GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Florida guard Alijah Martin knows a thing or two about being highly ranked.
Martin and his former team, Florida Atlantic, climbed to No. 7 in The Associated Press men’s college basketball poll last December. It came eight months after the program’s stunning run to the Final Four as a No. 9 seed.
But FAU’s loftiest ranking was short-lived. The Owls lost two of their next three games.
Martin doesn’t want to experience it again. His new team, undefeated and ninth-ranked Florida, is sitting in its highest poll spot since 2019. The Gators (9-0) face Arizona State (8-1) in the Holiday Hoopsgiving in Atlanta on Saturday, a chance to start 10-0 for the third time in school history and the first since their 2005-06 championship season.
“The hardest thing is everybody’s attributes get boosted by 10,” Martin said. “Next thing you know this non-shooter can freaking shoot. It’s just something you’ve got to fight. You’ve just got to know that people are coming.”
Florida has won every game by double digits, with the closest a 13-point victory at rival Florida State in which the Gators led by as many as 18.
Since then, coach Todd Golden’s team has won five games by an average of 24 points. The stretch includes a 37-point beatdown of Wichita State in the ESPN Events Invitational in Orlando finale and an 18-point drubbing of Virginia in Gainesville.
“You talk about experience, maturity and physicality, I think (Florida) has a really good team that could make a deep run in the NCAA Tournament,” Virginia interim coach Ron Sanchez said.
It was Florida’s goal in the preseason; it’s become the expectation now.
The Gators returned two of their three backcourt starters from last season, Walter Clayton and Will Richard, and added Martin as a graduate transfer to be a defensive stopper and another perimeter scoring threat. Throw in burgeoning big man Alex Condon and deep bench, and the Gators seem to have their most talent since former coach Billy Donovan’s 2014 team went 18-0 in Southeastern Conference play and reached the Final Four.
“Nothing that we do between now and March is going to satisfy us,” said third-year Florida coach Todd Golden, who continues to await the outcome of a Title IX investigation regarding a sexual harassment and stalking complaint. “That’s kind of the mentality that we want to have.
“We can play great and win all the games, but our end goal is to go deep in the NCAA Tournament. … Being 9-0 and being top 10 is nice, but it’s not the end game.”
Martin applauded Florida’s chemistry but stopped short of giving it a perfect score. The reason? The Gators haven’t faced any adversity. They’ve stayed mostly healthy while rolling everyone on their schedule.
No one expects that to continue, especially with North Carolina looming next and a league slate that begins at No. 5 Kentucky in early January and continues at home against top-ranked Tennessee.
Staying humble and hungry could be key.
“It’s so hard to do when everybody is praising you, telling you all these good things and whatever,” Martin said. “You get to a comfortable place in your mind. You’ve got to fight the urge to stay perfect.
“You need to keep wanting to get better and taking accountability. … You’ve just got to stay level-headed.”
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