Freshman forward Keith Stone had been on an offensive tear until going to South Carolina. And then, like the rest of his teammates, he couldn't find the basket.
Cure For Gators' Woes is Simple: Make Shots
Friday, January 20, 2017 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
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UF looks to start another winning streak in SEC play Saturday against Vanderbilt at sold-out Exactech Arena.
By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Mike White had a pretty blank look on his face Wednesday night at South Carolina. He had just watched his Florida basketball team go toe to toe in a five-on-five version of an MMA Octagon fight. In some very important areas, the Gators outplayed the Gamecocks, but to beat the No. 1-rated defense in the country at its place something very important has to happen.
The ball has to go in the basket.
So that now infamous 0-for-17 statistic -- the worst 3-point shooting day in UF history and the first 3-point shutout for the Gators in 25 years -- helped produce a 57-53 loss. And there was White, seated at the post-game podium, and the first words out of his mouth were these.
"To be dead honest with you, I've been more unhappy in a couple wins this year."
That's because his guys played hard. They defended at higher level than they had in weeks. UF was in position to grab a big Southeastern Conference win against a ranked opponent on the road, but that age-old truth about basketball came into play.
The ball has to go in the basket.
White was back on that theme Friday in previewing Saturday's high-noon SEC showdown that matches the No. 19 Gators (14-4, 5-1) and Vanderbilt (8-10, 2-4) at sold-out Exactech Arena. Despite the zero in the 3-point column, Florida shot 35 percent for the game and held South Carolina to 29 percent overall, yet the Gators didn't just miss all 17 shots from the arc. One of the best offensive teams in the league missed every attempt (0-for-21) that wasn't taken in the paint.
[Read senior writer Chris Harry's 'Pregame Stuff' preview of Saturday's UF-Vandy game here]
"Not a lot of sleep the last couple of nights. You're reliving a bunch of things. Each one of our guys that was put into the game could have done 10 things better — or I could have done 100 things better," White said. "I'm being dead honest, we've had a couple wins where guys were very subpar. We did not play well [and] that is not who we are trying to become. The South Carolina game? That wasn't it. That wasn't the message because we battled. We played really, really hard, had a lot of adversity, had foul trouble. We just couldn't make a shot."
Then came this.
"Unfortunately, you've got to put it in the hole to win a basketball game."
Who's to argue?
That's why the last two days have not been devoted to delving deep into just why the Gators lost their last game. Everyone knows why. Everyone saw why. Players stuck around the gym to get shots up after practice, but they've been doing that all season.
Ultimately, KeVaughn Allen (1 point), Canyon Barry (0-for-6 from 3), Keith Stone (0-for-3 from the floor, 1-for-5 from the free throw line, 1 point) and the rest have to get themselves back to the right mental frame and positive mindset that allows them to make shots.
Senior point guard Kasey Hill (0) tries to calm center John Egbunu Wednesday night, as it wasn't just the 3-point shooters who were thoroughly frustrated at South Carolina.
Maybe watching Vanderbilt will help.
It took facing South Carolina, the nation's premier defensive team, for the Gators to get back to guarding the way White wants. Perhaps playing across from the best 3-point shooting in the SEC — the Commodores top the league in 3-point percentage (.390) and 3s made per game (9.8) — will bring results.
Then again, UF's goal against Vandy will be to limit proficiency from long-distance with the that same junkyard-dog spirit the Gators rolled out three days earlier.
"We know that if we take away the 3, it's going to be hard for them to score, so that's what we try to hang our hats on in practice; working on closing out the 3-point line, making the right rotations and switches," said junior forward Devin Robinson, who went 4-for-11 from the floor on his way to eight points and a season-high 10 rebounds at South Carolina. "If we control the 3-point line, then I feel like we have a chance of having a good game."
In the ideal scenario for the Gators, they'd control both 3-point lines. At this point, actually, they probably would settle for making one or two early and seeing where that takes them.
"The challenge for our guys is to continue shooting with confidence, continue taking the right ones," White said. "I just think we're a pretty good shooting team. I didn't anticipate that happening [at South Carolina]. And I certainly don't anticipate that happening again."
