At the Buzzer : Florida 88, No. 9 West Virginia 71 (Instant Analysis)
Saturday, January 30, 2016 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
AT THE BUZZER
FLORIDA 88, No. 9 WEST VIRGINIA 71
WHAT HAPPENED: Coach Mike White and his first UF basketball team now has its first signature win, as the Gators bombarded the ninth-ranked Mountaineers and one of the nation's best defenses Saturday in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge before a sold-out, raucous crowd at the O'Connell Center. Senior forward Dorian Finney-Smith scored 24 points, freshman guard KeVaughn Allen had 19 and sophomore point guard Chris Chiozza added 10 points and six assists, but it was UF's deadly 3-point shooting -- 60 percent -- that proved the difference against the all-out, all-pressing Mountaineers, who came in ranked as the nation's top-ranked team in defensive efficiency. The win marked the first regular-season victory for UF over a top-10 team since the Gators defeated No. 10 Kentucky on Feb. 5, 2010, a run of eight games.
WHAT IT MEANS: UF defeated a ranked opponent for the first time this season, but better than that got a win against an RPI Top 25 foe. The Gators are now 1-4 against ranked teams -- with losses to Purdue on a neutral court, at Miami, at Michigan State, at Texas A&M -- and 2-5 against RPI Top 50s. Florida started the day ranking 25th in RPI, the metric the NCAA Tournament selection committee uses to seed its field, while WVU came in at No. 17.
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Redshirt freshman guard Brandone Francis-Ramirez started the day -- hide your eyes -- 5-for-40 from 3-point range this season (that's 12.3 percent), including two of his last 32 dating to the third game of the season. He went 3-for-3 from deep to finish with nine points. Imagine what a boost an awakening from the former top 30 prospect would be in the stretch run of the conference season.
STAGGERING STATISTIC: Four days after missing their first 12 shots from the 3-point range, the Gators rain treys on the Mountaineers by making 12 of 20 against the second-best 3-point defense in the country (.268). WVU came in allowing only 4.5 made 3s per game. UF nearly tripled that.
STAGGERING STATISTIC II: Against a team that fouls more than all but six teams in the country, the Gators, the worst free-throw shooting team in the SEC (.623), went 24 of 31 from the line (77.4 percent), including 22 of the last 24 after starting 2-for-7. Phenomenal.
UP NEXT: The Gators (14-7, 5-3) return to SEC play Tuesday night at home against Alabama (11-8, 2-5), which plays Saturday night at South Carolina. It'll be a big conference week for Florida, which four days later goes to Kentucky.
FLORIDA 88, No. 9 WEST VIRGINIA 71
WHAT HAPPENED: Coach Mike White and his first UF basketball team now has its first signature win, as the Gators bombarded the ninth-ranked Mountaineers and one of the nation's best defenses Saturday in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge before a sold-out, raucous crowd at the O'Connell Center. Senior forward Dorian Finney-Smith scored 24 points, freshman guard KeVaughn Allen had 19 and sophomore point guard Chris Chiozza added 10 points and six assists, but it was UF's deadly 3-point shooting -- 60 percent -- that proved the difference against the all-out, all-pressing Mountaineers, who came in ranked as the nation's top-ranked team in defensive efficiency. The win marked the first regular-season victory for UF over a top-10 team since the Gators defeated No. 10 Kentucky on Feb. 5, 2010, a run of eight games.
WHAT IT MEANS: UF defeated a ranked opponent for the first time this season, but better than that got a win against an RPI Top 25 foe. The Gators are now 1-4 against ranked teams -- with losses to Purdue on a neutral court, at Miami, at Michigan State, at Texas A&M -- and 2-5 against RPI Top 50s. Florida started the day ranking 25th in RPI, the metric the NCAA Tournament selection committee uses to seed its field, while WVU came in at No. 17.
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Redshirt freshman guard Brandone Francis-Ramirez started the day -- hide your eyes -- 5-for-40 from 3-point range this season (that's 12.3 percent), including two of his last 32 dating to the third game of the season. He went 3-for-3 from deep to finish with nine points. Imagine what a boost an awakening from the former top 30 prospect would be in the stretch run of the conference season.
STAGGERING STATISTIC: Four days after missing their first 12 shots from the 3-point range, the Gators rain treys on the Mountaineers by making 12 of 20 against the second-best 3-point defense in the country (.268). WVU came in allowing only 4.5 made 3s per game. UF nearly tripled that.
STAGGERING STATISTIC II: Against a team that fouls more than all but six teams in the country, the Gators, the worst free-throw shooting team in the SEC (.623), went 24 of 31 from the line (77.4 percent), including 22 of the last 24 after starting 2-for-7. Phenomenal.
UP NEXT: The Gators (14-7, 5-3) return to SEC play Tuesday night at home against Alabama (11-8, 2-5), which plays Saturday night at South Carolina. It'll be a big conference week for Florida, which four days later goes to Kentucky.
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