them off their feet. The senior was on the end of a quick outlet pass from Clayton Jr. that led to a vicious one-hand slam on the fast break over a Stetson defender. 

TWIZZ SLAM.#GoGators | 📺SECN+ pic.twitter.com/AyVPAmIvjY

— Florida Gators Men’s Basketball (@GatorsMBK) December 29, 2024

This slam from Richard would be the final bucket for the Gators in the first, as they led 46-27 going into the locker room. 

To little surprise, the Gators were led in the first 20 minutes by their veteran trio of Clayton Jr., Martin and Richard. Martin paced the Gators with 14 first-half points while Richard had 11 and Clayton Jr. had 10. 

Another reason they held such a big lead was because of how they shot it from the field and from deep. The offense was 19-for-35 and six-for-14 from 3 in the half. 

Gators Have Another Dunk Party in the Second Half

It didn’t take long for the Gators in the second to resume right where they left off in the first half

They only allowed four points through the first six minutes and some change of the second half while adding 14 points of their own in the same amount of time. 

There was also some deja vu for the fans. 

Having just eclipsed the 14-minute mark, the ball found its way to Richard in the corner, who quickly ripped through and drove straight to the basket for another one-hand slam with a defender under the basket. This slam extended the Gators' lead to 29 points over their opponents. 

However, the offense would go a little cold over the next two and a half minutes, as they couldn’t knock down any shots until Denzel Aberdeen’s layup with 11:37 left to go in the game. 

The offense did reel things back in and get on the right track again though, getting multiple 3’s to go in and some easy fastbreak points as well. And with 8:31 left, Florida would be up 70-34 over Stetson. 

This big lead from his guys also allowed Golden to provide some minutes to guys farther down the bench. One of those to receive plenty of second-half action was Isaiah Brown, who pulled out a windmill dunk on the fastbreak that put the Gators on top 74-39. 

https://x.com/GatorsMBK/status/1873451329638613053 

Then, with some additional baskets from both teams over the final six minutes after Brown’s dunk, Florida would cap off their Sunday with a 85-45 win over Stetson.

SEC up Next for the Gators

While the Gators went undefeated in the non-conference portion of their schedule, the real test begins in the new year. 

The Gators will head to Lexington, KY., next Saturday to face off against the Wildcats to begin conference play. This game will be televised on ESPN at 11 am.