More from the night before, and the 78-65 win over Arkansas in the home finale.
By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer
NEXT-DAY TAKEAWAY No. 12 Florida 78, Arkansas 65 Three leftover thoughts from Gators' win Wednesday night.
1) It would appear that senior forward Canyon Barry's sore ankle is close to being fully operational. Clearly, that was not the case in the previous two games, as Barry missed seven of the eight field-goal attempts he attemped against South Carolina and Kentucky. Also missing in those games was the assertive first step (usually off a head fake) that has been so effective getting him to the free-throw line. Barry only got there once against the Razorbacks (and actually missed a free throw), but his all-around game was in a much better place. He finished with a game-high 14 points, made five of his 11 shots, including 3-for-8 from the 3-point line. On Thursday, Barry was named Division I men's basketball CoSIDA Academic All-America of the Year, the highest academic honor bestowed on a student-athlete, thanks to 4.0 grade-point average in pursuit of a masters degree in nuclear engineering. Next week, look for Barry to be named Southeastern Conference Sixth Man of the Year, based on his 12.4-point scoring average that ranks second on the team and 89.2 free-throw percentage that leads the league.
After combining to score just three points the previous two games, senior forward Canyon Barry was moving much better on the sore ankle that slowed him last week on his way to scoring a team-best 14 points Wednesday night against Arkansas.
2) As encouraging as it was to see Barry back and seemingly healthy, the solid minutes turned in off the bench by redshirt freshman forward Keith Stone and freshman center Gorjok Gak were every bit as significant because of what they mean as far as low-post depth as the team looks to make a postseason run. Since he scored 14 at Alabama and a career-high 17 in an overtime win over Georgia six weeks ago, Stone had made — get this — just one of his previous 20 shots over the next 12 games, including 0-for-14 from the 3-point line as he dealt with a lingering viral illness and vertigo symptoms. In just nine minutes against the Hogs, Stone scored eight points, all consecutively, including a put-back and huge corner 3-pointer. He looked confident, which was not the case in Lexington four days earlier. If (and it's a big if) he can maintain that air, Stone gives the Gators a great change-of-pace option in the post because opposing bigs will have to come out of the paint to honor his 3-point threat. As for the seldom-used 6-foot-11 Gak, he had not played in a month and was coming off a foot sprain, With John Egbunu out for the season, the Gators need to get something/anything from Gak. They did. Gak scored two points, grabbed two rebounds and held his own for eight solid minutes. He needs to be stronger with his hands (he failed to secure two rebounds that should have been his), but this was the most significant action of his young career and he handled it. For now, Gak gave his coaches reason to believe they can have confidence to throw him out there.
3) Florida's final defensive numbers were very good. The Gators held the Hogs, the league's second-highest scoring team (81 points per game) and second-best shooting team (.465 from the floor) to 16 below the former and nearly 11 percent under the latter. Yet, CoachMike White referenced in his post-game news conference about a couple "volatile" timeouts when he was not happy with his defense, particularly seven minutes in the second half where some miscommunication on switches and surrendered straight-line drives allowed Arkansas to score itself back into the game. Florida settled down after that. While it was a good win and a successful final home game for the senior class, the Gators were far from at their best in this one. They still won by 13, which is the sign of a good team. So is understanding breakdowns and correcting them, especially with a very difficult date at Vanderbilt up next.
1) It would appear that senior forward Canyon Barry's sore ankle is close to being fully operational. Clearly, that was not the case in the previous two games, as Barry missed seven of the eight field-goal attempts he attemped against South Carolina and Kentucky. Also missing in those games was the assertive first step (usually off a head fake) that has been so effective getting him to the free-throw line. Barry only got there once against the Razorbacks (and actually missed a free throw), but his all-around game was in a much better place. He finished with a game-high 14 points, made five of his 11 shots, including 3-for-8 from the 3-point line. On Thursday, Barry was named Division I men's basketball CoSIDA Academic All-America of the Year, the highest academic honor bestowed on a student-athlete, thanks to 4.0 grade-point average in pursuit of a masters degree in nuclear engineering. Next week, look for Barry to be named Southeastern Conference Sixth Man of the Year, based on his 12.4-point scoring average that ranks second on the team and 89.2 free-throw percentage that leads the league. 
