That's three Gators -- Keith Stone (left), Kevarrius Hayes (center) and Devin Robinson (right) -- playing defense against Georgia star forward Yante Manten, who worked feverishly for whatever he got in UF's road win Tuesday night.
Harry Fodder: Next-Day Takeaway
Wednesday, February 8, 2017 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
More from the night before, and the 72-60 road win at Georgia.
NEXT-DAY TAKEAWAY
Florida 72, Georgia 60
Three leftover thoughts from Gators' road win Tuesday.
1) Numbers don't always tell the entire story, but the ones I'm about to lay out are pretty self-explanatory. Through the Gators' first 19 games, opponents shot 42.8 percent from the floor and 33.4 from the 3-point line. Buried in those numbers were an overtime escape act against Georgia at Gainesville, when the Bulldogs hit 48.3 percent from the floor. Now, after going to Athens and holding UGA to just 33.3 percent (including 25.8 in the second half), the Florida defensive numbers — these since The Meeting following the home loss to Vanderbilt — show UF holding opponents to 34.5 percent of their field-goal tries and just 25.5 from the arc during the current five-game winning streak. That is all.
2) The return of Keith Stone from a nagging viral illness saw the redshirt freshman forward go 0-for-4 from the floor, with two of his shots blocked, in his first action since playing just seven minutes at Oklahoma on Jan. 28. This definitely is a case of numbers failing to tell the whole story. Stone played 15 key minutes Tuesday, much of them spent defending or boxing out Bulldogs forward and SEC No. 2 scorer Yante Maten, who had a team-high 19 points, but just two rebounds and five turnovers. Relying on Stone to guard Maten meant centers John Egbunu and Kevarrius Hayes were free to come off their men and provide weak side help. Hayes had four blocked shots, Egbunu two. They altered a bunch more. Offensively, Stone was rusty (and had been in his two practices back), but he was good for five rebounds, including three of UF's seven on the offensive glass. After shooting an airball 3-pointer early in the second half, Stone passed up a wide-open 3 from the top of the key a few possessions later, opting instead to shovel an extra pass to the right wing for Canyon Barry, who nailed a 3-ball and pushed the Gators to a 10-point lead. Huge play.
3) The top of the SEC standings are now all locked up — UF, South Carolina and Kentucky in a three-way tie — with eight games to go. The Gators may be playing the best among the three, but UK, even with all its perceived problems, is right there. USC needed an epic four overtimes to be toppled at home Tuesday night by Alabama, despite a superhuman effort from guard and leading SEC Player of the Year candidate Sindarius Thornwell (44 points, 24 rebounds, 25-for-33 from the free-throw line in an astonishing 56 minutes). On paper, the Gamecocks would appear to have the most agreeable path to the finish line, what with no second game against Kentucky. By contrast, UF has to face both UK and USC, with the date against the angry Wildcats in Lexington. Then again, who would have thought Alabama, which lost at home to Auburn over the weekend and last week by 19 at Arkansas, would beat South Carolina on the road? Lots of hoops to play, folks, but here's a glance at the three front-runners' remaining schedules.
* Florida: Texas A&M, @Auburn, @Mississippi State, South Carolina, @Kentucky, Arkansas, @Vanderbilt.
* Kentucky: @Alabama, Tennessee, @Georgia, @Missouri, Florida, Vanderbilt, @A&M.
* South Carolina: @Mississippi State, Arkanasas, @Vanderbilt, @Florida, Tennessee, Mississippi State, @Ole Miss.
Florida 72, Georgia 60
Three leftover thoughts from Gators' road win Tuesday.
1) Numbers don't always tell the entire story, but the ones I'm about to lay out are pretty self-explanatory. Through the Gators' first 19 games, opponents shot 42.8 percent from the floor and 33.4 from the 3-point line. Buried in those numbers were an overtime escape act against Georgia at Gainesville, when the Bulldogs hit 48.3 percent from the floor. Now, after going to Athens and holding UGA to just 33.3 percent (including 25.8 in the second half), the Florida defensive numbers — these since The Meeting following the home loss to Vanderbilt — show UF holding opponents to 34.5 percent of their field-goal tries and just 25.5 from the arc during the current five-game winning streak. That is all. 2) The return of Keith Stone from a nagging viral illness saw the redshirt freshman forward go 0-for-4 from the floor, with two of his shots blocked, in his first action since playing just seven minutes at Oklahoma on Jan. 28. This definitely is a case of numbers failing to tell the whole story. Stone played 15 key minutes Tuesday, much of them spent defending or boxing out Bulldogs forward and SEC No. 2 scorer Yante Maten, who had a team-high 19 points, but just two rebounds and five turnovers. Relying on Stone to guard Maten meant centers John Egbunu and Kevarrius Hayes were free to come off their men and provide weak side help. Hayes had four blocked shots, Egbunu two. They altered a bunch more. Offensively, Stone was rusty (and had been in his two practices back), but he was good for five rebounds, including three of UF's seven on the offensive glass. After shooting an airball 3-pointer early in the second half, Stone passed up a wide-open 3 from the top of the key a few possessions later, opting instead to shovel an extra pass to the right wing for Canyon Barry, who nailed a 3-ball and pushed the Gators to a 10-point lead. Huge play.
3) The top of the SEC standings are now all locked up — UF, South Carolina and Kentucky in a three-way tie — with eight games to go. The Gators may be playing the best among the three, but UK, even with all its perceived problems, is right there. USC needed an epic four overtimes to be toppled at home Tuesday night by Alabama, despite a superhuman effort from guard and leading SEC Player of the Year candidate Sindarius Thornwell (44 points, 24 rebounds, 25-for-33 from the free-throw line in an astonishing 56 minutes). On paper, the Gamecocks would appear to have the most agreeable path to the finish line, what with no second game against Kentucky. By contrast, UF has to face both UK and USC, with the date against the angry Wildcats in Lexington. Then again, who would have thought Alabama, which lost at home to Auburn over the weekend and last week by 19 at Arkansas, would beat South Carolina on the road? Lots of hoops to play, folks, but here's a glance at the three front-runners' remaining schedules.
* Florida: Texas A&M, @Auburn, @Mississippi State, South Carolina, @Kentucky, Arkansas, @Vanderbilt.
* Kentucky: @Alabama, Tennessee, @Georgia, @Missouri, Florida, Vanderbilt, @A&M.
* South Carolina: @Mississippi State, Arkanasas, @Vanderbilt, @Florida, Tennessee, Mississippi State, @Ole Miss.
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