‘Biggest challenge’ yet for UF in S.C.

GAINESVILLE – The last time the surging Florida Gators were on a similar roll in men’s basketball, it did not end for 30 games and in the Final Four.

Though the long-term goals remain similar, coach Mike White is eager to see if the No. 19 Gators (14-3, 5-0 SEC) can keep their modest seven-game winning streak going.

Tonight’s visit to No. 24 South Carolina (14-3, 4-0) should test UF’s talent and toughness like few games remaining on the regularseason schedule.

“This would probably be our biggest challenge to date,” White said. “We’re gonna have to play our best game to have success.”

The class of the SEC defensively, South Carolina is athletic, aggressive and boasts size at every position.

White said the hardnosed Gamecocks are built in the image of coach Frank Martin, who first made his name coaching high school hoops during the 1980s and 1990s in Miami.

“A lot of it has to do probably with Frank’s personality, and I mean that obviously as a huge compliment,” White said. “They’ve got tough guys and they have really good team girth, strength and they like contact. They’re very physical.

“I respect the heck out of the way they defend and rebound year in and year out.”

Conversely, White questions whether his team has the grit needed to thrive going forward.

The Gators are last in the 14-team SEC in defensive rebounding and 11th in field goal percentage defense. During Saturday’s 80-76 overtime win against Georgia, UF allowed the Bulldogs to shoot 54.2 percent during the second half and were outrebounded 41-32.

“Georgia was the aggressor from the tip,” White said Tuesday. “We’ve got to be tougher.”

The Gators have won seven straight games — the longest streak at UF since 2014 — primarily on the offensive end.

Sixth man Canyon Barry is coming off a career-high 27 points, and fellow reserve Keith Stone totaled 31 points the past two games — more than he had during the previous seven games combined.

“We’re a much better team offensively than we were a month ago, that was the hope and we’re getting that,” White said. “But defensively, some of our better performances were three, five and six weeks ago. We’ve got to get back to defending at the level that we’re capable of and not playing comfortably because we see the ball go through the net.”

Points likely will be tougher to come by in Columbia, S.C.

South Carolina leads the SEC and is eighth in the nation in scoring defense, allowing an average of just 59.8 points — nearly 20 fewer than UF’s scoring average (79 ppg).

The Gamecocks lead the nation in 3-point fieldgoal percentage defense (.279) and are third in field-goal percentage defense (.364).