When No. 10 Florida hosts Merrimack College on Friday night in Gainesville, Fla., it will be seeking improvement in what’s been one glaring deficiency so far this season.
The Gators (3-1), coming off back-to-back wins over state rivals Miami and Florida State, have prevailed despite shooting 23.7% from 3-point range through their first four games.
While top talent such as Thomas Haugh and Alex Condon are off to strong starts and catching the attention of NBA scouts, Florida knows any path to a repeat national championship must come with better accuracy to complement its tough frontcourt presence.
The Gators were slightly better than their poor percentage against the Hurricanes on Sunday, knocking down 9 of 28 (32.1%) from beyond the arc in an 82-68 victory in Jacksonville, Fla. Last season’s squad also began its campaign shooting 32%, giving Gators coach Todd Golden confidence the issue soon will be corrected.
“I’m not worried about the shooting,” Golden said. “Imagine how good we’re going to be once these guys start making shots.
“Our ceiling is really high, and I think our floor is really high for us to beat a team like Miami by 14 without getting any threes.”
In the meantime, the Gators continue to dominate in the paint as they showed against the Hurricanes, outrebounding them 50-42 despite Miami’s sizable frontline.
Haugh and Condon enter Friday’s game each averaging 8.5 rebounds per game, while center Rueben Chinyelu is averaging a team-high 9.0 boards per game. Reserve center Micah Handlogten is averaging 8.8 rebounds per game, but he suffered a head injury in the first half against Miami, leaving his availability uncertain to face Merrimack.
Haugh and Condon have provided most of the scoring for the Gators so far as well, averaging 19.0 and 16.5 points, respectively. Boogie Fland, a transfer from Arkansas, is averaging 11.3 points per game.
Merrimack (2-3), seeking its first NCAA Tournament appearance at the Division I level in its third season of eligibility, also is coming off back-to-back victories following an 0-3 start. The Warriors face their second Southeastern Conference opponent so far after losing at Auburn 95-57 on Nov. 6.
Freshman guard Kevair Kennedy has been one of the bright young stars for the Warriors and scored a career-high 23 points in a 72-65 home victory on Wednesday night over Maine in North Andover, Mass.
Kennedy earned Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Rookie of the Week honors last week. He is averaging 13.2 points while leading Merrimack in rebounds (5.6) and assists (2.9) per game.
“The coaches have just been telling me ‘just be aggressive from the jump,’ ” Kennedy said. “I’m just playing with confidence now, attacking off the rip, trying to get my teammates open, trying to find myself.”
Kennedy has formed a potent backcourt duo with junior Ernest Shelton, who leads the Warriors in scoring through five games with 21 points per game. Shelton, who like Kennedy played at Philadelphia’s Father Judge High School, has scored in double figures in each of Merrimack’s contests while playing 36 minutes per game. Graduate student Andres Marrero is averaging 9.6 points per game.
