Rueben Chinyelu Scores Career-High 21, Alex Condon Nears Triple-Double as No. 1 Florida Routs Jacksonville 88-57

Alex Condon spent Thursday night playing point center, and Jacksonville never figured out what to do about it. The 7-footer had seven points, eight rebounds and seven assists by halftime, flirted with a triple-double, and then got to watch the final 11 minutes from the bench because Florida was already up 28. Rueben Chinyelu scored a career-high 21 points, five Gators reached double figures, and the No. 1 team in the country rolled past Jacksonville 88-57 in its home opener at the O'Connell Center.

Three nights after grinding out a 77-67 win over No. 14 Miami in Tampa, this one had a lot less drama and a lot more fun. Florida moved to 2-0, extended its streak of home-opener wins to 36 in a row, and once again looked like a team built to suffocate opponents on the glass.

The Dolphins Hang Around, for a While

Jacksonville came to Gainesville with a win already in its pocket, a 105-61 opener against Trinity College of Jacksonville, and a coach who knows the building. Jordan Mincy is a former Florida assistant, and his team did not look intimidated early.

Through the first eight minutes, the Dolphins stayed within six. Florida twice stretched the lead to 10, and Jacksonville twice clawed back. With under five minutes left in the first half, it was 31-26, and for a moment it looked like the Gators might have a real game on their hands.

They did not.

The Turning Point: A 19-2 Avalanche

Florida closed the half on a 19-2 run, including the final 10 points, and turned a five-point game into a 50-28 halftime lead. It was a perfect summary of how this roster beats people. Denzel Aberdeen hit two 3s. Thomas Haugh buried another. Condon and Chinyelu threw down dunks. The ball moved, the bigs ran, and Jacksonville was suddenly trying to guard four positions at once without much help from the scoreboard.

Condon was the engine. Jacksonville had no real answer for a 7-footer who passes like a guard, and every possession that ran through him seemed to end with a clean look for somebody. By the break, his line already looked like a full night's work.

The run also showed off Florida's depth of shooting. Against Miami, the Gators made 11 3s. Against Jacksonville, they made 11 more, going 11 of 25 from deep for the second straight game. When a team with this kind of size is also willing and able to fire from outside, it gets very hard to choose what to take away.

Chinyelu Goes for a Career High

Chinyelu is the reigning Naismith Defensive Player of the Year, and he is not usually the first name on the scouting report for points. On Thursday, he was. The senior center went 7 of 9 from the field and 7 of 9 at the free throw line for 21 points, adding eight rebounds, an assist and a block in 22 minutes.

That free throw line matters. After the Gators went 20 of 35 at the stripe against Miami, Chinyelu's 7 of 9 was part of a much cleaner night for the whole team. Florida shot 19 of 27, a 70 percent clip that is still not great but is a long way from Monday's struggles.

Haugh, the preseason SEC Player of the Year, followed up his double-double against Miami with 14 points on 5 of 8 shooting, seven rebounds and four assists in 26 minutes. Aberdeen scored 12 points, all on 3s, going 4 of 5 from deep. Urban Klavzar, the reigning SEC Sixth Man of the Year, also scored 12, hitting three of his five 3-point tries off the bench.

Condon's Near Miss

Condon finished with 12 points, 12 rebounds, eight assists and three blocks in 25 minutes. He fell two assists short of what would have been just the fifth triple-double in Florida history, and he went to the bench with nearly 11 minutes remaining as Todd Golden played the long game with his starters.

Even without the triple-double, Condon's night went into the record book. He became the first SEC player to post a double-double with at least seven assists and three blocks since LSU's Ben Simmons did it against North Florida on Dec. 2, 2015. Simmons went No. 1 overall in the 2016 NBA Draft. That is the kind of company Condon's passing puts him in.

Golden's decision to sit him says a lot about where Florida's priorities are in early November. No starter played more than 26 minutes. The Gators have bigger fish to fry next week, and there is no reason to chase a stat line in a blowout.

The Glass Was a Blowout Too

If you want one number that tells the story, try 52-25. Florida outrebounded Jacksonville by 27, a gap that would be ridiculous against almost anyone and is right in line with the identity of a team that led the country in rebound margin last season. Condon had 12, Chinyelu and Haugh had seven or more each, and even reserve Arturas Butajevas grabbed six in nine minutes.

Florida shot 48 percent from the field (29 of 60) and held Jacksonville to 33 percent (19 of 57). The Dolphins went 6 of 21 from 3. Florida also out-assisted Jacksonville 18 to 6.

The one area the Gators will want to clean up is ball security. Florida turned it over 14 times, and Jacksonville came away with 11 steals, a sign that the Dolphins' guards were active even when the shots would not fall. Morrow also drew attention in a different way: he was called for two flagrant fouls while defending Condon and Chinyelu, which made for a chippy few stretches in an otherwise lopsided game.

Boogie Fland had a quiet night by his standards, scoring four points on 2 of 3 shooting with three assists in 23 minutes, but on a night when the frontcourt was running the offense, Florida did not need him to force anything. That kind of unselfishness from a lead guard is not nothing in November.

Wood led Jacksonville with 11 points on 4 of 9 shooting. Jamie Phillips Jr. scored 10 and handed out four assists, though he needed 14 shots to get there. Morrow added nine in 16 minutes, Nehemiah Turner had seven off the bench, and Lyndell Buckingham Jr. chipped in six. The Dolphins' bench actually held its own, scoring 21 points, but the starters could not keep pace with Florida's size.

What It Means

Two games in, the formula is obvious. Florida is going to beat you on the boards, beat you on the block, and make enough 3s to keep you from loading up inside. Against Miami, the defense carried the night. Against Jacksonville, the offense took over before halftime and the rest was a formality.

The bench got real minutes, with Golden emptying it inside the final eight minutes, and Florida's reserves combined for 25 points. Klavzar continues to look like one of the most valuable sixth men in the country, and Isaiah Brown added four points in 11 minutes.

The tests get tougher fast. Florida makes its first road trip of the season on Tuesday, Nov. 10, at Florida State, a series the Gators have won five straight times dating to 2021. Then come Merrimack on Nov. 13 and Notre Dame on Nov. 17. Jacksonville, now 1-1, hosts Kansas City on Monday, Nov. 9.

For the full numbers, see the ESPN box score (opens in a new tab) and Florida's game recap (opens in a new tab).

Sources: ESPN, Florida Athletics, Associated Press. More men's college basketball coverage on Undrafted.

The scary thing about Florida is not that it can beat Jacksonville by 31. Plenty of good teams can. It is that the Gators did it with their best player scoring 14, their center playing point guard, and their defensive anchor finding a scoring touch nobody expected. The No. 1 team in the country has a lot of ways to win, and it is only Week 1.

Photo: Florida Athletics.