Senior writer Chris Harry's blog for FloridaGators.com.
Harry Fodder: Next-Day Takeaway (UF-Ohio State)
Monday, March 21, 2016 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
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By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Three follow-up observations from Florida's win Sunday at Ohio State in second-round play of the National Invitational Tournament. The outcome moved the Gators, winners of four of the last five, to 21-14 on the season.
Kevarrius Hayes (13)So two weekends ago, amid the emotions of Florida's loss to Texas A&M in the quarterfinals of the Southeastern Conference Tournament and realization an NCAA tourney bid wasn't forthcoming, I got several tweets about how the Gators should turn down a bid from the NIT. Laughable. First off, why? Last year, the Gators had a losing record and this year finished in the middle of the SEC pack at 9-9. A program barely over .500 the last two seasons – 35-31 at the time – is in no position to turn its nose up at the NIT. Would it have been better to sneak into a play-in game and get smashed by 20 (like Vanderbilt)? Probably so. The Commodores made the tournament, the Gators did not. No, the NIT does not compare to the NCAA, but don't discount the opportunity freshman center Kevarrius Hayes was afforded Sunday with regard to his development. Without the NIT, Hayes doesn't get a chance to start at a Big Ten venue and ring up career-highs of 14 points (on 5-for-5 from the floor) and 28 minutes while replacing center John Egbunu. Hayes only had three rebounds, but he positioned himself well enough to box Buckeyes from rebounds and got his hands on a bunch more. He hit free throws. He hustled and dove for loose balls. And I give the kid major kudos for his postgame performance. An OSU reporter asked Hayes what it was like to get dunked on by 5-foot-8 guard A.J. Harris in what turned out to be the loudest play by the home team all afternoon. Hayes explained he expected Harris, driving baseline, to pass the ball off, then added matter-of-factly, "So yeah, he got me." Very classy. Harris, by the way, had seven points, which was half of what Hayes put up – and Hayes gets to keep playing. Keep growing, too.
What about Kasey Hill? His postseason scoring spree in doubling his scoring average – 8.0 points per game during the regular season to 16.3 over the last four games -- includes 53-percent shooting from the floor. But let's crunch the numbers back even more. It was eight games ago that Coach Mike White and his staff tweaked some things about the offense heading into the Feb. 23 date against Vanderbilt and opened the floor for a little more free-flowing play. Over those eight games, Hill has averaged 13.2 points while shooting 53 percent from the floor and – get this – gone 8-for-16 from the 3-point line. Now, Hill's offensive aggression and productivity have come at the expense of his playmaking (28 assists, 20 turnovers during those eight games), but the Gators certainly can live with those results. When Hill is in the open floor, there may not be another player in the country who can match his end-to-end speed.
It's really, really hard to score 12 points and grab seven rebounds in just 17 minutes, but that's what Justin Leon did against the Buckeyes. If a team fails to box out Leon, it does so at its own peril. The guy is just a bulldog and ball-chasser. Five of his rebounds were on the offensive end, including a pair of putbacks. Leon also knocked down two of his three shots from the 3-point line, meaning he's 5-for-8 from deep after going 1-for-21 over the previous eight games. Remember, Leon suffered a concussion Jan. 26 in the early minutes against Vanderbilt. Maybe it took him some games to get his bearings back. Whatever the case, they're back. Yes, it's late in March, but what a pleasant surprise this former JuCo All-American has been for the Gators this season.
