Florida Gators
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Palm Beach Atlantic (Exh.)
Gators Turn it Up, Turn it Over in White's Debut
Friday, November 6, 2015 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Frantic.
That was the word Mike White used to describe his victorious debut game -- albeit an exhibition -- as Florida basketball coach, an 89-42 beating Thursday night of Palm Beach Atlantic in front of 8,123 at the O'Connell Center.
The Gators may have been playing their first game in 19 years without Billy Donovan on the sidelines, but the night had an up-and-down, Billy D-like tempo about it, as UF forced 30 turnovers, let fly 27 shots from beyond the 3-point arc and had five players reach double-figure scoring.
“We created a lot of havoc,” White said. “Thirty turnovers? We'll take it. Our pressure was really good.”
Defense, though, was only half of the frantic equation, as UF turned the ball over 23 times themselves. As much as White was pleased by his defense, it was cancelled out by all the give-aways on the other end.
“We can't be frantic offensively and beat good teams,” he said.
Palm Beach Atlantic was an overmatched Division II team from the Sunshine State Conference that hung around in the 15- to 20-point range for more than a half before the Gators dropped an 18-0 run on the Sailfish that started early in the second period. UF shot 57.6 percent from the floor and 40 percent from the 3-point line in opening up a 50-point lead at one point that easily could have been more if not -- hide your eyes -- for a 10-for-27 performance (37 percent) from the free-throw line. 
Fifth-year senior Dorian Finney-Smith, last season's leading scorer and rebounder, tied for top scoring honors with 12 points and eight rebounds. Freshman guard KeVaughn Allen (right) flashed his speed and explosiveness on the way to 12 points and five steals, while backup forward Devin Robinson added 12 points, a game-high 10 rebounds, three assists and three blocks off the bench.
Backup point guard Chris Chiozza had 11 points and seven assists. Sophomore center John Egbunu, who sat out last season after transferring from South Florida, went for 11 points on 6-for-7 from the floor, six rebounds and three blocked shots.
On a down note, fifth-year senior forward Alex Murphy left the game in the first half with a foot injury. He was carried off the floor and did not return. Murphy's status will be revisited Friday.
“We showed great energy, played hard, flying around, and forced a lot of turnovers -- but if we turn it over that much against a good team we'll be down by 20 points,” Finney-Smith said. “And free throws? Free throws win games. If that was a close game, we would have lost because we missed so many.”
How's this? Finney-Smith was 2-for-5 from the 3-point line, but 0-for-5 from the free-throw line. And three Gators had at least three turnovers, with Robinson committing five and Chiozza four.
“There's no excuse,” junior point guard Kasey Hill said. "We have to value the ball more.”
The game had a sluggish feel to it early, as the Sailfish stuck around and trailed just 14-7 nine minutes in. By that time, Palm Beach Atlantic was already in the bonus, thanks to over-fouling by the Gators, something White had voiced concern about during preseason workouts given his players' propensity for fouling too much at practice.
At halftime, UF led 39-21, but the the two teams had combined for 33 turnovers, including 16 by the Gators.
“I like to think that some of it had to do with just playing in front of our crowd for the first time,” White said. “I think our guys were really jacked up. They were having fun. It was a really faced-paced game. Hopefully some of it was first-game jitters.”
The score was 46-28 three minutes into the second half when a 3-pointer by Finney-Smith and dunk by Egbunu jump-started that 18-0 blitz. When the Sailfish broke the streak nearly seven minutes later with a couple free throws, the Gators were up 66-30.
By then, the most “frantic” phases of the game had passed, but those egregious moments will be replayed on video in the coming days as White readies his team for its regular-season opener Nov. 13 at Navy.
“We've got to slow it down some,” Finney-Smith said. "It was the first game. Guys were a little energetic and hyper with the ball, but I think the turnovers will calm down throughout the year.”
Preferably, starting next week.
