White Still Has Faith in Hudson

Friday, November 23

Paradise Island, Bahamas

9:30 PM

Florida Gators

Butler

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Fifth-year senior Jalen Hudson during practice session this week at the Battle for Atlantis.

White Still Has Faith in Hudson

Friday, November 23, 2018 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry

By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer

PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas — Now, comes the question.

How will Jalen Hudson respond?

Hudson, the 6-foot-6 swingman and Florida's leading scorer at 15.5 points last season, was replaced by in the starting lineup by freshman guard Noah Locke for Thursday night's game against Stanford in the loser's bracket at the Battle 4 Atlantis. When the final seconds ticked off of the Gators' 72-49 win, Hudson had played seven minutes (the fewest of his two UF seasons) and did not score (for the second time in his 39 games).

The new lineup was Coach Mike White's answer to a mistake-filled performance across the board in UF's opening-day, 65-60 loss to Oklahoma. White said after the Stanford game the move wasn't about scapegoating Hudson, the fifth-year senior who was a centerpiece on the team's NCAA Tournament squad last season.

"I love Jalen Hudson. He's a wonderful young man," White said. "This was more about giving other guys an opportunity. I wanted to put my five most competitive guys on the court and see what happened."

Locke got the nod at the two-guard spot (with KeVaughn Allen moving to the wing), based on what he put on tape against OU. Specifically, on defense.

"It definitely felt great," Locke said of his first start, after scoring a career-best 11 points and going 3-for-6 from the 3-point line. "All I was thinking about was doing my job. Coach says all the time, do the things you're supposed to do, and you'll get more minutes. You see the outcome."

It worked for Locke, as well as guard Deaundrae Ballard (career-high 19 points), power forward Dontay Bassett (30 minutes in the two games) and freshman forward Keyontae Johnson (career-high 21 minutes). Meanwhile, Hudson's minutes have dipped over three straight games (21, 17 and 7), and his scoring average is down to 8.0 with just four points combined in the two games here. Against the Cardinal, he did not attempt a shot.

UF (3-2) will face Butler (4-1) in the fifth-place game Friday at 9:30 p.m. The Gators have an afternoon shoot-around to prep for the tournament's final game (they fly back to Gainesville Saturday morning). Hudson is the veteran on this team. One year ago to the day, he came off the bench and lit up Gonzaga for a career-high 35 points in the PK80 Invitational at Portland, Ore.

Now what?

"I not only want to help our team be the best we can be, but also help Jalen be the best he can be," White said. "Jalen had some big games for us last year off the bench. I was hoping this would get him going as well, but [Thursday] wasn't Jalen's night. I've got faith he'll have some big games for us this year. He has in the past, so we'll see where it goes from here."