(photo courtesy U.S. Presswire)
NEW ORLEANS -- Patric Young was slumped on stool in the Florida locker room, basically shaking his head as he answered questions as politely as he was able, given the circumstances.
“We had a great opportunity in front of us ... and we came up short,” Young sighed. “It's frustrating.”
On a day when the Florida Gators did so much right, a six-minute stretch when a handful of things went wrong was just the opening the No. 1 team in the country needed.
Top-ranked Kentucky took advantage of UF's second-half scoring drought by scoring 11 straight points, then held off the Gators with offensive rebounds and free throws down the stretch for a 74-71 victory in the semifinals of the Southeastern Conference Tournament before a Big Blue-dominant crowd at New Orleans Arena.
The loss was Florida's fourth in five games and sent the Gators (23-10) back to Gainesville, where Sunday night they'll learn their NCAA Tournament fate. If nothing else, giving the Wildcats (32-1) a rare scare during their 24-game winning streak is something to take into the postseason.
“I think we've just got to keep it up,” junior forward Erik Murphy said after pouring in a career-high 24 points on 9-for-12 shooting, including 4-for-4 from 3-point range. “We've got to play with confidence, play unselfishly, and fix the little things.”
Some of those little things have to do with being, well, little. The much bigger Wildcats battered the Gators on the boards, 39-25, with 16 of those caroms on the offensive glass. A nice chunk of those rebounds also came during that second-half stretch when UK was erasing a five-point deficit, with Terrance Jones (15 points, 9 rebounds) scoring seven of his team's 11 straight teams to seize command of the game by going up nine.
The stretch was particularly aggravating for the Gators because they were doing exactly what they prepared to do -- pack the paint inside and force the Wildcats to take either outside shots or challenged ones around the basket -- as UK went just 9-for-29 (31 percent) in the second half.
“Our defense was perfect,” said freshman forward Bradley Beal, who scored 20 points, grabbed eight rebounds and carded five assists. “It was a matter of rebounding.”
It also was a matter of SEC Player of the Year Anthony Davis, who scored 15 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, one of three Wildcats with at least five boards on the offensive end.
The flurry of Kentucky points pushed the Wildcats up 65-56 at 6:59 to go, with the partisan Commonwealth crowd ready to the blow the arena ceiling to Bourbon Street.
That's when Murphy scored seven straight points to pull the Gators within 65-63 with 2:41 to go. The lead was still two, 68-66 with 1:05 remaining, when Beal launched a 3-pointer from the corner that would have given Florida the lead, but the ball banged off the rim and the Wildcats got the rebound and sealed the game from the free-throw line.
Jones, freshman point guard Marquis Teague (15 points, 5 assists) and guard Doron Lamb (team-high 16 points) combined to go 6-for-6 from the line in the final 34.6 seconds. For the game, Kentucky was 15-for-20 on its free throws.
Florida, meanwhile, took just two free throws on the day, a statistic Gators coach Billy Donovan referenced in his post-game news conference following one of the most physical games of the year.
“How we only got there two times is beyond me,” Donovan said. "I thought our guys were battling in there and I thought their guys were battling. I thought it got to a point in the second half where it was kind of like everybody was taking each other down because no one wanted to give up anything easy.”
He wasn't finished.
“I'll deal with the office on it. That's probably the best way to put it,” Donovan said. “And I'll have a lot to say.”
The Gators would have preferred to have fielded questions about playing for the SEC championship, but instead Saturday's conversations were more about coming close in this tournament and looking to the next one. The big one.
One things is for certain: If Florida can bring the shooting it fired at Kentucky Saturday -- 48.3 percent overall, 50 percent (11 of 20) from distance versus a combined 36.4 and 24.5 in two regular-season losses -- the Gators will have a chance against anyone in the tournament field.
They had a chance this time against the team that figures to be the No. 1 overall seed.
Hence the so-close frustration after the game.
“We just need to be committed and focused on doing the things that we failed to do this game,” Young said. “Hopefully, we can make a good run coming out next week.”
