In control the whole way
No. 12 Florida clinches No. 2 seed, defeats Arkansas 78-65.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The Arkansas Razorbacks’ quest to break their long losing streak at Florida will have to wait.
No. 12 Florida repelled repeated runs by the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville in the second half and held on for a 78-65 victory Wednesday before a sellout senior night crowd of 10,978 at Exactech Arena at the O’Connell Center.
Florida (24-6, 14-3 SEC), which jumped out to a 16-point lead in the first half, clinched the No. 2 seed for the SEC Tournament and beat the Razorbacks (22-8, 11-6) at home for the 12th consecutive time dating to 1995.
“I thought they were more in attack mode than we were,” Arkansas Coach Mike Anderson said of Florida’s quick start. “I thought we were letting them get it into the lane and just doing whatever they wanted to do.
“In the second half, I thought we did a better job of building a wall and making them shoot jump shots.”
Florida Coach Mike White called timeout with 39 seconds left to allow his four seniors to walk to midcourt and clap with the crowd. This came after Arkansas put together rallies that trimmed double-figure deficits to six points and then seven points, only to see the Gators respond with runs of their own.
“My throat is a little sore, and I worked up a pretty good sweat,” White said. “To be honest with you, we had a couple of pretty volatile timeouts there. I thought we had some slippage, especially in transition defense. I kept getting on our guys … about the fact that Arkansas is as dangerous of an offensive team as there is.”
The game matched two of the SEC’s hottest teams, as Florida snapped the Razorbacks’ five-game winning streak while winning for the 10th time in 11 games. Florida swept two games from the Razorbacks, adding to its 81-72 victory at Walton Arena on Dec. 29.
Anderson said on his postgame radio show that he was “miffed” about some of the block-charge calls.
“I thought it kind of got our guys off-kilter,” he said.
In the media interview room, Anderson voiced his objection to an offensive foul called against Moses Kingsley that nullified a basket with 12:13 left in the game with Arkansas trailing 51-39. Kingsley turned and made an 8-foot jumper against Schuyler Rimmer, who fell back after contact as lead referee Mike Nance called a foul on Kingsley. The referees went to the monitor to see whether Kingsley’s elbow made contact on the play.
“It should have been an and-one, and I don’t know what happened on that one,” Anderson said. “But that didn’t decide the game.”
Kingsley, who had 17 points and nine rebounds, also disagreed with Nance’s call.
“I call that B.S.,” Kingsley said. “I don’t know what happened with a call like that.”
Anderson said Rimmer didn’t give Kingsley room to turn and shoot.
“I didn’t mean to hit him in the face,” Kingsley said. “I feel like that should have been an and-one. I made the basket. I thought they were reviewing it to call it a basket.”
The Gators had balanced scoring, as Canyon Barry led the way with 14 points, including 3 of 8 from threepoint range. The guard trio of Kasey Hill, KeVaughn Allen (North Little Rock) and Chris Chiozza added 12 points apiece.
Jaylen Barford led Arkansas with 18 points on 6-of-18 shooting, and Dusty Hannahs scored 13 on 3-of-9 shooting.
Florida shot 50.9 percent — 29 of 57 — against an Arkansas defense that struggled to contain penetration from the quick Gators guards, particularly in the first half.
Arkansas made 21 of 59 shots (35.6 percent). Kingsley was 6 of 12, and Daryl Macon (8 points) and Arlando Cook each shot 50 percent from the floor. The other six Razorbacks who played combined to shoot 12 of 41 (29.3 percent).
“We didn’t do enough,” Anderson said. “We didn’t shoot the ball well, and that’s Dusty
included.”
Florida outrebounded the Hogs 40-33, and its bench outscored Arkansas 36-12.
Arkansas, trailing 41-28 at halftime, went on a 6-0 run midway through the second half on buckets by Cook and Trey Thompson, sandwiched around a pair of free throws by Macon, to pull within 51-45.
The Gators responded with an 8-0 run, as Barry scored in the lane, Devin Robinson made a three-pointer and Keith Stone converted a threepoint play to make it 59-45.
Arkansas pulled within 68-61 with a 12-7 run spurred by five points each from Barford and Hannahs and a hook shot from Kingsley. But Barry came up with a block from point-blank range on Dustin Thomas, and Hill made a three-pointer as momentum swung back to the Gators.
“Arkansas cut the lead down, and we were struggling with our transition defense for a stretch there,” White said. “Arkansas had a lot of confidence, and for Canyon to not only come up with a huge block but also deflect it off the opposing player’s foot was a big play for us.”
Florida scored on its first six offensive possessions to build a 14-8 lead. Barry and Allen hit three-pointers during the start, and the Gators broke down Arkansas’ man-to-man defense to score on four layups.
The Gators pulled away over a five-minute stretch with a 15-3 run in which they held the Hogs to only a Hannahs’ three-pointer.
Florida led 27-11 when Hannahs hit another three-pointer from the right wing. The Gators were doubling up the Hogs as late as the 6:07 mark, at 32-16, on an Allen three-pointer.