Florida Gators
Auburn
Gators Get "Down," Rout Auburn as Everybody Chips In
Friday, January 16, 2015 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- The Florida basketball team hasn't been ranked since early December when the Gators fell under .500 for the first time in 17 years. They started the Southeastern Conference schedule with more losses than any season in the last 40 years. The perception is out there this program is down this season.
Auburn coach Bruce Pearl was asked about that Thursday night.
“Yeah, it's funny. They're down this year. It's because people here are spoiled,” Pearl said after getting waxed by the “down” Gators 75-55 before 10,346 at the O'Connell Center. “How many seniors did they graduate last year? Four? Four seniors that took all the playing time and took all the roles. Everybody behind them paled in comparison, so this is a brand new team.”
What's interesting is the brand new team that handed Pearl, once a UF nemesis in his days roaming the Tennessee sidelines, this particular loss is something of a brand new team compared even to the version that took the floor before the start of the Southeastern Conference slate. This one is sharing the ball better, getting after it more on defense, and with 10 guys in the rotation has a multitude of options and lineups to work with.
“We're playing more as a team,” sophomore guard Kasey Hill said.
That they are, evidenced by four UF players in double figures and every member of that rotation finding the scoring column. Junior forward Dorian Finney-Smith hit dubs for the ninth straight game, leading the team with 14 points. Hill had 12 points, seven assists and did not turn the ball over. Backup guard Eli Carter was good for 12 more with junior guard Michael Frazier popping off the bench for 11 points and a career-high nine rebounds.
Auburn coach Bruce Pearl (left), back in the SEC after a four-year hiatus, gets with UF coaching Billy Donovan before Thursday night's game at the O'Connell Center. [Photos by Tim Casey and Jim Burgess]
Make that three straight wins for the Gators (10-6, 3-0), all in SEC play and all with at least 70 points on the scoreboard after hitting 70 only three times in their 13 non-league games. Florida is tied with No. 1-ranked Kentucky atop the conference standings as the lone unbeatens in the SEC to date.
Next up is a quick turn-around trip to Georgia Saturday at 2 p.m.
“We're getting better, but we have to keep working,” Finney-Smith said after UF's 24th straight SEC win, a run that tied the fourth-longest in conference history. “We're not the kind of team that can get comfortable.”
Billy Donovan is not likely to let that happen. The UF coach used 10 different starting lineups through the season's first 14 games before settling on -- for now -- the one that has started all three SEC outings. 
In putting Hill and freshman Chris Chiozza (left), a second point guard, on the floor from the outset, the Gators have gotten off to quick starts each of the last three games. Against the Tigers (9-7, 1-2), UF jumped to a 19-8 lead and took it out to a 17-point margin at halftime as the Gators went 15-for-30 from the floor through the first 20 minutes and had nine guys in the scoring column by the break.
“Now you have penetrate-and-kick [guards handling the ball] and guys taking wide-open shots, as opposed to having one handler out there,” assistant coach Rashon Burno said of the Hill/Chiozza backcourt, which combined for 21 points, nine assists and no turnovers. “Teams can load up on the ball if they want, but now you have either-or and it stretches the floor.”
And now a seemingly healthier Carter, with yet another really nice game, poses another dilemma. After dealing with all the Hill and Chiozza speed, Carter can spell one of them and throw an entirely new wrinkle into things with his ability to shoot 3s and also breakdown a defender, go strong into the lane and either try to score or find an open teammate. His offense the last two outings has been instantaneous, with Carter going 5-for-9 from the floor, plus three assists against the Tigers.
“He comes in and just gets buckets,” Chiozza said. “He's like our James Harden.”
Hmmm. Let's go with a poor-man's version, perhaps, but a very effective one at the moment. After that run of injuring his foot and dealing with strep throat, Carter is averaging 12.6 points off the bench in SEC play. His 3-ball was part of a 15-0 run in the middle of the first half that took the Gators out to their big lead while holding Auburn to just 22.7 percent for the period (6 of 27).
The margin swelled to as much as 24 in the second half, but the Tigers, behind Cinmeon Bowers' 11 points and 11 rebounds and 13 points by Antoine Mason, didn't go away, at one point scoring 10 straight, including a trio of consecutive 3-pointers after starting 1-for-9 from distance.
UF led just 63-53 with 5:18 to go, but after a Donovan timeout -- and accompanying tongue-lashing focused on finishing -- the Gators kicked in a 12-2 run from that point to put the game away.
“Our team is getting better,” Donovan said. “But we're not there.”
After all, they're “down,” remember?
"Are they not as dominant as they have been the last couple of years? No, they're not as dominant,"
Pearl said. "They're still really good, though. And he played a lot of guys and the guys he played out there played pretty well. He's got some tools."
