Alijah Martin’s Big Night Leads Gators to Dominant Win Over Southern Illinois

Gainesville, Fla., – The No. 21 Florida Gators men’s basketball team cruised to a 93-68 win over Southern Illinois on Friday to stay undefeated in the 2024-25 season. They used a hot night offensively from senior Alijah Martin and Thomas Haugh to help ease to the finish line in this one. 

Florida started this game positively compared to their previous outings. They came out the gates easily putting the ball through the net, resulting in an early 9-2 lead over Southern Illinois by the 16-minute mark. 

However, things began to unravel over the next five to six minutes of the game. During this span, the Gators shot just 2-for-11 from the field, which allowed their opponents to cut the Gators’ lead to just one point. 

Fortunately, they began to find their rhythm and they did it in a very loud way. 

With around eight minutes left in the half until about the last two minutes, the Gators went on a 22-2 run with some crowd-pleasing plays from Martin and Alex Condon along the way. The first one came from a steal by Martin that was dished off to Denzel Aberdeen who then lobbed it to Condon for the easy slam in transition.

Then, on the next possession for Southern Illinois, the Gators came up with another steal that quickly made its way into Martin’s hands for a high-flying slam that got the crowd on its feet. 

After this big run, the Gators found themselves leading 41-17 over their opponents. 

This run really blew it wide open for Florida and by the final whistle of the first half, they were leading 46-25 over Southern Illinois. 

The Gators were led in this half by Martin and Thomas Haugh. Martin contributed 18 points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals. He was also 4-for-7 from 3. Haugh – the more surprising standout from the first half – was having his way offensively as well. The sophomore was 4-for-7 overall and 3-for-4 from 3. He also made both of his free throw attempts in the half, which gave him 13 first-half points.

The beginning of the half was dull for the Gators. The offense didn’t make its first basket until the 18-minute mark and it was a layup from Walter Clayton Jr. This stagnant play was short lived though. 

That is because Martin came alive for the Gators once again. The senior went unconscious from deep, hitting four consecutive 3’s for the Gators that included one from the logo with the shot clock expiring. By the end of his scoring tirade, the Gators led 67-38 over their opposition. 

Then, not too long after this, the Gator fans got their next highlight play. This time, it came from Haugh. The wing came flying in over the defense and got big for a putback slam to extend the Gators’ lead to 30. 

From here, the Gators were on cruise control. Southern Illinois had some stretches offensively, but never really threatened to come back in this one. In the end, Florida won 93-68 over Southern Illinois.

Alijah Martin was unstoppable in this one. He ended the game with 32 points on 11-for-19 shooting and 8-for-13 from behind the arc. He also brought down 8 rebounds and dished out five assists in this one. 

Also, Martin’s eight 3’s gave him a new career high in this category. Any time he let it fly, it felt like it was going in, he said after the game. 

“I just felt like every one of them was going in,” Martin said. 

Haugh, on the other hand, actually set a career-high in scoring against Southern Illinois. He poured in 19 points, shooting 6-for-10 overall and 3-for-5 from 3. He also was perfect from the line, hitting all four of his free throw attempts. 

His performance from behind the arc and at the charity stripe was great on the night and these were something he worked all summer on he said. 

“I worked on (3-point shooting) a lot,” Haugh said. “I didn’t shoot the ball the greatest at the beginning of the year, but teammates still trusted me. And just like starting to hopefully get into a rhythm here cause all the work hopefully going to show soon.”

It’s a long break until the Gators return to action. Their next game isn’t until next Thursday when they take on Wake Forest at the ESPN Events Invitational. That game is slated for a 2:30 p.m. tipoff in Orlando and will be televised on ESPN.