GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Beating up on teams from the best basketball conference in the country can set expectations. Sometimes unrealistic ones. 
 
As such, a few Florida fans may have filed out of Exactech Arena/O’Connell Center with a lack of enthusiasm for their team’s 76-62 defeat of South Carolina due to the fact it was as close as it was; which is to say, not very close at all. 
 
The Gators led for all but 53 seconds, built a 10-point halftime cushion, jumped ahead by 16 seven minutes into the second half and basically emptied the bench with a 22-point advantage just inside three minutes remaining, with the Gamecocks scoring nine of the game’s final 10 points. 
 

Sure, it was a far cry from the record-tying 47-point blowout win at USC last month and didn’t have the look or energy of the other knee-capping wins – by 23 against Alabama, 19 at Texas A&M, or 20 at Georgia – during this season-long six-game winning streak. It was, however, solid and sound enough to keep the Gators (20-6, 11-2) alone atop the Southeastern Conference standings with five games to play in the regular season. 
 
And, frankly, it was also relatively free of drama. 

“Our performance a few weeks ago [at South Carolina] was incredible. We played like by far the best team in America on their floor, so it would have been hard to back that up with another similar performance,” UF coach Todd Golden said in reference to the 95-48 blowout Jan. 28 at Columbia that marked the program’s largest SEC road win in history. “I feel like there’s an expectation right now with our program that if we’re not up by 15 at halftime, if we don’t win by 25, that something isn’t going right, but we’re in the best league in America. … We didn’t play our best, but even when we’re not at our best, I think we’re really good.”
 
Expectations, of course, are subjective. Production is not. On both fronts, forward Alex Condon and center Rueben Chinyelu delivered, with each posting double doubles, as UF dominated inside with a 44-28 advantage in paint points and 47-30 rebounding edge, including 18-11 on the offensive glass. 
 
Condon, the 6-foot-11 junior Australian, finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds, along the way becoming the 58^th player in program history to reach 1,000 career points. Chinyelu, the 6-10½, 265-pound Nigerian, ran his league-leading double-double count to 16 with 15 points and 17 boards. 
 
“For me, the expectation is just going out and playing for my team,” Chinyelu said. “Whatever we need, that’s what I’m going to try to do.” 

With those two roaming the paint, UF limited South Carolina (11-14, 2-11), loser of seven straight, to 37.9% from the floor and just four of 19 from the 3-point line (21.1%). Conversely, the Gators shot 48.4% overall, including nearly 56% from the 2-point area.

They led for 38:22 of the 40 minutes.

 

“It’s almost like a trap game, [with] a team coming in here who I think is better than what people make them out to be,” said Condon, who hit seven of his 14 field-goal attempts, all six of his free throws, also had four assists (but six turnovers) and a staggering plus-24 line when on the court. “We just got to attack it, that’s what championship teams do every night. Come out with the same mentality and keep rolling.”

 

South Carolina, searching for its first victory since Jan. 20 against Oklahoma, got an old-fashion 3-point play from point guard Meechie Johnson (22 points) to start the game 45 seconds in, but the Gators scored the next 10 points, with five from Chinyelu and a 3-pointer from Haugh to go in front 10-3. 

 

After two free throws from Condon at the 6:12 mark, the Florida lead was 31-17, but the Gators went the next five minutes without a field goal, allowing USC to claw back within six, before a driving layup by Condon and steal and run-out layup by guard Xaivian Lee (9 points, 5 assists, 5 turnovers) at the halftime horn sent the home team to the locker room up by 10.

Less than seven minutes into the second half, the margin was 16 and on the way to 22 about eight minutes later. 
 
It lead was only 14 when the final horn sounded, but that was plenty. 
 
At this point in the season – and in this league – every win is a great one.
 
“It’s the SEC. No nights off. We’re not playing a team after the new year that is any worse than like the 75th, 80th-best team in America,” Golden said. “So, anytime you’re going to win, or you can win, that’s a huge step in the right direction. And I tell these guys all the time, when we’re preparing for games, I don’t care if it’s Alabama, I don’t care if it’s Tennessee, Kentucky, South Carolina, we’re treating that game like the national championship.”
 
Email senior writer Chris Harry at chrish@gators.ufl.edu. Find his story archives here.