Forward Devin Robnson howls to the crowd during Saturday's trouncing of West Virginia.
Hoops Hodgepodge: WVU 'Takeaway,' Doe's 1,000th, Dillon, Tweets, etc.
Sunday, January 31, 2016 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
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By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Three follow-up observations from Florida's 88-71 win Saturday against ninth-ranked West Virginia in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge that moved the Gators to 14-7 on the season.
1) That old adage about pressing teams not liking to be pressed certainly could be applied to the UF-WVU game -- for one of the teams, that is. Without question, the Gators handled the full-court mayhem better than the guys of "Press Virginia." Coming into the game, the Mountaineers had pressed 39 percent of opponents' possessions this season, by far the most in the country, where as the Gators were at 24 percent (fifth nationally). Yet, UF forced more turnovers, scored more points off turnovers and maintained poise against the pressure better than WVU. Florida got tremendous performances from guards Chris Chiozzaand Kasey Hill as far as dealing with the Mountaineers defense, working to get open and then attacking the press and passing through it to get the ball into the front court. The coaches put a lot of time into that very concept in the run-up to the game. Obviously, it paid off. West Virginia allowed just 63.5 points per game coming in. The Gators hit that with 11:24 left on the way to scoring the most points by an opponent against the Mountaineers and that No. 1-ranked defense this season.
2) Officials, apparently, couldn't calls fouls fast enough, as the 48 fouls led to a combined 18 players logging at least 10 minutes and the two benches combining for 54 points. Florida, though, got big-time -- and, yes, surprising -- contributions from guard Brandone Francis-Ramirezand center Schuyler Rimmer. Ramirez made all three of his 3-point shots -- breaking a baffling 2-for-32 streak -- and Rimmer was needed after both starting center John Egbunu and his backup, Kevarrius Hayes, drew their second fouls in the first half. Rimmer banged and bodied his way to six rebounds in 21 really important minutes, but also played solid defense on WVU big man Devin Williams, who went for 12 points and 13 rebounds, but made just four of 15 shots.
3) And, finally, just to review (and remind everyone it really happened: 53.1 percent from the floor, 60 from 3-point range on 12-for-20 shooting, and a season-high 77.4 from the free-throw line (24 of 31). That last stat was pivotal because West Virginia fouling was inevitable (the Mountaineers averaged 24.1 per game), so it only made sense the defense would reach, paw and grab as much as possible and basically dare the Gators, one of the worst free-throw shooting teams in the country, to make a bunch.KeVaughn Allen was 9-for-9 and Dorian Finney-Smith 5-for-6. That's 14 of 15 from the top two scorers. That's huge.
Dorian Finney-Smith launches the 3-pointer that pushed him to 1,000 career points as a Gator.
"MR. 1,000"
When Finney-Smith rained in his fifth 3-pointer of the game with 45 seconds left, UF's captain and fifth-year senior forward turned to the Rowdy Reptiles and gestured with a fired-up fist pump.
The shot also gave him points 998, 999 and 1,000 for his UF career.
The affable kid known as "Doe-Doe" is the 51st player in program history to hit four digits, and the first to do it after transferring from another school. Finney-Smith scored 209 points as a freshman at Virginia Tech in 2011-12 when he averaged 6.3 points and 7.0 rebounds per game. Those points, though, don't count on his UF tally.
At 1,001 points, Finney-Smith is (momentarily) tied with Brooks Henderson (1962-65) for 50th on the all-time scoring list. In a run of remarkable consistency, he has hit double-figure scoring for eight straight games, averaging 17.4 points during that spree. With at least 10 games remaining -- and depending on any kind of postseason run -- Finney-Smith should have a chance to pass the likes of Erik Murphy (1,052), Lee Humphrey (1,080), Reggie Hannah (1,114), Al Horford (1,123), Joakim Noah (1,133) and Eddie Shannon (1,168) and possibly inch into the Top 40.
GATOR ALUM OF THE WEEK Dillon Graham Dillon Graham dealt with some injuries during his two-plus years at Florida, including a hip surgery that sidelined him for nearly the entire 2013-14 season and run to the Final Four.
What mostly held Graham back, however, were better UF guards playing in front of him. That's what prompted Braxton Ogbueze -- another member of that four-member 2012 freshman class alongside Graham, Michael Frazier and DeVon Walker -- to transfer to UNC-Charlotte. Graham, after logging mostly mop-up minutes in 25 games at Florida (totaling 11 points, 5 assists, 4 rebounds), eventually took the same path.
Now, he's playing a lot and playing well.
After transferring to Division II Embry-Riddle, Graham is now starting and averaging 10.9 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game after tallying 16 in Saturday's 97-93 loss at Rollins that dropped the Eagles to 11-8.
Graham, the 6-foot-3, 180-pound junior, went for 26 points and 10 rebounds in a season-opening defeat of Palm Beach Atlantic for his lone double-double of the season. He's hitting 39.9 percent from the floor, 36.1 from the arc and 89.5 from the free-throw line.
Down, boy, down. This win means nothing without stringing some more together, starting with Wednesday's home game against Arkansas, the lone SEC team to defeat league front-runner Texas A&M.
The defeat of the Mountaineers marked the first time in nearly five years the Gators defeated a team ranked in the Associated Press Top 10, following a run of eight straight losses. The previous win came on Feb. 5, 2011, when Florida beat No. 10 Kentucky, armed with Brandon Knight, 70-68 at the O'Dome. Since? See below.
Nov. 15, 2011
at Ohio State (No. 3)
L 81-74
Dec. 2, 2011
at Syracuse (No. 4)
L 72-68
Feb. 7, 2012
at Kentucky (No. 1)
L 78-58
March 4, 2012
Kentucky (No. 1)
L 74-59
Dec. 15, 2012
at Arizona (No. 8)
L 65-64
Nov. 28, 2014
vs North Carolina (No. 5) at Atlantis
L 75-64
Feb. 7, 2015
Kentucky (No. 1)
L 68-61
March 7, 2015
at Kentucky (No. 1)
L 67-50
Dec. 12, 2015
at Michigan State (No. 1)
L 58-52
ASK @GatorsChris
@GatorsChris odd. I hope this is somehow the game BFR wakes up. I saw he got a haircut, maybe trying something new??
If that was the intent, maybe he should cut it again this week. Or every day.
FREE THROWS
Here's a trivia question: After Finney-Smith, what player that transferred to UF has scored the second-most points as a Gator? Answer below. ... With 14 wins, Coach Mike White already has more wins in his first season as Florida's coach than the 13 Billy Donovan got in his inaugural 1996-97 season. ... Before beating WVU, the last time the Gators defeated a non-conference top-10 opponent at home was the 86-60 thrashing of Greg Oden and No. 3 Ohio State on Dec. 23, 2006. ... After that long-range shooting display against the Mountaineers, UF has now outshot eight of its last nine opponents from the 3-point line, by percentage. Who would have thought that possible given the way the Gators clanged for the first two months of the season? ... Answer: Vernon Macklin scored 787 in his two seasons (2009-11).
