'Next-Day Takeaway' -- Michigan State 58, Florida 52
Sunday, December 13, 2015 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Three follow-up observations from Florida's road loss Saturday night at No. 1 Michigan State that dropped UF to 6-3 on the season.
1) What the Gators have gotten (or not gotten) from the freshman duo of KeVaughn Allen and Brandone Francis-Ramirez continues to baffle the UF coaches. Against the Spartans, the two "shooting" guards combined to go 0-for-9 from the floor, 0-for-4 from 3. Allen is now shooting 31.8 percent from the floor and is 6-for-28 from 3-point range (21.4 percent). Francis-Ramirez (pictured above) is 20.4 percent from the floor 4-for-26 from deep (15.4 percent) after making three of his first eight to start the year. I'm asked all the time (in person and via Twitter) if this team really, truly makes shots at practice. Yes,. These two included. In fact, I watched Francis-Ramirez at one point drop 25 of 30 from 3-point range during Saturday morning's shootaround at Breslin Center. Twice he made 10 in a row. And Allen is the team's -- again, at practice -- most versatile scorer on the perimeter. Against MSU, he split a couple defenders in transition to clear himself for an easy dunk or layup, but from the looks of it couldn't decide which to do. Instead, he missed a 6-inch shot. It's got to be confidence. The key for Francis-Ramirez is to keep firing away, keep attacking the lane and trying to finish drives or look for dish-offs. Regardless of what the numbers say, those are his strengths and all part of the package Billy Donovan and his staff recruited. As for Allen, his split-second hesitation seems to be holding him back. It's the speed-of-the-game transition from high school to college. Some freshmen make it sooner than others. He'll make it. Eventually.
2) Can only imagine how frustrated John Egbunu must have been. It's his chance to mix it up with the No. 1 team in the country and the guy never broke a sweat. Five fouls in seven minutes. Mike White had to bite his tongue a little when asked about his center and rim protector being such a non-factor, but Egbunu has a tendency for self-inflicted fouls. When he misses shot, he often gets hit with a whistle chasing the miss; going through a defender rather than moving on to play defense. It's happened enough this season that officials just might be looking for it. That said, who knows the difference an Egbunu with two fouls rather than four would have made? Would have been fun to find out.
3) Dorian Finney-Smith played a game-high 34 minutes and is averaging a team-high 29.9. The Gators want their best player on the court, but they also don't want him fatigued late in the game. Rolling forward Alex Murphy, out since the preseason with plantar fasciitis, into the rotation this week -- he's expected to make his debut Saturday against Oklahoma State -- may take some minutes from Finney-Smith, and maybe some from Devin Robinson, whose 25.8 is second-most. That remains to be seen. One thing that Murphy will definitely do is make the Gators a better communicating team on the floor, especially on defense.
