UF coach Mike White will continue to tinker with his offense until he finds something that will help the Gators put the ball in the basket.
At the Buzzer: Florida 77, Florida Gulf Coast 56 (Instant Breakdown)
Saturday, December 22, 2018 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
Orange Bowl Classic
AT THE BUZZER
FLORIDA 77, FLORIDA GULF COAST 56
AT THE BUZZER
FLORIDA 77, FLORIDA GULF COAST 56
WHAT HAPPENED: Fifth-year senior guard Jalen Hudson broke out of his scoring slump by hitting a season-high four 3-point shots on his way to an all-around solid 14-point, six-rebound effort and MVP honors in UF's win Saturday over FGCU in the Orange Bowl Classic at BT&T Center in Sunrise, Fla. UF got a team-best 15 points and five 3s from freshman guard Noah Locke, plus 12 points and seven rebounds from senior center Kevarrius Hayes, but the best story of the day belonged to Hudson, who'd gone three games without making a 3-pointer and had struggled basically the whole season to find the kind of rhythm that allowed him to lead the team in scoring last season at 15.5 per game. Hudson finished 5-for-11 from the floor, 4-for-9 from the 3-point line, with his half-dozen boards also being a season best. Locke, meanwhile, went 5-for-9 overall (all from beyond the arc), while Hayes hit all five of his field-goal attempts. Sophomore guard Deaundrae Ballard had 11 points off the bench, as well. UF opened a 12-point lead after 12 minutes, but when freshman point guard Andrew Nembhard (0 points, 4 assists, 3 turnovers) headed to the bench with his second foul, the Gators offense went into wheel-spinning mode. The Eagles went on a 14-3 run and trailed just 26-22 at the under-4 timeout. Out of the stoppage, though, the Gators scored seven straight points and started a 23-5 run that bridged the two halves and opened a 22-point lead with just over 16 minutes to play. For the game, Florida shot 45 percent and sank 11 of 30 from the 3-point line (36 percent), while Florida Gulf Coast was held to 39.1 percent overall, just 2-for-14 from the arc (14.3 percent), and turned the ball over 22 times.
WHAT IT MEANS: After having a seven-game winning streak snapped in last year's loss to Clemson, the Gators are now 17-3 in the OB Classic, dating to their first appearance here in 1997. The victory was Florida's second straight this season and fourth in the last five games, and kept UF unbeaten in five tries against FGCU. In the bigger picture, shaking Hudson from his scoring slump could be a nice lift for the UF offense, but time (and games) will tell.
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Hudson's first 3-ball of the game splashed down at the 11:46 mark of the first half. Up to that point, he had missed 11 straight 3-point attempts, dating to the 4:51 mark of the second half against North Florida on Nov. 27. He missed his last 3 attempt in that game, went 0-for-4 against West Virginia, 0-for-1 against Michigan State and 0-for-4 in the game he started Tuesday night against Mercer. Hudson came into the game shooting 17.6 percent from the arc this season after making 40.4 last season. He dropped a trio of 3s in the first half to help the Gators to a 37-26 lead at the break, with his nine first-half points representing half the 18 points he'd totaled over the previous six games.
STAGGERING STATISTIC: Florida Gulf Coast came into the game with more turnovers than assists on the season, and the Gators exploited the Eagles' lack of ball security by forcing 22 turnovers, the most by the Florida defense this season, and converting them to 34 points. The Eagles also began the day hitting 37.1 percent from the 3-point line. That stat took a big hit against a UF defense that did well in closing out the line.
UP NEXT: Florida (7-4) will split for a three-day Christmas break and report back Wednesday night when they'll look to a rematch against Butler (9-3), which defeated the Gators, 61-54, on Nov. 23 in the fifth-place game at the Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas. The Bulldogs beat Cal-Irvine 71-54 at home Friday night.
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