ChompTalk.com

The Florida Gators beat down the Southern Illinois Salukis 93-68 on Friday night at Exactech Arena as Alijah Martin scored 32 points and the Gators improved to 6-0 to equal their best start to a season in 12 years.

Martin, the graduate transfer from FAU, was just two points off his career high. He knocked down eight triples, the most he’s had in a game, and tied for the second most in Florida history. Overall, Martin went 11-of-19 from the floor. He also led the team in rebounds with nine and assists with five.

Sophomore Thomas Haugh played very well off the bench for the Gators, setting a new career high with 19 points on 6-of-10 shooting and was 3-of-5 from downtown. Haugh also brought down seven rebounds and had four blocks.

Martin and Haugh were the only two Gators in double-figures, but five others made 3-pointers as Florida connected on 16 shots from deep. This was the most the Gators have had in a game since they made 17 against Texas A&M in 2019.

Florida started the first half somewhat slowly but turned it on in the final eight minutes. The Gators were up 19-15 and quickly turned that into a 27-point lead as they went on a 31-4 run. This run was largely due to the stellar offensive production from Martin who scored 18 points with four long balls in the half. Along with his 3-point shot, Martin nearly tore the rim down on a fast-break tomahawk slam that almost blew the roof off the O’Dome.

As a team, the Gators shot 8-of-20 in the half from beyond the arc after coming into the game shooting under 29% from 3-point range. One of these triples came from Urban Klavzar, which was his first made shot from deep at Florida.

The second half was much of the same as Martin and the Gators continued to pour it on from deep. At one point, Martin made four consecutive shots from beyond the arc as he was unstoppable all night.

The Salukis had three men score in double-figures, led by Ali Dibba who had 17 points on 7-of-15 shooting. Jarrett Hensley and Kennard Davis Jr. were the other two with 14 and 11 respectively.

These three were not nearly enough for a Southern Illinois team that was suffocated by the Florida defense the whole game. The Gators had nine blocked shots and seven steals as a team. They were also the better team in transition as Florida had a 20-6 advantage in fast-break points.

The Gators have started this season off extremely well but now the schedule will start to ramp up. Florida will face five straight Power 4 opponents over the next few weeks beginning with Wake Forest in the ESPN Events Invitational on Thanksgiving Day. Tipoff against the Demon Deacons at the ESPN Wide World of Sports in Kissimmee on Thursday is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. ET and can be seen on ESPN.