Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Gators, Seminoles let leads slip away in tourney doubleheader
SUNRISE — The 24th Orange Bowl Classic gave South Florida a look at two of the state’s Big Three basketball programs with varying objectives Saturday at the BB&T Center.
After the Florida State Seminoles missed their bid to tie a school record with a 10-0 start to the season with a 71-70 loss to Oklahoma State in the opener, the No. 22 Florida Gators were trying to get their season back on track.
Similar to the 19th-ranked Seminoles, Florida let a late lead slip in a 71-69 loss to Clemson (9-1).
The Gators led by as many as 12 in the second half and were up by six with 3:53 remaining, but went cold after that.
Marcquise Reed grabbed a rebound on a long 3-point attempt by KeVaughn Allen and threw it the length of the court to Elijah Thomsaid. for an easy layup to put Clemson ahead to stay with 37 seconds remaining.
“We were kind of scrambling for the ball,” Florida’s Jalen Hudson “We didn’t sprint back like we were all supposed to. [Thomas] leaked out before anybody had seas
cured the rebound, which is kind of a risky play for him but ended up going in their favor.”
Reed had 22 points for Clemson, while Hudson led all scorers with 23, including 4 of 8 on 3-pointers. Allen (12) and Chris Chiozza (14) were also in double figures for Florida.
Reeling from a spate of injuries to their front court and losses in three of the previous four games, the Gators were looking to regain some traction. Like the Seminoles, they left disappointed.
After rising to No. 5 in the rankings, the Gators took a tumble in the polls with three consecutive losses, including an 83-66 rout by Florida State, before a respectable win against Cincinnati.
Their 6-4 record is partly reflective of a difficult earlyseason schedule and extensive travel, which provided valuable experience that may pay off later in the season.
But coach Mike White said his team hasn’t performed up to the hype it has received.
“Every loss hurts, especially when these guys have gotten so much noise about how good we are. It’s been a challenge to find that hunger that you’re looking for,” White said. “A lot of the mistakes that we made today we see every day and they’re pointed out every day. That’s discouraging. We’ve got to take some steps.”
Many of the mistakes, he pointed out, came on defense and contributed to Clemson getting 30 foul shots (the Tigers converted 20). Florida was 9 of 17 from the line.
Clemson also outshot Florida 51 percent to 41 percent from the field. The Gators shot 37.5 percent in the second half.
“We made some mistakes down the stretch. They capitalized on every mistake that we made,” Hudson said. “We had 10 fouls early in the second half, so every foul that we had they were getting shots for it. They were chipping away at it the whole time.”
Clemson put on its late charge by converting after a pair of misses by Chiozza, pulling within two. Gabe Devoe hit a 3-pointer from the corner to put Clemson ahead for the first time since the early minutes at 67-66.
After Chiozza answered for Florida with a layup, the Gators made a key stop but couldn’t put it away.
Allen got another chance to save it for Florida but his 3-pointer from the corner was off and Thomas grabbed a vital rebound for Clemson with 9 seconds remaining.
“I felt confident in shooting it and it felt good,” Allen said.
Hudson had a hot hand early for the Gators, scoring 12 of their first 17 points, including a pair of 3-pointers.
Gator fans had an opportunity to unveil the odd chant of “Gak, Gak, Gak” after Australian center Gorjok Gak grabbed an offensive rebound and slammed it home for a three-point lead in the final minute of the half.
Florida scored the final six points of the half as Egor Koulechov, who played two seasons at The Sagemont School in Weston, hit a running 3-pointer at the buzzer to push the lead to 40-33.
The Gators were unable to assert themselves at the end of the game in the same manner.
Regarding whether the exhaustive early-season schedule has taken a toll, Hudson said, “I wouldn’t say it took anything out of us; I thought we got a lot of experience from that. We’re still kind of making the same mistakes we’ve made since early November.
“We just have to get better.”
FSU stymied late
Earlier, Florida State suffered its first loss of the season in another exciting finish as the lead swung back and forth in the final minute.
Mitchell Solomon scored on a tip-in with 6 seconds remaining to boost the Oklahoma State (8-2) after Terance Mann scored on a put-back to give FSU the lead.
CJ Walker then turned it over on a desperation drive, averting the Seminoles’ bid for a last-second win.
Oklahoma State’s Jeffrey Carroll led all scorers with 23 points, but it was Solomon with two key baskets down the stretch on the way to 12 points.
Senior forward Phil Cofer scored 22 for Florida State, including five 3-pointers. Mann finished with 20 points on 9-of-15 shooting.
The Seminoles were trying to match the 10-0 start of the 2003-04 FSU team.
“There are a lot of games left and we know the ACC is a long season,” FSU junior guard Terance Mann said. “Anything can happen on any given night. We weren’t too caught up in the streak.”