Gators Get Roughed Up by Seminoles, Must Toughen Up

Gators head coach Mike White watches the final moments of Monday night's 17-point loss to Florida State. (Photo: Courtney Culbreath/UAA Communications)

Gators Get Roughed Up by Seminoles, Must Toughen Up

Tuesday, December 5, 2017 | Men's Basketball, Scott Carter

Fifth-ranked Florida loses to Florida State in a game the Seminoles controlled throughout with their aggressive and physical play.

By: Scott Carter, Senior Writer

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Mike White stared at the final box score as he attempted to gather his thoughts.

White's fifth-ranked Gators hosted Florida State on Monday night at Exactech Arena/O'Connell Center and essentially got tarred and feathered by the Seminoles, who won their fourth consecutive game in the rivalry for the first time since the schools started playing basketball against each other in 1951.

The harsh truth stared back at White from the Gators' 83-66 loss.

FSU (7-0) had 23 offensive rebounds to Florida's 11. Florida (5-2) finished with 17 turnovers and shot 6 of 25 from 3-point range. The Seminoles owned a 24-8 advantage in second-chance points and 36-20 edge in the paint.

In the previous 24 hours, White said he preached to the Gators about throwing the first punch and being the aggressor. How did the Gators respond? FSU raced to a 10-1 lead less than three minutes into the game and didn't let up behind a career-high 25 points and eight rebounds from 6-foot-6 junior guard Terance Mann.

"They threw the first three or four punches and continued throwing most of them and connecting on most of them until the final buzzer,'' White said. "A very disappointing effort."

The Gators' list of misdeeds stretched from baseline to baseline in their first game since an 87-84 loss to No. 1-ranked Duke eight days ago in Portland. White said his team's transition defense lacked. The defensive rebounding was invisible. The decision making unsound.

He used the S-word in his final conclusion, the same word he uses at practice and meetings to get the Gators' attention.

"It reared its ugly ahead,'' White said. "Tonight was the epitome of soft."

White's postgame message resonated with his players. They had little defense after falling behind by as many as 19 points in the second half. The Seminoles entered as the team with the soft schedule early in the season, their biggest win a road victory at Rutgers.

Meanwhile, the Gators had already beaten Stanford and Gonzaga and led Duke by double-digits until the Blue Devils stormed back to win in the final minutes.

Mann and Co. – FSU senior forward Phil Cofer had 10 points and 12 rebounds as six Seminoles scored eight or more points – played like the No. 5-ranked team in the country. Despite shooting 28 of 72 (38.9 percent), the Seminoles led for more than 36 minutes and never trailed after turning a 35-34 deficit into a 42-35 halftime lead with an 8-0 run prior to intermission.

FSU was more aggressive, more physical and more inspired.

"You can't win when they are playing tougher and harder,'' Gators guard Jalen Hudson said.

Hudson led the Gators with 16 points, KeVaughn Allen added 15 and Egor Koulechov chipped in 11. However, Florida scored 33.5 points fewer than its season average and finished nowhere near the 11.5 3-pointers it averaged through the season's first six games.

Koulechov said when the shots aren't falling such as Monday against the long and athletic Seminoles, the Gators must find other ways to win. They failed to find that formula in front of 10,425 for the late-night start.

"A reality check for us,'' Koulechov said. "We have a lot to learn. Florida State played tougher than us. Sometimes we just took quick shots, trying to put in a 10-pointer. We've got to get better."

It didn't help that senior point guard Chris Chiozza had his worst game of the season. Chiozza finished 0-for-5 shooting and finished with just three points, five rebounds, four assists and four turnovers.

Still, Chiozza's off-night was only part of the problem. The Gators need to toughen up until they can get center John Egbunu back later in the season from knee surgery.

Until then, White is on a quest to find answers to avoid a repeat of Monday's performance.

"I thought they played harder than us, I thought they were tougher than us, for 40 minutes,'' White said. "Obviously, they were much more physical than us. We knew it was coming.

"We are not built for that right now. I'm hopeful we can get there."