Florida Gators
Ole Miss
Red-Hot Frazier, Gators Come Up One Stop Short at Ole Miss
Sunday, January 25, 2015 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
OXFORD, Miss. -- Billy Donovan scanned the box score. His Florida team went into a raucous Southeastern Conference arena and shot nearly 50 percent from the floor and made a dozen 3-point shots. The Gators drove the ball hard to the basket and got to the free-throw line two-dozen times. They held one of the league's best scorers to a brutal shooting night.
“And we're still in a complete grind and battle,” he said. “There's just no room for error with these guys.”
Sure enough, Ole Miss proved one play better, as senior guard Jarvis Summer drew a foul driving to the basket and sank two free throws with 3.5 seconds left to hand the Gators a stinging 72-71 defeat before 8,612 at Tad Smith Coliseum. Florida had one last chance to steal the game, but time expired as speedy senior guard Kasey Hill tried to take the ball the length of the floor and to the basket, rather than pull up for a jumper. The horn sounded before he could release a shot.
UF junior guard Michael Frazier II was sensational in scoring a season-high 27 points with a sizzling 7-for-11 from the floor, 6-for-8 from the 3-point arc and 7-for-7 from the free-throw line. His performance ignited a season-best 60 percent -- 12-for-20 -- from long-distance by his team, plus Frazier's two free throws with 9.8 seconds to go gave the Gators (10-9, 3-3) a one-point lead. It wasn't enough to stave off a third straight loss; that's the most by a Florida team since the 2011-12 squad dropped the final three regular-season games.
“We fought, but we still lost the game,” said Frazier, who also stuffed the stat sheet with five rebounds and three assists in 37 minutes. “In past games, maybe we haven't fought ... but the intention is to win the game.”
Summers led the Rebels (12-7, 3-3) with 16 points and eight assists. Backcourt mate LaDarius White had 13 points and five rebounds and backup guard Terence White added 11, including a trio of treys off the bench, to pick up the slack from leading scorer Stefan Moody, who came into the game averaging 15.6 points, but went just 2-for-10 from the floor and 0-for-5 from deep against some good UF defense.
Besides Frazier, UF got 15 points and six rebounds from junior forward Dorian Finney-Smith, who started the game 4-for-4 from the 3-point line. But Finney-Smith bounced two free throws with 2:17 to play and the Gators clinging to a three-point lead, missing an opportunity to move the margin to five. At the other end, Ole Miss' M.J. Rhett hit a baseline shot go close the gap to one and a minute later -- after errant shots on both ends -- Finney-Smith opted for a 3-point shot rather than an attempt to drive to the hole late in the shot clock and 42 seconds to play.
"I should have attacked the goal," Finney-Smith said. "I also missed those two free throws. That was big."
The Rebels got the rebound and White hit a baseline jumpshot with 37 seconds left for a 70-69 lead that Frazier turned to a 71-70 edge for the Gators on the next possession when he drove to the lane, got fouled and cooly knocked in the two free throws while shooting into the screaming Mississippi student section.
The ninth (and final) lead change of the game followed.
“This is good for our confidence,” Ole Miss coach Andy Kennedy said. “We're not as confident a group as I would've hoped.”
Forgive the Gators if they don't feel for Kennedy and his kids. UF has now lost four games (Miami, Kansas, Connecticut and Ole Miss) it led by double-digits; the Gators are winless in four games that have gone to the final possession; and now they've lost six times in games they held leads inside seven minutes to go.
This was one of the toughest ones because the Gators did so much right, it felt like they deserved to win.
“It just shows how hard it'll be for us unless we can become a very disciplined and connected team,” Donovan said. “We just break down. Not all the time, but with the breakdowns [in this game], in my opinion, you forget about them because we made shots.”
Junior forward Dorian Finney-Smith gives the "3" sign after one of his four in the first half.
Florida went 7-for-10 from the 3-point line in the first half, with Finney-Smith and Frazier combining to hit six of seven. UF also won the rebound battle (16-15) in the period, while making 52 percent from the floor and holding the Rebels to 41.
The Gators' lead, though, was just 36-30, thanks to 10 turnovers.
“It's just always a different thing with these guys,” Donovan said.
Midway through a close second half, Ole Miss hit three straight 3-pointers (two by Smith, one by backup forward Anthony Perez) to quickly jump ahead by seven, 53-46, and threaten to blow the game open. The Gators, to their credit, worked themselves back amid the mayhem and actually led by four, 69-65, after a Frazier bomb and layup by Jake Kurtz with 2:49 left.
“We were on the road, so we knew they were going to make runs,” Finney-Smith said. “I thought we handled their runs.”
Until Ole Miss scored seven of the game's final nine points, that is.
On the decisive play by Summers, everyone in the gym knew he was going to drive the ball and UF guard Eli Carter (8 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists) was in decent position in an effort to make Summers go left. But a good screen and even better veteran move allowed Summers to veer right and into the lane where Finney-Smith had to leave his man for help, as Summers drew the foul.
Another chance to close out a win was closed.
“It's [getting] stops. It's defense. That's all it is,” Frazier said. “If we could get stops when it mattered ... .”
He sighed, shook his head and excused himself to the locker room.
Yeah, it's stops. Yeah, it's defense. But it's a lot of things. Like Donovan said, something different each time out.
What will it be next time?
