Next-Day Takeaway (Texas A&M 71, Florida 68)

Tuesday, January 12

College Station, TX

7:00 PM

Florida Gators

Texas A&M

Junior Justin Leon defends Texas A&M guard Alex Caruso in Tuesday night's road defeat.

Next-Day Takeaway (Texas A&M 71, Florida 68)

Wednesday, January 13, 2016 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry

Box Score

By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Three follow-up observations from Texas A&M's win Tuesday night at College Station that dropped the Gators to 10-6 on the season and 2-2 in the Southeastern Conference.

1) What got into KeVaughn Allen? Or didn't get into him? After averaging 18 points over his previous five games -- including that 32-point eruption against Florida State -- Allen went scoreless and seemed revert back to his hesitant ways of early in the season. He missed all four of his shots and failed to get to the free-throw line. It was the third time this season the talented freshman guard had a zero in the scoring column (Vermont and Michigan State were the others) and came on the heels of going 4-for-14 and 0-for-4 from deep in an 8-point output in the win over LSU. Coach Mike White said afterward that A&M senior guard Alex Caruso, an outstanding defender, did a good job of harassing Allen, whose two early fouls likely got him out of rhythm, but White also said his rookie scorer passed on some open shots. At one point, while a teammate was shooting free throws, White called Allen over the bench and challenged him to be more aggressive. Freshmen are going to have days like that, especially as a season grinds on into January and February. The goal is not to string a bunch of them together.

2) Florida, the team, has demonstrated that its top consistency -- unfortunately -- is an inability to put the ball in the basket. As if that's troublesome enough for the staff, White now takes the court wondering what version of individual players he's going to get from game to game. Allen is a prime example. So is center John Egbunu, who grabbed two rebounds in 30 minutes against the Aggies. Last week, it was Dorian Finney-Smith. Give sophomore point guard Chris Chiozza credit for maintaining a level of steady play and demeanor, but it's becoming clear that junior forward Justin Leon, the juco transfer, is blossoming into the team's most consistent player. Leon is going to be the same guy whether he's playing two or 22 minutes. He was great at A&M, going 7-for-8 from the floor, knocking down both 3-point attempts, to finish with a career-best 16 points. Obviously, he's not going to do that every night, but his effort is going to look same when he's carding six points and four rebounds. That's why White and his staff fell for Leon and signed him at Louisiana Tech. Now, they're fortunate LA Tech released him to come to UF. The Gators would be a lot better off if some of Leon's intangibles started bleeding into his teammates.

3) A&M forward Danuel House had a Kobe Bryant-looking stat line of 7-for-24 on his way to 24 points, with a bad 2-for-10 outing from deep. But he also was 6-for-6 from the free-throw line, grabbed five rebounds and had three assists. Forward Jalen Jones (26 points, 6 rebounds, 3-for-4 from 3) was really good, scoring the big baskets, including a trio of treys. Caruso had five points, but also seven rebounds, seven assists and played his normally excellent defense. Point guard Anthony Collins attempted just one shot, but made four clutch free throws in the final 22 seconds to help seal the win. All those Aggies are seniors. Their other starter is 6-10, 260-pound center Tyler Davis, who had eight points, five rebounds and three steals. That mix of four seniors and a productive freshman figures to serve A&M, now 14-2 and 4-0 in the league, well as the season rolls on. It's a very similar makeup to a certain Florida team that rode four seniors and a talented impact freshman -- all of whom knew their roles -- to some pretty substantial success a couple years ago.