Gators stumble against Tide
Second-half Alabama surge knocks out UF
GAINESVILLE — UF coach Mike White knew it in November, discussed it during December and harped on it throughout the month of January.
Now here it is February and White is at a loss for why his players remain unwilling or unable to buy in and sell out on the defensive end of the floor.
The Gators’ struggles there reached their nadir during the second half of Saturday’s 68-50 home loss to Alabama.
“It’s pretty frustrating that the coaches are constantly telling us to do this or that and we still don’t do it,” sophomore forward Keith Stone said. “Eventually it’s going to get to us.”
It got the No. 23 Gators (15-8, 6-4 SEC) on Saturday, sealing their third consecutive SEC loss as UF’s NCAA Tournament résumé looks increasingly less impressive.
Alabama trailed 33-27 at halftime, but after an inspiring halftime speech from coach Avery Johnson proceeded to run UF off the O’Connell Center floor and silenced an announced sellout crowd of 10,845.
The Crimson Tide (15-8, 6-4 SEC) opened the second half with an 8-0 run to knock the Gators on their heels. Alabama delivered the knockout blow a little later with a 15-2 run that converted a 41-39 UF lead into a 54-43 Tide advantage.
Johnson’s squad did most of its damage in transition, repeatedly catching the Gators flat-footed following a missed shot.
Eleven of Alabama’s 18 second-half field goals were on either layups or dunks.
“That was as fast as I’ve seen our team run in a long of time,” Johnson said. “We had a sense of urgency. We had a competitive spirit.”
Meanwhile, the Gators ran out of gas and could not buy a basket.
Alabama outscored UF 41-17 during the second half as the Crimson Tide shot 58.1 percent (18 of 31) compared with 22.6 percent (7 of 31) for the Gators.
When the shots stopped falling, UF fell into a familiar and flummoxing pattern White has seen all too often.
“The identity of this team is very frustrating,” he said. “We’re not very tough. We pride ourselves on shots and points more so than anything else.”
Red-hot shooting helped the Gators to nice wins against Gonzaga, Texas A&M and Baylor.
But UF’s poor shooting also led to surprising losses to Loyola Chicago, Ole Miss and South Carolina.
Against Alabama, the Gators needed to be on their game offensively.
The Crimson Tide were faster, longer and more athletic than the Gators.
“A lot of credit to them,” UF senior shooting guard Egor Koulechov said. “They made every shot tough on us. They’re long, they’re athletic, they’re young, they’re tough to defend.
“They made us pay for a lot of defensive mistakes.”
Alabama freshman point guard Collin Sexton, a projected 2018 NBA draft lottery pick, led the Tide with 17 points, eight rebounds and six assists. Forward Donta Hall added 14 points on 7 of 7 shooting and 11 rebounds.
UF shooting guard KeVaughn Allen led the Gators with 16 points, including eight straight early in the second half to temporarily keep his team in the game.
“I thought KeVaughn Allen was the only one of our team that played well,” White said.
Otherwise, White drew few positives from his team’s performance Saturday. Blowing secondhalf leads during losses to Duke and Clemson hurt, White said. But the Alabama loss was a complete beatdown.
With eight regular-season games to go, the Gators hope it was a reality check that hitting shots and scoring points is fleeting — and rarely enough to beat a talented opponent.
“It’s not that guys aren’t trying,” Koulechov said. “It’s a group of good guys, we love each other. But at the same time, we have to man up, step up because there’s only eight conference games left and the conference tournament. Who knows what you got after?
“This is kind of the home stretch and there’s not a whole lot of time left.”