Florida Gators
vs. Kentucky (SEC Tournament)
Gators Fall to Kentucky in SEC Tournament Final; UC-Santa Barbara Next up
Sunday, March 13, 2011 | Men's Basketball, Scott Carter
The nets got cut down at the Georgia Dome, but it was Kentucky climbing the ladder. Other than for a brief hiccup midway into the first half, the Wildcats had the upper hand on the Gators from start to finish in the SEC Tournament title game on Sunday afternoon.
The Gators hoped to be the ones doing the cutting. Instead, their hoop dreams were put on hold following a 70-54 loss.
Too much Kentucky defense and too many missed lay-ups to get out the orange-and-blue scissors. The Wildcats also had a 29-8 advantage in free-throw attempts, which didn't help Florida's cause.
"It hurts, but we have been here before,'' Florida senior forward Chandler Parsons said after Kentucky secured its 27th conference tournament title. "We're not going to hang our heads after one loss.''
The Gators can't mope. There's no time or second chances. Like the rest of the field in the NCAA Tournament, their next loss is their last loss. You can't help but wonder if Sunday's loss to isn't such a bad thing.
The adjective Florida head coach Billy Donovan has used most often to describe this team is "resilient.'' The numbers back him up.
When they lose, the Gators (26-7) have bounced back each time quicker than Charlie Sheen does following a weekend in Vegas. The Gators have not lost back-to-back games all season. They certainly don't want to start now.
In fact, the Gators have responded to win at least three consecutive games after each loss.
If they rebound in the same fashion following Sunday's loss to Kentucky, the Gators can go ahead and book their rooms for the Elite Eight.
The Gators were in no mood to look back on Sunday. They quickly focused on what's ahead.
With the Wildcats still on the court celebrating, the Gators were already talking about what they must do to avoid another performance like Sunday's. What they must do to regain their footing. There were no signs of hope leaving the building.
The first step in taking the next step is winning an NCAA Tournament game. The last time the Gators won a game during March Madness, one of Sunday's spectators was on the court: Al Horford.
The Atlanta Hawks' All-Star forward watched his alma mater from the stands on Sunday, disappointed at the outcome like the rest of the fans in orange and blue in Atlanta. A poor shooting effort (22-for-57) and hitting just 7 of 21 three-pointers doomed the Gators.
Still, they had a chance if they could have put together a run when neither team scored for a five-minute stretch in the second half.
"We're taking no excuses,'' sophomore guard Kenny Boynton said. "We just missed easy shots around the rim. Stuff we ought to finish.''
As the Gators missed shots they normally make, the second-half magic they had in their first two games in the SEC Tournament pulled a disappearing act.
Kentucky's defense played a huge role too, of course, holding Florida to its second-fewest points of the season. Florida trailed 34-29 at halftime, but the Wildcats (25-8) opened the second half on a 7-0 run and never looked back.
At one point in the first half Florida went more than seven minutes without scoring, a difficult hurdle to overcome against any opponent, much less a Kentucky team that seems to be growing up at the perfect time behind freshmen Brandon Knight and Terrence Jones.
"We struggled,'' Donovan said. "I was very, very happy we were only down by five [at halftime].''
The Gators were trying to win their fourth conference tournament title under Donovan, but they never found any sort of offensive rhythm, committing 14 turnovers to 11 assists. After scoring 105 points in the second halves of their first two games in Atlanta, the Gators managed just 25 Sunday.
Florida's biggest lead came in the first half, 24-21, on Patric Young's basket. The Gators' first lead had come just moments earlier on a Parsons basket to put Florida ahead 20-19.
However, Kentucky regained control by scoring nine consecutive points and Florida never led again. Since Feb. 1, Florida is 10-2, with both losses coming to the Wildcats.
Boynton was the only Gator to finish in double figures, scoring a team-high 10 points.
"The difference I thought was we weren't physical enough to get fouled as much as they were able to get fouled,'' Donovan said.
The Gators returned to Gainesville afterward and will find out their NCAA destination later this evening. Most projections have them going to Tampa as a No. 3 seed.
Regardless of where they go or who they play, the goal remains the same as it was when the Gators showed up in Atlanta on Thursday.
They still want to know what it feels like to cut down the nets. To do so, they'll have to start with a first-round win on Thursday.
"I think our team has played really well,'' Donovan said. "For us to run off the amount of games we have had, it's been pretty impressive. And I'm proud of what these guys accomplished up to this point in time."
Parsons had hoped Sunday would be the first of three trips of the ladder for the Gators this postseason. Kentucky blocked that attempt.
The next chance would come by winning a regional title and earning a trip to the Final Four. That's four wins away. The Gators are ready to see if they can make it happen and continue adding to the story of the program's best season since winning back-to-back national titles in 2006 and 2007.
"We've got to move on and we got bigger things ahead of us, and we want to make a run in the tournament,'' Parsons said. "It hurts right now and I'm sure it's going to hurt later, but we got to move past that and look forward to the tournament.''
