GAINESVILLE, Fla. — All 12 available scholarship players logged at least 10 minutes in Tuesday night's exhibition game against Division II Florida Southern. Six scored in double figures. At least six dropped a 3-pointer. Florida's heralded three-man freshman class made its much-anticipated debut and each provided significant contributions to the outcome. The Gators opened a 29-point first half lead and ended the night with a 95-70 victory at Exactech Arena/O'Connell Center.
In the end, Coach Mike White and his staff had plenty to glean from what their team put on tape. Not all of it good.
"We've got a ways to go, first and foremost. We were exposed by Florida Southern in a bunch of different areas," White said in reference to a late-first half, early second-half lull that allowed the Moccasins to outscore the Gators by 10 through the first 13 minutes after intermission. "There's a lot to take from these games, [like] the deficiencies of certain individuals; the deficiencies of our team, offensively and defensively; the fact we looked like a pretty good team in spurts. I don't know if you want me to go any further."
Eventually, the Gators will go back to work and turn their attention to next Tuesday's 2018-19 season opener at No. 17 Florida State, and they'll do so with key information from which to work.
UF was led by fifth-year senior Jalen Hudson (14 points), sophomore guard Deaundrae Ballard (13 points), third-year sophomore and backup forward Dontay Bassett (12 points on 5-for-5 from the floor) and reserve freshman forward Keyontae Johnson (12 points, 8 rebounds). The Gators hit 50 percent for the game and 52 percent from the 3-point line (9-for-16). On defense, they limited the Mocs to 38.6 percent from the floor, but during those first baker's dozen minutes of the second half that number stood at 50 percent, as FSC reduced a 29-point first half lead to just 14 with inside nine minutes remaining.
That's a 15-point swing over nearly 18 minutes against an opponent from the Sunshine State Conference.
"It was good to get out there in front of the fans to see how we would react, but we know now we have to get better defensively," sophomore guard Mike Okauru said.
On what element of defense?
"Everything," he said.
Freshman forward Keyontae Johnson (11) had 12 points and a team-high eight rebounds.
The score was 75-61 after FSC guard Jonathan Lawton scored two of his game-high 25 points on a jumper at the 8:37 mark. Ninety seconds later, the score the same, Johnson drove for an unimpeded two-handed dunk that was followed the next possession by freshman Noah Locke's transition 3-pointer from the corner. Those back-to-back buckets started an eight-point run that turned into a 14-3 flurry — with a trio of 3s by Locke (11 points) and one from Bassett (2-for-2 from deep after not attempting a 3 all last season) — to take the lead back out to 25 with less than four minutes to go.
"I think it was good for a first game," Hudson said.
Good because it revealed some things that can now be addressed.
White liked how his team played in building that 29-point first half margin, but saw some slippage in the final five minutes of the first half and — despite his warnings during a halftime chat — it carried over into the second.
"I wasn't pleased with the way we responded," White said. "As our veterans know, when you take a dip defensively and lose your edge — which I thought we showed up with at the tip — it's really hard to get it back. So the challenge was to simulate a [Southeastern Conference] game. '[Pretend] we're up by three and we've got to find a way to get some stops.' We came out and got torched early in the second half. That will be a talk I'm sure we'll have a few times this year."
Senior guard KeVaughn Allen had 10 points, five rebounds, two assists and three blocked shot in 24 minutes. Fourth-year junior forward Keith Stone grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds.
In addition to collegiate inaugurations for Johnson, who also had a team-high eight rebounds, and Locke, freshman Andrew Nembhard got the starting nod at point guard and finished with four points on just 2-for-7 from the floor, four assists and three turnovers in a team-high 27 minutes. Nerves, perhaps?
"No," he said. "I don't get nervous playing basketball."
Added Johnson: "He'll be fine. We all know what he can do."
Hudson seconded as much.
"He's a magician at times. He's just got to get more comfortable and more confident. He's going to be really good and a really important piece for us," Hudson said of Nembhard before speaking on behalf of the other freshmen, too. "They'll all get more comfortable and play even better than they did tonight."
Another Gator playing for the first time was redshirt freshman Isaiah Stokes, who sat out all last season recovering from a high school knee injury. The 6-foot-8, 275-pounder scored six points, grabbed a rebound, dished an assist and carded a block in nine minutes.
In his first appearance in a UF uniform after missing all last season recovering from knee surgery, redshirt freshman Isaiah Stokes scored six points in 3-for-6 shooting from the floor.
All in all, some baselines were established. Some good, some not so good, especially on defense.
"So much of it is accountability and our team DNA and individual DNA," White said. "We've been a little bit tougher in practice, so that was a little disappointing."
The team has Wednesday off, then returns to practice Thursday.
