Sophomore center John Egbunu sinks one of his clutch free throws in the final minute Tuesday night to help the Gators hold rally past Mississippi State for a 81-78 victory.
In Winning, Gators Learn Hard Lesson
Tuesday, January 19, 2016 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- That old and wise dime-store philosopher Dorian Finney-Smith put it like this.
"We have to learn from winning, instead of losing. We tend to play harder after a loss."
OK, so Finney-Smith is just 23, but as a fifth-year senior with well over a hundred college basketball games under his belt, the Florida forward has perspective that is operating at a different level these days.
Sort of like his game.
The Gators needed everything Finney-Smith had to fend off Mississippi State and get out of the O'Connell Center with an 81-78 victory Tuesday night. They needed a lot more than that, actually. Like sophomore center John Egbunu, whose previous 10 games had been a how-not-to video at the foul line, hitting four pressure-packed free throws with a minute to go to twice give his team the lead. They needed three defensive stops in the last 24 seconds to make Egbunu's difference-makers stand.
And, candidly, the Gators (12-6, 4-2) just maybe needed a scare like the one the Bulldogs (7-10, 0-5), winless in Southeastern Conference, threw at them and the crowd of 8,250 as a reminder of how hard it is not only to win a game in this league, but win two in a row -- a first for this program since late last season when Billy Donovan walked the sidelines.
"This one opened our eyes a lot. We can't take games for granted," sophomore backup forward Devin Robinson said. "It's a wake-up call that anything can happen. We got the one, but it wasn't a good win."
On the contrary, it was an great win given the alternative.
"Every game is going to be hard in this league," Finney-Smith said.
On the heels of a road victory Saturday night at Mississippi, the Gators had to prove they were mature enough to take care of business at home against a team they were expected to beat.
Learn from winning, instead of losing.
"I'm glad he said that," Coach Mike White nodded with regard to his leader.
White was equally pleased with Finney-Smith's floor game. He scored 20 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in a team-high 35 minutes to post his third straight double-double and fourth in the last five games. Freshman guard KeVaughn Allen, on the heels of a 27-point outburst at Ole Miss, dropped in 19 to go with five rebounds and a pair of steals. Egbunu went for 16 points and seven rebounds. Backup sophomore forward Devin Robinson came off the bench to score 11 points and five rebounds in 19 minutes, for one of his better games of late.
Florida got some breaks, what with Mississippi State being called for nearly twice as many fouls (25-13) and shooting 17 free throws to UF's 33. Three Bulldog frontcourt players, including scoring leader and rebounder Gavin Ware, fouled out. Ware, who came in averaging 17 points and eight rebounds, played just 15 minutes and finished with five points and one rebound. Florida out-rebounded Mississippi State 45-33 and doubled the Bulldogs on the offensive glass 12-6.
For the Bulldogs, it was their fourth league defeat by six points or less, including a one-point defeat to still-unbeaten Texas A&M.
"Tough loss for us," said MSU coach Ben Howland, who in addition to the imbalance in fouls, watched the Gators fire away for nearly 43 percent from 3. "They were very good at playing aggressively on defense and only ending up with 13 fouls."
UF trailed by 11 with just over 15 minutes to go, only to go on a wicked 24-5 run over the next seven-plus minutes to take an eight-point lead, then lose its edge twice in the final two minutes -- and take it back both times.
"I thought we showed some resiliency," White said.
No one more so than Egbunu, who after clanging four of his first eight free throws of the game had made just 15 of his previous 45 over the last 10 games (34.8 percent). Down 76-75 after a knifing, driving layup from MSU guard Craig Sword (17 points, 4 assists, 3 steals) gave the Bulldogs the lead with 1:53 to go, Egbunu knocked down a pair with the clock showing exactly a minute left.
Thirteen seconds later, Sword split the UF defense again for a 78-77 lead. Again, Egbunu was fouled in the Florida halfcourt and, again, he put down both to push the Gators in front 79-78 with 41.3 seconds left.
"I believed in him," Allen said. "We all did."
Including Egbunu, apparently.
"When you miss a free throw, you can't have it back," he said. "You have to think about the next one."
On the other end, MSU's Travis Daniels short-armed a drive to the basket, Florida rebounded and the Bulldogs fouled forward Justin Leon (8 points, 8 rebounds) with 19 seconds left, putting him at the line.
Leon missed both.
MSU point guard I.J. Ready (20 points), who at one point scored 14 of his team's 16 points during a late first-half Bulldogs run, missed a driving jumpshot that was rebounded by Allen with just under two seconds left. Allen put in both free throws and the Bulldogs' desperation 94-foot pass sailed off a players finger tips and out of bounds, as the horn sounded.
"We didn't panic," Allen said. "We stayed within ourselves, believed in one another and just kept fighting."
Call it a lesson learned. From winning.
The best kind.
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