Gators back on track
rather (have) the alternative and rather teach after a ‘W.’”
The No. 24 Gators (5-2) will have a chance to see how well they handle winning when Marshall (2-3) visits the O’Connell Center at 9 p.m. Friday. The game will air on the SEC Network.
“I think Friday will be a big test for us to see how we managed our win this past tournament,” Johnson said. “I feel like if we just keep doing what we’re doing we’ll be just fine.”
Two years removed from an NCAA tournament appearance, the Thundering Herd will look to push the tempo, hit 3-point shots and shock the Gators. Anything is possible if No. 1 Duke could lose at home to Stephen F. Austin Tuesday night, two weeks after top-ranked Kentucky fell to Evansville.
“College basketball is at an all time level of insanity. … Crazy,” said White, whose father, Kevin, is Duke’s athletics director. “Anybody can beat anybody.”
When playing their best, though, the Gators will be a tough out for just about anyone in college basketball.
The Gators played their most complete game of the season to coast to a 78-58 win last Friday against Miami. Four players scored in double figures as UF shot 53.6% on the day, while Miami was just 9-of-27 (33.3%) during the second half.
Big man Kerry Blackshear had his fifth doubledouble in seven games, and with 20 points led four double-figure scorers. Point guard Andrew Nembhard had a season-high nine assists, matching his total from the previous two games when he took a team-high 33 shots.
Two days later against Xavier, UF continued its hot shooting, hitting 64% during the first half, before going ice cold late in the game.
“We’ve got so far to go, especially on the offensive end,” White said. “It starts with making shots. Sometimes basketball is as simple as whether it goes in or not.
“It’s going in more often for us.”
White, though, is much more encouraged by the other end of the court. UF ranks 16th nationally in defensive efficiency, according to analytics guru Ken Pomeroy.
“Our numbers have been really good defensively,” White said. “We continue to make simple mistakes that we have to clean up, but I like where we are there.”
The Gators like where they are much more than a week ago, when the season was teetering on the brink before it had even begun. Ugly losses to Florida State and UConn during a seven-day span were not the start anyone expected, but a week later UF was back on track.
The key now is to stay there and keep gaining steam.
“I feel like that week from UConn to the end of Charleston was a big jump for us,” Nembhard said. “I think we got a long way to go, but I think it was really good for us kinda coming more together and play well as a team. This whole week guys stepped into their roles in a better way and kinda focused on the team more than themselves.
“I think it was good for us.”