In seven of their eight losses, the Gators have been within one possession in the final minutes, only to falter with missed shots or missed defensive opportunities down the stretch.
Wanted (and Needed): Quality Wins ... Starting Now
Wednesday, January 30, 2019 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
Share:
By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The deficit was a dozen at halftime Saturday at Texas Christian. The Florida Gators had played arguably their poorest 20 minutes of the season and Coach Mike White, looking to convey (or better yet, instill) a sense of urgency in his players, addressed the bull gator in the room. When a coach has to remind his players that their postseason fate is on the brink before the calendar even turns to February, well, that just might qualify as critical mass territory.
"I put it out there" White said. "I don't normally do that."
He mentioned the postseason. He mentioned the NCAA Tournament. He mentioned a winning record. And he mentioned the NIT, which despite its best intentions represents the college basketball version of the "The Scarlet Letter." Or letters. Everyone in the locker room, of course, understood White's point. It was probably just a little surprising that he went there so soon.
Then again, maybe he had to. He's tried just about everything else.
"It got through guys' heads a little bit," freshman guard Noah Locke said.
"NIT," of course, stands for National Invitation Tournament, but also stands for "Not In Tournament," as in the NCAA Tournament, which is the goal of every program in the country. The Gators have been to two straight NCAAs under White, and 16 of the previous 20 overall, but now passed the midpoint of the 2018-19 season they have played themselves into a precarious situation relative to their postseason chances. The eventual 55-50 loss to TCU in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge was the team's sixth in as many cracks at opponents rated in the top 40 of the first-year ratings system that will be used by the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee to gather its field of 68 teams come March.
Playing really good teams is admirable. So is playing them close ... to a point. Admiration and tight losses don't get NCAA bids. Victories do. A bunch of close losses and a middling record is a sure-fire ticket to the other consolation tournament. Or, worse-case, no postseason at all.
UF (11-8, 3-3) has 12 games left, with a bunch against solid, top-40 and 50 type teams (in some cases, top 10), starting with Wednesday night's Southeastern Conference visit from Ole Miss (14-5, 4-2) at Exactech Arena/O'Connell Center. The Rebels reached No. 20 in the Associated Press rankings last week, then fell out of the poll after back-to-back losses, but are still sitting alone in fifth place in the league standings (a half-game ahead of Alabama, a full game on Florida). This one needs to go in the "W" column for the Gators, especially with a trio of heavy-hitters — home Saturday against No. 6 Kentucky, then at both Auburn and No. 1 Tennessee next week — on the immediate horizon. UF also has a couple down-the-road dates with LSU, currently up to No. 19.
"We need to beat some of these good teams," UF associate head coach Al Pinkins said.
The opportunities will be there. But will the execution (as in made shots on offense and attention to detail on defense) be there?
Senior center Kevarrius Hayes had one of his finest defensive games of the season at TCU, including five blocked five shots, like this one on guard and Horned Frogs scoring leader Desmond Bane.
Florida played well enough defensively to win over the weekend in Fort Worth. The Gators played poorly enough offensively to lose. UF missed 14 of its first 15 field-goal attempts on the way to shooting just 27.6 percent in the first half and falling behind by 16. The Gators weren't much better in the second half (33.3 percent), but the Horned Frogs were a lot worse (27.3), thanks to UF's defense, which enabled the visitors to battle back twice to tie the game before TCU retook command and finished things.
Another chance to put one on the good side of the ledger slipped away, as the Gators lost for the seventh time (out of eight defeats) this season when within a single possession inside two minutes.
"We have to pick it up, if we want to make the NCAA Tournament. I mean, pick it up," Locke said. "I feel like [there] is some urgency that we have to play with for us to get there."
There needs to be more than "some."
"It's all about maintaining energy and staying in the moment," senior center Kevarrius Hayes said. "We have to start the game and finish it all the way through. If we had that mindset throughout the entire [TCU] game, we might have come through it."
But that hay is in the SEC/Big 12. The Gators can't change the outcome, but they can learn from it, grow from it and, preferably, act on it. Ole Miss is a high-scoring, offensive-driven team looking to stockpile some good wins as well. Despite what Florida's record might say now, a road victory at the O'Dome is always a nice thing to have on a postseason resume.
And while a lot of UF fans may be looking down the line and trying to figure out how many wins the Gators need to reach the desired tournament, the only number that matters right now is a 12th win. The one that's there to be had Wednesday.
It's the first step of a quest that, depending on the next few games, could go from a "sense of urgency" to one of outright desperation the next time.
"It's not going to happen if we don't take it, if we don't capitalize," White said. "It's out there."
Florida Men's Basketball | Thomas Haugh Is BackFlorida Men's Basketball | Thomas Haugh Is Back
Thursday, April 23
Florida Men's Basketball | Head Coach Todd Golden Media Availability | April 22, 2026Florida Men's Basketball | Head Coach Todd Golden Media Availability | April 22, 2026
Wednesday, April 22
Todd Golden Media Availability | April 22, 2026Todd Golden Media Availability | April 22, 2026
