At the Buzzer: North Carolina 75, Florida 64 (Instant Analysis from the Battle 4 Atlantis)
Saturday, November 29, 2014 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
AT THE BUZZER
NORTH CAROLINA 75, FLORIDA 64
WHAT HAPPENED: The fifth-ranked Tar Heels jumped on the No. 18 Gators from the outset and got a lot of help from a wheel-spinning UF offense that did not score for the game's first six minutes, 39 seconds. Before Florida got it first points, UNC had built a 12-0 lead. Carolina went up by as many as 18 in the first half, but the Gators showed some fight in the second half, twice cutting the margin to seven before Tar Heels free throws iced the outcome. UNC center Kennedy Meeks had 18 points and guard Marcus Paige added 16, including 9-for-10 from the line. Point guard Kasey Hill led the Gators with a career- and game-high 20 points.
WHAT IT MEANS: Florida has lost three of its first six games for the first time since 1996-97. That was Billy Donovan's inaugural season as coach. Granted, the three losses have come against No. 18 Miami, Georgetown and now North Carolina. Hardly disrespectable. Then again, UF's only wins have come against a trio of mid-majors in William & Mary, Louisiana-Monroe and Alabama-Birmingham -- and the latter two easily could have been losses.
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Hats off to Hill, the sophomore point guard who came in averaging 5.8 points and shooting 23.7 from the floor, but finally had a solid offensive game. He made five of his 12 field-goal attempts and drove aggressively to the lane and got to the free-throw line, where he went 10-for-12. He looked way more comfortable and confident running the team. He had just two assists, it's tough to tally dimes when teammates aren't making shots.
STAGGERING STATISTICS: UF opened the game by missing its first 10 shots. The Gators shot 29 percent for the first half -- compared to 67 for UNC -- and was an abysmal 1-for-15 (that's 7 percent) from the 3-point line.
UP NEXT: Think its going to get any easier? Think again. The Gators (3-3) have a week off until returning to action next Friday (Dec. 5) with a road game at Kansas as part of ESPN's Big 12/SEC Challenge. The Jayhawks (4-1), currently ranked 11th, beat up on Tennessee 82-67 Friday. Two weeks ago, they were pummeled by Kentucky 72-40, so as far as SEC challenges go, UF will be KU's third game in their first six against SEC foes.
