'It's On Us:' Florida Braces For Bama

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — In his post-game remarks following Wednesday night's loss at Georgia, forward Egor Koulechov, noticeably and understandably down, talked about his Florida Gators being at something of a crossroads.

"It's on us," the grad-transfer and veteran of 116 Division-I basketball games said afterward. "It's a decision that has to come from us, where we say, 'Enough is enough.' Where we draw a line in the sand. It's going to have to come to that."

Koulechov was addressing the popular "rollercoaster" theme that has taken hold of the Gators, but just as easily could have been talking about other elements of the the team after a second straight loss in Southeastern Conference play. Its reputation as a less-than-physical bunch, for example. Or the "live-by-the-3, die-by-it" label tagged to a squad that often opts to pull up for long jumpers rather than put heads down and drive into the heart of a defense.

In fact, Koulechov touched on both those things Friday, as Florida (15-7, 6-3) looked to its sold-out date against Alabama (14-8, 5-4) Saturday at Exactech Arena/O'Connell Center. The Gators have been roughed up pretty good in their last two SEC losses (at UGA this week and home Jan. 24 against South Carolina before that).

Apparently, that beaten up and beaten down look has not sat particularly well with some players on the team.

"We all have pride," Koulechov said, noting the UF roster is racked by injuries in the front court), but acknowledging that no opponent is going to empathize. "There are no excuses to be made, because at the end off the day nobody cares about that once the ball is tipped. So yeah, we take that personally, and we're glad that we get to play each of those teams [South Carolina and Georgia] again in the next couple weeks."

[Read senior writer Chris Harry's "Pregame Stuff" setup here]

But first, enter the Crimson Tide, armed with some electrifying freshmen, led by 6-foot-3, 190-pound "one-and-done" point guard Collin Sexton, who will be a lottery pick in the 2018 NBA Draft. Alabama has scorers on the perimeter and size up front, starting with 6-9, 232-pound forward Donta Hall, who's averaging 10.8 points, 6.8 rebounds and shooting 74 percent from the floor, with most of those makes ending with Hall doing pull-ups on the rim.

The Tide is statistically one of the best defenses in the SEC. They only allow 67.3 points per game, 39.8-percent shooting from the floor and just 31.9 from the 3-point line.

Florida will have a plan to attack the defense, but at some point UF's perimeter players will have to challenge Bama with drives at the rim. Good luck. The Gators rank 269th nationally (out of 351 D-1 programs) at scoring 2-point baskets, just 47.1 percent. Against SEC opponents, they've made just 44.9 percent.

Florida will have a plan on defense. Good luck with that, too. The Gators rank 267th at guarding the 3-point line, including last in the SEC in defensive 3-point percentage at 36.9 percent. In SEC play, opponents have made 40 percent.

The Tide, in turn, will go into the game with a plan of their own. It'll likely start with an emphasis on physicality.

"This team — you guys know it, we all know it, Alabama knows it — we're not the most physical team that there is and when you hit us and when there's a little bit of contact, we need to embrace it a little bit more," UF coach Mike White said. "This is a big-boy league and there's a lot of contact in this league that's not called."

It's February. The SEC season is at the halfway point. The Gators, though two games back, are very much in the league hunt. In the bigger, long-range picture, a berth in the NCAA Tournament is there for the taking, as well, with the second half of the season a chance to not only secure one, but play for seeding.

Big-boy league. Big-boy circumstances.

Time to put on the big-boy shorts.

"Everybody watches tape," Koulechov said. "They look at that and see we give up a lot of straight-line drives. 'We've just got to drive them.' And on defense, they're probably like, 'Oh, just run them off the line because their two-point percentage is [bad].' We've got to prove them wrong."

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