Gators Focus on Bulldogs, Not Bracketology

Tuesday, February 16

Athens, GA

9:00 PM

Florida Gators

Georgia

Guard Chris Chiozza and the Gators seek a third win on the road this season.

Gators Focus on Bulldogs, Not Bracketology

Tuesday, February 16, 2016 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry

By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer

ATHENS, Ga. -- Dwelling on the events of the weekend serves zero purpose. The Florida Gators know better than any Florida fan reading this story that Saturday's home loss to Alabama was a bad one.

Now, they have to make sure it wasn't a costly one.

Or worse, the start of a streak.

So, keep all the bubble and bracketology talk to yourselves. White and his team have more pressing issues, starting Tuesday night when the Gators (16-9, 7-5) visit the Georgia Bulldogs (14-9, 7-5) at Stegeman Coliseum in a game between two teams locked in a tie for fourth place in the Southeastern Conference standings.

UF is 2-6 on the road this season, including just 1-4 in conference play, so the quest is against more than just a solid opponent.

"It's going to be a very difficult challenge for us," White said. "They're playing really well, especially at home. We've had offensive struggles. We're coming off a game where we shot 29 percent at home [against Alabama] and now we're on the road playing a defense that is just as good -- and different, of course. That's my biggest concern right now. Not the league standings, not our RPI numbers. It's how the heck do we score at Georgia?"

After rolling out the worst shooting performance by a UF team since December 2007, the Gators -- in the bottom half of the league in all shooting categories -- now face a Bulldogs bunch that ranks second in the league in both field-goal percentage defense (.378) and defending the 3-point line (.311).

Alabama put the clamps on UF by face-guarding leading scorer Dorian Finney-Smith and denying him touches. Elsewhere, the Tide further extended their defense to the 3-point arc and funneled the ball toward 6-foot-10 center Jimmie Taylor, who controlled the game with his rim protection. When the Gators did get 3-point shots, they were mostly contested and bounced 'em badly, missing 18 of 21. Florida had just five assists, compared to 12 turnovers, in what was a really tough night for the UF ball-handlers, both running the offense (the five assists were a season low) and making shots (Chris Chiozza and Kasey Hill combined to go 4-for-17).

"I've been playing uncharacteristically for myself lately," said Chiozza, who had his first negative assist-to-turnover game (3/5) of the season against the Tide. "I'm trying to fix small things and see if that helps."

Georgia doesn't have a space eater or elite defender in the post. Instead, the Dogs will pack the paint area, allow for passing around the perimeter, bait the offense into thinking shot are there, then use terrific quickness to late contest.

Those tactics may not have worked too well at Kentucky last week -- the Dogs were obliterated 82-48 at Rupp Arena-- but in winning three of the previous four they limited No. 25 South Carolina to 31 percent, Auburn to 26.3 percent and Mississippi State on the road to 30.8 percent.

That's the challenge facing a UF team that dropped an important game at home it was expected to win.

Now, the Gators have to return the favor. Somewhere.

The first chance is Tuesday. UF heads to South Carolina this weekend for yet another game against another foe nearby in the standings.

"I wouldn't call it a deciding week," White said. "But it's a huge week for us."