A recurring storyline for the Florida Gators men’s basketball program: They start to gain momentum, then everything falls apart.
Wednesday’s contest was proof of that.
After defeating the West Virginia Mountaineers in Morgantown on Saturday – in what could be the biggest victory the program has ever had in recent history – the Gators qualified in the AP’s Top 25 for the first time since November 2019, in 22nd place.
Returning home to face a South Carolina team 4-6 (2-4 SEC) in their first match as a classified competitor, the Gators should remain active and add a fifth consecutive count to the winning column.
However – a defining characteristic of the teams coached by Mike White during his tenure – the UF fell into defeat at a time when the tide was turning in his favor.
“Whenever we get a little bit of success, we tend to play badly and lose focus. I think that’s what happened tonight ”, second year guard Tre Mann had to say after the game.
With a five-point lead in the first half, 40 to 35, the Florida Gators planned to take the wave that brought them back from a 10-point handicap at the start of the competition to escape Frank Martin’s always troubled team.
Blocked by a dreaded scoring drought – reminiscent of the ineffective offenses they employed in previous years – the Gators allowed a 13-1 SCAR run starting with 6:37 remaining.
As a result, the Gators would not only waste the seven-point advantage they had when the race started, but would also allow their inability to tip a bucket in any way – hitting just one of the last ten shots – to be the deciding factor.
Led by Mann and Noah Locke on the offensive side – with 17 and 15 points, respectively – Florida failed to consistently execute opportunities in painting. When the final bell rang, Florida accounted for only 30 of its 66 total domestic points, compared to 50 of 72 for SCAR.
As a result, their average shooting rate of almost 50% in the season was reached, as they shot only 40% of the field (and 28% beyond the arc).
Meanwhile, the defense of the Gators was divided by the AJ Lawson and Seventh woods double, accounting for 47.2% of South Carolina’s points at night; Florida was unable to combat the combination of easy submissions (17 layups made), second chance points (20) and board dominance (43) needed to take down the Gamecocks.
The disappointing display probably booked them a one-way ticket back to unclassified lands and created controversy over their legitimacy at the time of the tournament.
As the same team that has dominated lately, playing at a high level against all opponents who have risen to the tray, the success they had before this defeat for the Gamecocks gave hope that the program was going in the right direction.
Now, the momentum that has been building in the past two weeks has subsided and, again, the “Is this Florida team a candidate or a suitor?” question is asked.
Although it is difficult to think that all the bright spots that you have seen up to this point will magically disappear due to poor performance, this question does not require an automatic answer.
However, this is a common occurrence under coach Mike White, creating a sense of caution when assessing the remaining – and difficult – stretch that the Gators are about to guarantee.
Florida will try to recover next Saturday as they travel to Baton Rouge to face the 11-6 (6-4 SEC) LSU Tigers at 2pm.