• Florida’s basketball team struggled to contain Auburn’s Johni Broome in the first half of their game.
• At halftime, the Gators adjusted their strategy to force Broome to use his weaker right side.
• Florida’s depth and physicality wore down Auburn in the second half, leading to a victory.

SAN ANTONIO — One phrase rang through the Florida basketball locker room at halftime:

“Make him use his right side.”

The “him” in question was Auburn star big man Johni Broome, and the reason for frustration was simple.

Broome, despite suffering a right elbow injury in the Elite Eight vs. Michigan State, dominated Florida in the first half to the tune of 12 points.

Forward Alex Condon said Broome’s first-half performance surprised the team. Coaches tried to fix the problem on the fly, but instead it led to more confusion. Center Micah Handlogten said Chinyelu seemed confused, and Condon acknowledged the team didn’t stick to the scouting reports.

Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.

At halftime, Condon said assistant coach Carlin Hartman “ripped” into the team. After the game, Hartman didn’t deny that, but he said it came from “tough love.”

Center Rueben Chinyelu was a little kinder, saying Hartman reminded the team return to tendency and remember that Broome is heavily reliant on his left side.

“We just have to take that side of the game out, so then let them go out with it,” Chinyelu said. “Let them play through the perimeter, so just trying to get him to go back to his right shoulder and just being big on tendency.”

Condon spoke with similar language. He credited Broome, who finished second in Player of the Year voting. Florida, though, also knows a flaw of Broome is his one-sided reliancy.

“He’s really good at finishing with his left hand, so if we push him in to help and make him counter or make him go to the middle we’ll have guys who can get deflections and contest the shot,” Condon said.

Handlogten, meanwhile, credited Gators’ superman himself Walter Clayton Jr. He called all the big men around at the half and preached to return to their game.

“Rueben, to point someone out, really changed his how he was playing,” Handlogten said. “He just played so much more physically dominate. Alex too. Alex (Condon) was really good at forcing back to his rim.”

Chinyelu and Handlogten arguably felt the pressure more than any other Florida bigs. Condon admitted his confidence was low as he recovered from his ankle injury suffered in the Sweet 16.

The sophomore, who scored just one point, said he still found ways to impact the game though his physicality.

“Just out hustling guys, and I think it’s all effort down the stretch,” Condon said. “I have so many guys this team saying like, ‘you’re good, you’re good,’ and that helps you play more free.”

Thomas Haugh was the final piece of Florida’s big-man puzzle. Haugh’s strength, as usual, came in his offense. He still made his impact defensively, though.

“That’s not the game of basketball, that’s not the style of basketball we played at the beginning, out-physicaled us,” Haugh said. “That gave us extra motivation.”

The moral of this story is clear. Florida had multiple options to throw at Broome in the second half. Games of this magnitude are like heavyweight fights, and the Gators proved it held more fighters to fire and take a punch. That fact wasn’t lost upon coach Todd Golden.

In the first half, Golden said Florida didn’t want to double team Broome since Auburn was “too explosive defensively on the perimeter.”

“They’re going to get threes for Kelly, Pettiford, guys that are automatic knockdown shooters,” Golden said. “We didn’t have anybody that could stop him. He was getting to his spots. We stayed the course.”

In the second half, Golden believes the Gators wore the Tigers down.

“I thought our depth, being able to get Rueben and Condo, sub early, bringing them back,” Golden said. “It was kind of the function of the whole of our group that stepped up and was able to kind of change that defensive effort in the second half.”

Chinyelu thinks all of UF’s big men can start at most schools in the country. Yet, they chose to play at Florida and unite around a common goal.

“It’s just beautiful to have that kind of people with good character. The joy of being around each other being happy for each other’s success,” Chinyelu said. “Once you go on the floor, you give all you got, and next man goes up there. He does the same thing, getting your back.”

Noah Ram covers Gainesville-area high school sports and University of Florida athletics for The Gainesville Sun, GatorSports.com and the USA TODAY Network. Contact him by email at [email protected] and follow him @Noah_ram1 on X/Twitter.