Fourth-year junior center John Egbunu tore the ACL in his left knee Tuesday and will miss the rest of the season.
Harry Fodder: Next-Day Takeaway
Wednesday, February 15, 2017 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
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More from the night before, and the 114-95 road win at Auburn ... and the injury to John Egbunu.
By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer
NEXT-DAY TAKEAWAY No. 15 Florida 114, Auburn 95 Three leftover thoughts from Gators' road win Tuesday night.
1) The loss of fourth-year junior center John Egbunuto a season-ending knee injury is a devastating blow to a basketball team that was playing as well any in the country — and changes so much about how the Gators will have to play the rest of the season. UF's run of seven straight victories was rooted in its sterling defense and Egbunu, the 6-foot-11, 255-pound rim protector, was in the middle of it all. He was a deterrent to interior drives and a force when the ball was in the air. He was averaging 7.8 points and a team-best 6.6 rebounds per game. Now, he's out of the equation and sophomore Kevarrius Hayes becomes Florida's starting center. The 6-9, 220-pound Hayes is a very good, very sound player and one of the best athletes on the team. Don't forget, Hayes started seven games and averaged 6.8 points and 4.7 boards during December and January while Egbunu was working back from a hamstring strain. He came off the bench for 20 points and nine rebounds at Oklahoma. Hayes is a proven player who can run all day and flash some highlight plays on both ends. Those are the pluses. On the other side, he lacks the brute strength and intimidating presence of his fallen teammate, is prone to foul trouble and gets pushed around by bigger post players (like against Georgia and Texas A&M). Oh, and he can't play 40 minutes, either, which means walk-on Schuyler Rimmer (1.4 ppg, 1.0 rpg) looms as the first backup option at the "5" spot and, obviously, that is a significant dropoff from the Egbunu-to-Hayes rotation. It's a cruel twist of irony that the day before Egbunu got hurt, freshman center Gorjok Gak (with just 40 mostly scrub-time minutes all season) suffered a foot sprain that practice that will sideline him for 10-14 days. Gak is raw and would have his deer-in-the-headlight moments, but he's a 6-11, 230-pound body who could play five minutes and give away some fouls, if need be. With both Egbunu (for good) and Gak (for now) out, Coach Mike White and his staff not only have to manage minutes in the post during games, but do so during practice also. The Gators practice hard — very hard — but with reduced numbers there's risk involved and a fine line to walk.
Sophomore center Kevarrius Hayes is getting a battlefield promotion to starter following the injury to John Egbunu, but Hayes actually started seven games earlier this season. The Gators won all seven.
2) This second item could just as easily have been folded into the first, but since I need three I figured I'd break it out. Redshirt freshman Keith Stone is about to have a lot more put on his plate. Regarding Rimmer, I used the word "looms," but the Gators also will take a good look at Stone at the "5" position. The 6-8, 240-pounder has been slow to recovery from a viral illness and bouts with vertigo and has just one point over the last nine games (two of which he sat out). He's got the body to bump around in the low post and is a good rebounder, but some really big "bigs" could cause him problems. If Stone could regain the shooting touch that allowed him to hit 12 of 19 shots from the 3-point line over an 11-game span earlier in the season, he could force opposing defenses to send their bigs out of the post to guard him on the perimeter and thus open the paint to UF's guards for drives. And moving Stone into the post, isn't the only way to go small, if that's what UF's coaches think is the best way to go. We'll know more Saturday at Mississippi State.
3) Balanced scoring has been a staple for the Gators all season, but especially during the current winning streak. Heading into the Auburn game, UF had six different scoring leaders in its six consecutive wins. The Gators, didn't make it seven in seven, what with backup forward Canyon Barry going off for a season-high 30 points, but they did put seven guys in double-figure scoring. Is that a big deal on a night the team busts out for 114? Maybe not, but it's yet another indicator of its unselfishness. After Barry, the next six Gators in doubles finished with between 17 and 10 points, with Hayes right there at nine points. Going into the game, the Gators ranked fourth in the SEC in scoring at 79 points per game, yet had no players ranked among the league's top 20 individual scorers. After Tuesday's league games shook out, and Barry's big night was done, he checked in at No. 20 among the conference scoring leaders at 13.4 per game.
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1) The loss of fourth-year junior center John Egbunu to a season-ending knee injury is a devastating blow to a basketball team that was playing as well any in the country — and changes so much about how the Gators will have to play the rest of the season. UF's run of seven straight victories was rooted in its sterling defense and Egbunu, the 6-foot-11, 255-pound rim protector, was in the middle of it all. He was a deterrent to interior drives and a force when the ball was in the air. He was averaging 7.8 points and a team-best 6.6 rebounds per game. Now, he's out of the equation and sophomore Kevarrius Hayes becomes Florida's starting center. The 6-9, 220-pound Hayes is a very good, very sound player and one of the best athletes on the team. Don't forget, Hayes started seven games and averaged 6.8 points and 4.7 boards during December and January while Egbunu was working back from a hamstring strain. He came off the bench for 20 points and nine rebounds at Oklahoma. Hayes is a proven player who can run all day and flash some highlight plays on both ends. Those are the pluses. On the other side, he lacks the brute strength and intimidating presence of his fallen teammate, is prone to foul trouble and gets pushed around by bigger post players (like against Georgia and Texas A&M). Oh, and he can't play 40 minutes, either, which means walk-on Schuyler Rimmer (1.4 ppg, 1.0 rpg) looms as the first backup option at the "5" spot and, obviously, that is a significant dropoff from the Egbunu-to-Hayes rotation. It's a cruel twist of irony that the day before Egbunu got hurt, freshman center Gorjok Gak (with just 40 mostly scrub-time minutes all season) suffered a foot sprain that practice that will sideline him for 10-14 days. Gak is raw and would have his deer-in-the-headlight moments, but he's a 6-11, 230-pound body who could play five minutes and give away some fouls, if need be. With both Egbunu (for good) and Gak (for now) out, Coach Mike White and his staff not only have to manage minutes in the post during games, but do so during practice also. The Gators practice hard — very hard — but with reduced numbers there's risk involved and a fine line to walk. 
