“I think there were moments you could hear them breathing a little harder,” UF point guard Zyon Pullin said.
Then came the rest of the second half. Plus another two overtime periods. Eventually, Pullin and the Gators pulled even, then surged past and out-lasted the Wolverines for a 106-101 double-OT thrill-ride-of-a-victory Tuesday night in the second Jumpman Invitational at Spectrum Center.
The win was the fourth straight for the Gators (8-3) and proved a testament to their toughness on a night the two teams traded punches and combined for 15 ties and 16 lead changes.
“I’m just really proud of this team. They’ve done a really good job of executing what we’re asking them do,” UF coach Todd Golden said after the first non-league win in his two seasons over a true brand name opponent (in this case, Jordan brand). “This should give us a lot of confidence as we move forward and continue to get into the season [that] when we play tough, highly contested games against really good clubs we can find a way to win. I’m just really happy and excited for our team.”
Pullin, the grad-transfer from California-Riverside, came off the bench for a team-high 22 points, his most as a Gator, including a clutch 3-pointer with nine seconds left in the first extra period to force a second. He finished six of 13 from the floor, banged both his 3s and went 8-for-10 at the free-throw line. Forward Tyrese Samuel, the grad-transfer from Seton Hall, posted his fourth double-double of the season with 21 points and 11 rebounds. Junior wing Will Richard chimed in with 17 points, all but two coming after halftime. Backup freshman center Alex Condon had 14 points and six rebounds, while junior guard Walter Clayton Jr., the Iona transfer, had 12 points and eight rebounds.
But none of those were the numbers that jumped out of the box score like the ones that showed UF’s bench outscored UM’s – get this – 43-3, what with Michigan’s five starters all logging at least 44 minutes of the possible 50 minutes, compared to no Gator playing more than 39 minutes during the 2-hour, 35-minute marathon.
The discrepancy clearly took a toll on the starting five Wolverines:
- Forward Terrence Williams II (44 minutes, 58 seconds)
- Forward Olivier Nkamhoua (47:40)
- Forward Tarris Reed Jr. (44:54)
- Guard Nimari Burnett (44:29)
- Point guard Dug McDaniel (44:54)
UM’s three subs combined to play just 22 minutes, five seconds.
“We knew as we continued to bleed into the game our hope was we could wear them down,” Golden said. “Credit to them. They competed their tails off. But we thought our depth would show up a little more.”
It did, but not in any “little” way.
Michigan (6-6) was up by nine, 57-48, when Florida went on the first of two mini-runs that eventually drew the Gators even. The first was an 8-2 spurt, with Richard hitting a 3 along the way. The second was a 7-0 run, capped by a 3-pointer from backup freshman forward Thomas Haugh that tied the game at 63 with 9:54 to go.
From there came eight ties and 11 lead changes over the final 20 minutes (10 of regulation, 10 in overtime).
“We definitely saw them wearing down a little bit,” Richard said. “But for us, it was just about, ‘Keep doing what we’re doing.’ Push the pass, attack on defense and offense. They weren’t going to play a lot of guys.”
An old-fashion 3-pointer by Richard put UF in front by four, 81-77, with 59.5 seconds to go in regulation. Michigan’s next two possessions – bracketed around a tie-up and turnover in the backcourt against Clayton – ended with missed shots that were offensive-rebounded into scores. The game went to the first OT tied at 81.
The Wolverines led that one late 89-86 – despite not making a field goal during the period (just eight free throws) – when Clayton missed a game-tying 3 attempt with 15 seconds to go. The ball, however, was rebounded low and in a crowd by Samuel, who pitched it to Pullin near the top of the key. Pullin, who began the night at 21.4 percent from deep on the season, drained the 3 with 8.9 seconds to go to send the game into a second OT.
“For us, it was just about showing fight,” Richard said.
Nkamhoua, the grad-transfer from Tennessee who scored 24 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, had Michigan up 93-91 with a couple buckets in the first minute of the next overtime. Then came an offensive rebound and dunk from Samuel that jump-started an 11-0 UF blitz over the next three minutes, with Clayton accounting for seven of those points, including a dagger 3-ball that put UF up by nine, 102-93, with 49.6 seconds to go.
go (orange &) blue #GoGators | @WellsFargo pic.twitter.com/D1Iqp6RYsR
— Florida Gators Men’s Basketball (@GatorsMBK) December 20, 2023
A couple 3s from the Wolverines made it a four-point game with 18.5 seconds left, but a free-throw by Richard capped the game’s scoring. Even with those late 3s, Michigan made just nine of its final 30 field-goal attempts, but were able to stay in the game by belying its 69-percent free-throw percentage coming in. The Wolverines went 23-for-29 at the line (79.3 percent), while the Gators clanged at 18-for-29 (62.1 percent). That difference kept things close. For both sides.
All those Michigan minutes, though, caught up.
“Of course, we felt tired, but there was still time on the clock and we had to be mentally tough,” said McDaniel, the diminutive but electric playmaker who led all scorers with 33 points to go with eight rebounds, five assists and six turnovers. “Once you tell yourself you’re tired, then you’re going to fall into fatigue. We just told ourselves it was winning time.”
The Gators, with a bench that produced two players with at least 32 minutes, told themselves something similar and made good on it.
“We talked a lot before the game that the tougher team would win,” Golden said after winning his first game at UF (in 19 tries) when trailing in regulation with five minutes to play. “Not to take anything away from Michigan. I thought they were a tough team. But our guys were a little tougher.”
And a lot deeper.
