The Gators leave the floor after Saturday's 65-54 loss to No. 7 Kentucky.
Hoops Hodgepodge 5
Sunday, February 3, 2019 | Men's Basketball
Share:
By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer
THREE-POINT WEEK IN REVIEW
TAKE A BOW Freshman forward Keyontae Johnson continues to get better and more productive. His third week in the starting lineup produced both a career-high scoring game (15 points in Wednesday's 90-86 overtime win against Ole Miss) and career-high rebounding game (10 in the 65-54 loss Saturday to No. 7 Kentucky). His upward trend has coincided with his coach-ability and the reward has been more minutes for the player and more production for the team. In Johnson's last six games (the last five starts) — basically assuming the minutes of Keith Stone (out for the season with a knee injury) at the "4" spot — he's averaged 8.8 points and 7.3 rebounds (including 3.1 per game on the offensive end), while shooting 50 percent from both the floor and 3-point line. At 6-foot-5, he's undersized, but makes up for it with length and crazy athleticism. He hasn't been perfect, far from it, but Johnson's work habits and accountability have fallen in line with the likes of his freshmen classmates Andrew Nembhard (who has started all 21 games) and shooting guard Noah Locke (17 straight starts). Now with three freshman starting, 42.6 percent of the Gators' scoring in Southeastern Conference play is coming from the rookie class.
Freshman forward Keyontae Johnson is blossoming into a very good player and an elite rebounder. (Photo: Carly Mackler/UAA Communications)
OF CONCERN The upcoming week, for openers (which is addressed further below), but terminal scoring droughts against good teams (including some excellent ones) have been the death knell for the Gators. They're tough to overcome and they allow opponents to get back into games.
Not that anyone needs a blow-by-blow review, but …
Five minutes without a field goal at No. 17 Florida State on the way to a 20-point first half and 11-point deficit at the break in the opener.
One point over six minutes against Butler in the Bahamas.
No field goals over six minutes spanning the halves and falling behind by 12 against No. 10 Michigan State (in what eventually became a one-possession game).
One field goal over the last 11 minutes, after being up 14, in a two-point home loss to South Carolina.
One field goal over nearly 10 minutes bridging the halves against No. 3 Tennessee (which also eventually became a one-possession game).
Two points, after being up five, over the last nearly three minutes in three-point loss at No. 24 Mississippi State.
No points over the first six minutes, and just three through the first 11, in a loss at TCU, a game the Gators fell behind by 16, but eventually came back to tie twice in the second half.
And, of course, the latest. Florida led Kentucky by 11 inside 13 minutes, then did not score for five minutes of an 8-0 Wildcats run, then for another five-plus minutes during a 14-0 UK run that wiped out any chance of winning a big game at home.
Given the offensive limitations of this team (perimeter vs. interior), these vanishing acts are going to happen, especially when the two best scoring options,KeVaughn Allen and Locke, are going a combined 7-for-27, as was the case against the Wildcats. If defenses are extending more on the perimeter, to whom do the Gators go to inside? And if they do go inside, what's going to happen in there?
GET READY This week looms as the toughest road week for the Gators in several seasons; probably as difficult as any during Coach Mike White's four years here; and certainly the most brutal in SEC play. In White's debut campaign, UF played at No. 17 Miami then at No. 1 Michigan State. They lost the former by a lot and the latter by a little. Come Tuesday night, Auburn and its shoot-first-ask-questions-later offense may be back in the Top 25 this week after beating Missouri and rival Alabama by a combined 55 points, both at home. The Gators have not lost to the Tigers since the 2009 SEC Tournament in Tampa, a run of 11 games, so given UF's offensive struggles the Auburn players and faithful may see orange-and-blue blood in the water for this one. After that? Well, Florida goes to Tennessee to face the No. 1 team in the country. The Gators, who led the Volunteers late in the second half and played them to within a single possession inside two minutes, have never beaten a No. 1-ranked team in the regular season.
UF ALUM UPDATE
CATCHING UP WITH ... MICHAEL FRAZIER II
Michael Frazier II, the designated sharp-shooter from UF's 2014 Final Four team, is averaging 16.7 points per game for the G-League Rio Grande Vipers, but he nearly tripled that number Monday night when he dropped a career-high 43 in just 32 minutes in a 141-133 shootout win over the Sioux Falls Sky Force.
They weren't all on long balls, either.
Frazier, who in his fourth season is averaging nearly 10 more points than his 6.7 of a year ago, finished 14 of 21 from the floor, including 6-for-9 from deep, and knocked down nine of 10 free throws. Frazier's final tally represented the most points he'd scored in a game since his UF sophomore season when he bombed South Carolina with 11 treys (on 19 attempts) on March 4, 2014. He finished that night with 37 points in one of the greatest long-distance shooting displays in UF history. Those 37 matched the most scored by a Gator since Joakim Noah went for the same number against Georgia on March 1, 2006, as well as the most by a UF player over the previous 31 years.
