By Chris Harry
GatorZone Contributing Writer
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Roadkill.
It's a label the Florida Gators will have to live with until proving they can win a game on an opponent's home floor. And they're not going to win many playing like they did in Saturday's 67-56 defeat at Tennessee in the Southeastern Conference opener for both teams.
“I don't know,” junior forward Erik Murphy said after the Gators (12-4, 0-1) lost for the fourth time in as many road trips. “We just didn't execute as well as we have been. It's a common theme we've had on the road, and we have to fix it.”
That lack of execution was well represented on both ends of the court. UF, which entered the game ranked No. 1 in the country in scoring offense (85.4 points per game) and topped the nation in 3-point shooting, hit a season-worst 35.7 percent from the floor and just 31.8 percent (7-for-22) from long-distance against a team that was next-to-last in the SEC at defending the arc. Florida also turned the ball over 15 times and finished with the lowest point total of the season. The UF bench was outscored 25-1.
But it was what went on the other end of the floor that had Coach Billy Donovan thoroughly frustrated.
“I'm more disappointed in our defense than anything else in the game,” he said.
The Volunteers (8-7) shot 51 percent, including 54.5 after halftime and got way too many easy baskets in placing four players in double figures, led by guard Kenny Hall's 13 points and beefy power forward Jeronne Maymon's 12 points and seven rebounds. The Vols outpointed the Gators 32-20 in the paint.
“That was the difference to me,” Donovan said. “Even with 15 turnovers, which is really not a lot on the road, if we defended a little bit better, I'm not saying we would have won the game, but at least we would have been in the game.”
That wasn't the case for most of the second half.
The Gators trailed 33-29 at intermission, but after freshman swingman Bradley Beal (9 points, 5 rebounds, 5 turnovers) and junior guard Kenny Boynton (13 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists) hit a couple early shots to keep the margin at four, the Vols began slowly and methodically extended their advantage, taking a 10-point lead when Hall posted for a slam-dunk at 13:06.
Although the post-game theme was much to do about UF's "oh-for" on the road, Donovan tried to downplay it, reminding everyone that two of those losses -- at Ohio State and Syracuse -- came against teams currently ranked No. 6 and No. 1, respectively.
“Playing on the road, for me, is a mentality you have to have,” Donovan said. “Anytime you play on the road it's a difficult challenge and [we've] got to learn what to do to put ourselves in position to win the game.”
Offensively, that would mean executing better against the kinds of pick-and-roll switches UT slapped on the Gators, much like what Rutgers did in its big upset double-overtime win a couple weeks ago.
It would mean getting the ball to the 6-foot-9, 247-pound Young in better spots. There's a big difference between Young catching the ball eight feet from the hoop versus five feet from the hoop and the Vols, particularly the 6-7, 265-pound Maymon, clearly understood that.
It would also include making the extra pass (or passes) necessary to find the best shot in the halfcourt.
More than anything else, though, it would be about a more inspired effort on defense than the UF demonstrated Saturday morning. Yes, the game began at 11 a.m., but that didn't mean the Gators had to guard like they just crawled out of bed.
“Bad defense. Blowing by us. Maymon killing us down low. Loose balls, they were scoring off those. They got easy steals,” Boynton said in listing the ways the Vols shot such a high percentage against a UF team that had surrendered just 41.4 percent from the floor against a pretty ambitious non-conference schedule. “I think in every way they scored off us [today].”
The Gators had no answers when they had the ball. Their last lead came at 1:45 of the first half when Boynton hit a 3-pointer to give UF a 29-28 edge. It last 20 seconds, as Wes Washpun hit a jumper. Beal turned the ball over on Florida's next possession and Trae Golden (12 points, 7 assists, 4 rebounds) ended the half with a 3-pointer that lit up the home crowd of 17,689 at Thompson-Boling Arena.
“I thought we did a great job of keeping them out of the lane, making shots tough, making passes tough, extending the offense out to the hash,” Vols coach Cuonzo Martin said. “That was the game plan.”
It's early in the SEC season, but the Gators have to figure out a way to impose their game plans on opponents. Several will be a lot better than the Vols.
“I think our guys have a long way to go as far as what they need to learn and what they need to do to grow,” Donovan said. “These experiences hopefully will help us. Again, it was another situation where you give [the other team] credit.”
The trick now is to avoid making a habit of it.
Sort of like this "roadkill" thing.
“I can't say I saw this coming,” Boynton said. “But every team plays better at home.”
And some play worse, much worse, away from it.
