Meeting spurs Gators’ streak

Florida goes for 5th straight win

GAINESVILLE — A long film session had ended, but the real work was ahead for the reeling Florida Gators.

Ending a two-game losing streak was going to take more than fine-tuning some Xs and Os.

The Gators’ problems lay deeper and would require soul searching, straight talk and the willingness to listen.

“We’re not going to leave this room until we get some stuff figured out,” coach Mike White recalled telling his players.

Teams meetings have become cliché in sports. But the Gators’ heart-toheart following a Jan. 21 home loss to Vanderbilt has been the crux of the team’s turnaround and current four-game win streak.

“They just recommitted to each other,” coach Mike White said.

The details of the meeting still remain in the room. Suffice it to say the right words by the right people, were spoken and taken to heart.

"Some of the stuff can't be [repeated,]” said junior forward Devin Robinson, one of several veteran leaders who spoke. “Basically, we were all focused on the wrong things. We weren't playing for each other like we did at the beginning of the season. For us to be successful, we've got to play for one another.”

Since then, the Gators have focused less on individual goals and more on the little things that benefit the team.

During the past four games, UF has had four different leading scorers and at least four players finish in double figures. Meanwhile, the Gators held Oklahoma and Missouri to fewer than 55 points each and limited Kentucky to a season-low point total during Saturday’s 88-66 rout in the O’Connell Center.

Most impressive, the Gators (18-5, 8-2 SEC) have refused to be denied on the backboard. UF holds a plus-68 rebounding margin during the winning streak and out-rebounded SEC rebounding leader Kentucky 54-29.

“With these guys embracing playing for each other, if so-and-so gets the rebound and you don’t, we got the rebound,” White said. “We did our jobs. You blocked out. We’ve become more unselfish, not just offensively but defensively.”

The Gators’ recommitment to the right things has moved them to No. 17 in the national rankings and positioned them to snatch a top-four seed in the NCAA Tournament to lock up an opening round spot in Orlando on March 16-18.

Yet White knows if his players lose their focus, everything could come unraveled, beginning tonight at Georgia.

The Bulldogs (13-10, 4-6) are a middle-of-the-pack SEC team. Georgia also is one of the league’s more physical squads and outrebounded UF 41-32 last month.

UF is coming off it biggest win under White. But the Gators are just fivepoint favorites tonight and playing their third game in six days.

“It’s an opportunity and it's a test,” White said. “It's a challenge to see who we respond.”