Stay hot, Mike!
CHARTING THE GATORS Noah Locke & Michael Frazier II
Speaking of Michael Frazier, from the time Noah Lockeand that jump shot arrived on campus, he drew some comparisons to the former 3-point sniper, as far as the best rookie shooters to arrive on campus the last few years. Frazier was two inches taller, but Locke had a little more feistiness to him relative to defense. Frazier had one of the best shooting seasons for a freshman in UF history, but also was a reserve and role player who played behind the likes of Kenny Boynton, Mike Rosario and Scottie Wilbekin in the backcourt, had scoring bigs in the post to create space for his spot-ups on the perimeter and overall talent on a team that eventually won the SEC regular-season title and reached the Elite Eight. Locke is the second-leading scorer and clearly is unafraid to take one in the big moments. It's going to be a pleasure seeing this young man, now only 21 games into his career and yet to even scratch the surface, develop and mature. Here's a tale-of-the-tape look at how Locke's numbers to date fare next to what Frazier did during his freshman season.
Coaches are held accountable. Players are held accountable. Even senior writers are held accountable. This space is dedicated to holding the fans (and fan boys) on Twitter accountable. At times, we'll also recognize those who "get it" and acknowledge those who offer entertaining social media fodder, or (God forbid) the proper perspective. [Note: If you're completely unreasonable and wonder why you don't show up here, it's probably because you've been muted or blocked, and thus in "Perspective Prison." I'm the cop, judge, jury and warden of that legal system, by the way.]
Can't say the same thing for the O. Can't have scoring droughts and expect to beat UK
Kentucky went scoreless for six and a half minutes in the second half, allowing Florida its take the lead to 11. That's a credit to the UF defense, but UK has too much talent (five McDonald's All-Americans and eight top-40 prospects), and too much inside/out balance to have two such droughts in a half.
Not enough front court players due to attrition. Team is completely out of gas
@GatorsChris Love my Gators however as I sit and watch every @GatorsMBK game, I just wait for the "Florida 0 FG's in the last (insert time of drought)" graphic to appear....because you know it's coming
Given the lengthy scoreless stretches, it's surprising that "door" has gotten so open at times this season.
Five-star future Gator Scottie Lewis is here and getting love on the big screen/from the crowd during the timeout. He's a terrific player, freakish defender, and going to be a thorn in Kentucky's side this time next year. Cats wanted him. Would've been an ideal Calipari guy.
Quick, name a Twitter account more irrelevant than one with three followers ... yea, I can't either.
FREE THROWS
Kevarrius Hayes with one of his three blocks Saturday. (Photo: Carly Mackler/UAA Communications)
Florida may be struggling to get quality wins, what with that 1-7 record against NET Top 50 teams, but guess what? The Gators are still ranked 40th in the NET, meaning wins over UF are still considered Q-1s. By the way, Auburn checked in at 21st and Tennessee at 4th in the NET standings, as of Sunday. ... With his victory Saturday, Kentucky coach John Calipari improved to 70-0 with the Cats when holding opponents to 55 points or less. ... Allen's 11 points gave him 1,571 for his career and put the senior shooting guard among the program's all-time top 10 scorers, just ahead of Matt Bonner (1999-2003) and his 1,570. The next couple spots on the list are occupied by Gene Shy (1,573 from 1972-76) and Neal Walk (1,600 from 1966-69). ... With three blocked shots against UK, senior center Kevarrius Hayes moved passed Al Horford (2004-07) and into second place on the all-time Florida list with with 191. ... Stay tuned Monday for an announcement about UF basketball anniversary celebration, complete with throwbacks. ... Wonder if the in-house sites at Memphis and North Carolina State have "Perspective Police?" On Saturday, Memphis lost at South Florida in a game the Tigers trailed 27-1 out of the box. NC State, meanwhile, was beaten 47-24 at home by No 12 Virginia Tech. The Wolfpack, the nation's 24th-ranked (and just three days after taking No. 3 Virginia to overtime), scored five points over the last 18 and a half minutes. At home.
Todd Golden, Urban Klavzar and Alex Condon Postgame Press Conference 11-16-25Todd Golden, Urban Klavzar and Alex Condon Postgame Press Conference 11-16-25
Sunday, November 16
Todd Golden Media Availability 11-13-25 Todd Golden Media Availability 11-13-25
Thursday, November 13
Florida Men's Basketball | Rueben Chinyelu and Thomas Haugh Post Double-DoublesFlorida Men's Basketball | