At the Buzzer: Georgia 73, Florida 61 (Instant Analysis)
Saturday, January 17, 2015 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
AT THE BUZZER
GEORGIA 73, FLORIDA 61
WHAT HAPPENED: At Athens, the Bulldogs tore into the Gators for the first 11 points of the game, upped their lead to 15 midway through the first half and by the time the Gators had settled down they gave the game away with a brutal flurry of second-half turnovers. Forward Marcus Thornton scored 16 points and grabbed six rebounds, while Kenny Gaines threw in 16 more, nailing four of his five 3-point attempts and delighting the first sellout crowd at Stegeman Coliseum this season. Georgia hit its first seven shots, including four from the 3-point line to open up the big margin, and never trailed. UF actually sliced the lead down to two to start the second half, but then undermined any hopes of a comeback with turnovers and defensive lapses.
WHAT IT MEANS: The Gators came in alongside Kentucky as the only unbeaten teams in the SEC, so the loss dropped them back in the muddled pack behind the No. 1-ranked Wildcats. In the bigger, more historic picture, the loss ended a sterling run of 24 consecutive league victories for Florida, a mark that dated to the start of the 2013 conference season and was tied for the fourth-longest in SEC history. Coming in, UF's last loss to a conference foe was a 63-60 defeat against Ole Miss in the finals of the 2013 SEC Tournament at Nashville.
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Nobody jumped out of the box score for the Gators, but freshman forward Devin Robinson rang up his second double-figure game in SEC play with 11 points on 4-for-7 shooting and three rebounds. He made his only 3-point attempt also, temporarily pulling UF with two points, 36-34, to start the second half, but from there Georgia began to pulling slowly away.
STAGGERING STATISTIC: The Gators turned the ball over a season-worst 19 times, including eight in the first seven minutes of the second half -- just after UF cut the margin to two to open the period -- that not only allowed the Bulldogs to take the lead back out to double-digits, but deflated the Gators emotionally with just too many empty possessions. The UF backcourt was responsible for 11 of those turnovers.
UP NEXT: Florida (10-7, 3-1) returns home to face LSU (13-4, 2-2), which lost earlier Saturday at home against Texas A&M 67-67. After that, UF will be on the road two straight games (at Ole Miss and Alabama).
