Next-Day Takeaway

NEXT-DAY TAKEAWAY
Florida 88, Arkansas 73
Three leftover thoughts from Wednesday's home win.

1) For a night, KeVaughn Allen was "Batman" to Jalen Hudson's "Robin." The two guards combined to hit 14 of their 24 field-goal attempts and 10 of 15 shots from the 3-point line. Offensively, they were something to behold. Repeat: Offensively. Allen and Hudson weren't terrible on defense, but they weren't great, either, just like the team's across-the-board performance against the Razorbacks. Too many times, guards Jaylen Barford and Daryl Macon or center Daniel Gafford found lightly contested avenues to the basket. This, of course, was not a huge surprise. Defense has been a source of frustration for Coach Mike White and his staff all season. To be fair, it had trended upward during Southeastern Conference play, especially in the front court, but the Gators probably took a step backward against the Hogs. Calling it like it is, Florida had to outscore Arkansas to win the game, which the Gators did, thanks to 48-percent overall, 13-for-25 from deep (52 percent) and 19-for-22 from the free-throw line (86.4 percent). Surrendering straight-line drives against Kentucky won't cut it Saturday night.

Grad-transfer forward Egor Koulechov had a quietly efficient 12 points, eight rebounds and two assists over 35 minutes, including this run-out dunk in the final minutes.

2) Egor Koulechov began the night as UF's leading scorer in SEC play at 18.0 points per game, but he was all too glad to watch Allen and Hudson have their big nights against the Hogs. For his 35 minutes, Koulechov let the game come to him and finished with 12 points. He took shots that were there. He did his job on the boards, grabbing at least eight rebounds for the fifth time in the last six games. He dished a couple assists. He surveyed the game and took a backseat on offense, while Allen and Hudson stole the scoring show. Great teammates know it's not going to be their night every night. They also know it doesn't have to be.

3) Florida finally guarded the free-throw line. It was far and away the Gators' best defense performance there of the season, as Arkansas made just six of 15 free throws (40 percent). Confused? Don't be. Going into the game, UF's 2017-18 opponents had made — get this — 78.2 percent of their free throws. You know where that ranked among the nation's 351 Division I teams. Try 351st. Eight times this season, a UF opponent has made 80 percent or better from the free-throw line, and only twice under 70 percent. The national average for the category known as "Free Throw Percentage Defense" was 70.5 percent. Maybe this is where things start evening out for a statistic that is computed, but comes with zero control. After Wednesday, the Gators are now 344th in free-throw "D." Progress.

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Players Mentioned

KeVaughn Allen

Jalen Hudson

Egor Koulechov

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