Gonzaga Gets Hot, UF Goes Cold in Second Half

Friday, November 25

Orlando, FL

9:30 PM

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Florida forward Justin Leon tries to close on Gonzaga sharp-shooting guard Josh Perkins, who led his team with 18 points.

Gonzaga Gets Hot, UF Goes Cold in Second Half

Saturday, November 26, 2016 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry

Box Score

The Gators' defense was lit up for better than 60-percent shooting in the second half, as the No. 11 Bulldogs handed UF its first lost of the season.

By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Effort has been a calling card of Mike White's basketball teams during his six season as a collegiate head coach. The Florida Gators had it Friday night. Plenty of it, actually. Against their first ranked opponent of the season, No. 11 Gonzaga, the Gators exerted all the energy they could muster and left everything out on the HP Fieldhouse floor.

But no matter how hard a team plays, eventually, someone has to make a shot.

Preferably, from the 3-point line.

The Gators' want-to carried them only so far against a Bulldogs squad that struggled with its aim from deep and ball security in the first half, but righted everything at once in the second half on the way to a 77-72 win that handed UF its first defeat of the season, a second-round loss in the AdvoCare Invitational in front of 2,941 at ESPN's Wide World of Sports. Guard Josh Perkins kept his team in the game by scoring 15 of his 18 points in the first half, then gave way to a trio of backcourt mates who combined for 23 points after intermission to ignite the Gonzaga rally.

The defeat sent UF (5-1) into the tournament loser's bracket where it will face cross-state foe Miami (4-1) in the third-place game Sunday at 4:30 p.m.

"Hopefully, we can improve in some areas we weren't very good in [Friday]," White said.

Forward Johnathan Williams, at 6-foot-9 one of the smaller front court Bulldogs, hit eight of his nine field-goal attempts for 16 points to go with four rebounds and three assists. Reserve guard Silas Melson, hitting 18 percent from deep for the season, buried a couple timely 3s on his to 12 points off the bench.

When the final numbers were in, Gonzaga (5-0) showed nearly 52 percent shooting for the game, but undid what good the Gators managed by torching them for 60.7 percent in the second, including 5-for-9 from the arc.

"They were ready to go in the second half," said UF junior forward Devin Robinson, who led his team with a season-high 18 points, four rebounds and three assists. "They punched us in the mouth to start things off and we couldn't hold on."

UF junior forward Devin Robinson rises up for a jumper on his way to 18 points, including the Gators' first nine of the game.

The Gators led by 10 at one point in the first half and had several chances to take the lead out, but failed to capitalize on 11 Gonzaga turnovers, converting them to just nine points. Open shots were missed. Forward Canyon Barry (12 points, 5 rebounds) even missed a wide-open, run-out dunk late in the first half when the Bulldogs were making a move.

Still, the Gators were up by five at the 11-minute mark of the second period when backup forward Killian Tillie hit a long ball that kicked in a 13-2 run for the "Zags," including 10 straight points — six of them on 3s — during the surge. Meanwhile, UF went nearly five minutes without a field goal, while Gonzaga was working toward an opening 15 minutes of the period when they — hide your eyes — buried 15 of 21 shots, including five of eight 3s. That converts to 71.4 percent and 62.5, respectively.

"There were a couple mistakes on the defensive end that really cost us," UF center John Egbunu said after posting 12 points and seven rebounds. "We had our chances. Give them credit. They made some tough shots."

And the Gators didn't.

Against an opponent like Gonzaga, going 2-for-19 (10.5 percent) is going to be costly. UF managed to stay in the game because of some acrobatic tough 2s from sophomore guard KeVaughn Allen (15 points) and a 22-for-24 collective effort from the free-throw line. But the Gators' 34.4 percent overall in the second half (not to mention the 1-for-11 from deep) was a recipe for defeat against the numbers the Zags put up.

"We started taking care of the ball," Gonzaga coach Mark Few said. "We were just a mess in the first half, but we stuck to the plan and had a conviction to power through things."

The Gators may have had the same conviction.

They just didn't have the shooting touch to match.

"We have to convert some of those shots," White said. "They made all the plays they needed to make."