Florida State 73, Florida 71 (Instant Analysis)
Tuesday, December 29, 2015 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
AT THE BUZZER
FLORIDA STATE 73, FLORIDA 71
WHAT HAPPENED: Seminoles guard Duane Bacon drove for a 10-foot jumper with four seconds left and Gators guard Chris Choizza's desperation 3-point shot at the buzzer banged off the rim to give visiting FSU a thrilling victory before the loudest crowd of the season at the O'Connell Center. For UF, the defeat came despite a breakout game for freshman guard KeVaughn Allen, who poured in a career-high 32 points -- the most by Gators freshman since Matt Walsh went for 33 against Miami in 2002 -- and after the Gators battled back from a 13-point second-half deficit to tie the score at 71 with 23.7 seconds left on a layup by Dorian Finney-Smith. Out of a timeout, Bacon got the ball at the top of the key, attacked and put in the dagger.
WHAT IT MEANS: Make that two straight losses to FSU for the first time since dropping three in a row from 2007-09. It was also the first home loss to the Seminoles since a 65-51 drubbing on Nov. 23, 2007, the season that followed the second of Florida's back-to-back national titles. The Gators were looking for a win against a quality foe -- FSU will be a factor in the Atlantic Coast Conference -- but instead it was another frustrating loss.
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Allen was going to break out one night -- and this was the night. His best game of the season was actually his third really good one in a row for the lightning-fast guard from Arkansas who is so quick and can get his shot just about whenever he wants. Now they're going in. He finished 10-for-18 from the floor and 3-for-7 from the 3-point line. After averaging 6.5 points through the first nine games, Allen has scored 59 the last three game and taken his average from to 11.4 per.
STAGGERING STATISTIC: It's to the point now where it's really not that staggering anymore, but Florida continues to misfire from the 3-point. Badly. The Gators finished just 4-for-26 from deep (18 percent), with three of those makes by Allen. The rest of the team went 1-for-1-for-18. If that percentages is just a little better than awful, say 25 percent, UF likely wins the game.
UP NEXT: The Gators (8-4) open the 2016 Southeastern Conference schedule at home Saturday night against Georgia. The Bulldogs (7-3) also played Tuesday, winning 69-57 at home against Robert Morris.
