Struggles At Both Ends Continue in Win over Incarnate Word

Friday, December 22

Gainesville, FL

7 PM

Florida Gators

Incarnate Word

Junior center Kevarrius Hayes (13) had eight points and eight rebounds in UF's win Friday night over Incarnate Word.

Struggles At Both Ends Continue in Win over Incarnate Word

Friday, December 22, 2017 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry

Box Score

The Gators entered the holiday break with a victory, but not an overly impressive one.

By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — After messing around for three-quarters of Friday night's game against Incarnate Word, guard Jalen Hudson chalked up Florida's second straight lackluster victory against an overmatched opponent partly to the proximity of the holiday break.

"So many upsets happen this time of year," Hudson said. "People are clocked out and ready to go home for Christmas. They're focused on the next thing."

A few minutes later, Gators coach Mike White was processing the 75-60 win that was a five-point game well into the second half. White wasn't buying the home-for-the-holidays theory.

"We've shot it like this for a while … and we've defended like this all year," White said. "It's who we are."

The non-league portion of the Florida schedule is over, and the Gators (8-4), after a four-day respite from each other, will begin preparations for the Southeastern Conference slate when they return from Christmas break Tuesday night.

They'll have much to work on.

Senior point guard Chris Chiozza scored 16 points, dished four assists against no turnovers, snared four steals and tallied nearly half the points during a 17-2 second-half run that push some distance between the Gators and their opponent from the Southland Conference. Hudson scored 13 points and pitched a career-best six assists for a UF team that shot just 39.1 percent from the floor and 25 percent (9-for-35) from the 3-point line against a 2-3 zone the Cardinals stayed in for nearly the entire game.

Defensively, Florida allowed UIW (5-5) to make nearly 48 percent of its shots, many on straight-line drives into the paint, but also forced 23 turnovers that converted to 33 points.

It wasn't the best way to break for the break, but it also (obviously) wasn't the worst. Not that White's post-game demeanor didn't suggest otherwise. The third-year UF coach and his staff have tried virtually every approach to instill confidence in the players, while also challenging them to take the floor with more passion, more commitment and — perhaps above all else — more communication on defense.

Hudson even remarked afterward how surprised he was that White didn't light into the team at halftime after the Gators led just 37-34, having allowed the Cardinals to convert 13 of 27 field goals and four of eight 3-pointers.

"I've [spent] a lot of bullets with these guys already, and it's not even Christmas," White said. "When they have that look in terms of [lacking] confidence offensively, I don't think yelling at them is the right button to push. We watched the defensive errors [in the locker room] and … my goodness. The communication level with this team? We can't stress it enough."

He went on, but a lot of it sounded familiar.

"I'm at a loss," he said.

That's unfortunate because there's still 20 games remaining on the schedule — against far more weighty foes than Incarnate Word — which is why White soon will be back at it. First, though, he'll get to step away from the frustration for a few days, which just might be something he needs as much as his players do.

Freshman guard Mike Okauru (0) scored eight points off the bench and also hard three steals.

After talking defense, defense, defense at intermission, the Cardinals' first possession of the second half ended with UF center Kevarrius Hayes biting on a ball fake in the post, fouling forward Charles Brown III (13 points, 4 rebounds) and surrendering a layup. Brown made the ensuing free throw to tie the game at 34.

The Gators, though, answered by scoring eight straight points, including 3-pointers from Hudson and Egor Koulechov (12 points, 4 rebounds). After two UIW free throws, UF got back-to-back 3s by Hudson and reserve guard Mike Okauru (8 points, 3 steals) to build the lead to 12.

But seven straight Cardinals points (while the Gators missed seven of eight shots over a nearly 4-minute span) put the count at 51-46 at the under-12 media timeout.

White picked that moment to raise his voice.

"We came out more hungry, more active," Hayes said.

It started with a conventional 3-point play by forward Keith Stone (6 points, 4 rebounds, 2 steals) that kicked in a seven-point run and took the lead back out to a dozen. After two UIW free throws, the Gators scored three points on each of the next three possessions — with treys from Okauru and Chiozza, plus an "and-one" from Chiozza — on the way to building the margin up to as high as 20.

Where was that energy before?

"The first [30 minutes], we had glimpses where we had everyone running at the ball, doing their jobs and playing tough. Other times, we had communication breakdowns, mental breakdowns and allowed open shots," Chiozza said of the defense. "It doesn't matter who you're playing. If you give guys open shots and they hit a few they'll get it going. The last fourth of the game, we just focused on not giving them any open shots and that's what got us going on our run. It allowed us to pull away."

Pull away. Against Incarnate Word. Late.

Let that sink in.

White certainly did. He'll probably do so a lot more the next several days.

"We're not [shooting] with the level of confidence that we were. We're searching," White said. "I have to find a way to get these guys to play with the same look in their eye they were playing with earlier in the year, while continuing to progress defensively."

Put it on the Christmas wish list.