Top plays from the Florida Gators’ 2023-24 season: No. 10
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The Florida Gators basketball team has officially started offseason workouts this summer. Before we turn the page to next season, let’s look back on the top 10 plays of the 2023-24 campaign, with No. 10 up first.
Top plays: No. 10
Alex Condon and Thomas Haugh made countless plays as true freshmen in Florida’s frontcourt, but this sequence in the SEC Championship Game stands out. Condon’s athleticism and Haugh’s hustle are both on display.
Condon made one of his 45 blocks — which led the Gators and all SEC freshmen — against Auburn forward Chaney Johnson and then brings the ball up court at 6-foot-11, 230-pounds before attacking the rim.
Condon missed his layup, but Haugh was trailing in transition and cleaned up the miss with an offensive rebound and one-handed putback dunk. The two freshmen bigs stepped up after the loss of center Micah Handlogten.
The significance
Down by 12 points, the Gators rallied in the final minutes before the break and Haugh’s putback cut the deficit to five. He and Condon scored Florida’s last nine points of the first half.
UF carried that momentum into the second period with a 14-4 run to make it a one-point game, but the undermanned Gators ran out of gas down the stretch in their 86-67 loss to Auburn.
Nonetheless, it was an admirable effort from Condon and Haugh following Handlogten’s season-ending injury. Florida still won the rebounding battle on the offensive glass, 13-6.
Condon had a team-high seven rebounds, 6 points and two blocks in 26 minutes, while Haugh played 25 and scored in double figures (11 points) for just the third time with four boards and two blocks.
RELATED: Florida Gators center Alex Condon named to Australia Select Team
Quotable
“They’ve been great all year. You know, it wasn’t my hope to have to throw more on their plate this late in the season. … But the great thing about both of those guys is everything we’ve thrown at them, they’ve done a good job handling it. And I was thinking about it in the middle of the (SEC Championship) game, I was looking out there and Johni Broome and Jaylin Williams were both running around out there against our two freshman posts, and they were hanging. You know, they were battling, they were doing a good job. And you know, the great thing is they’re gonna become even better as they grow in the program. But I couldn’t ask any more of those guys in terms of how hard they played, their willingness to do whatever the program asks of them during competition.” — Florida Gators coach Todd Golden on Condon and Haugh
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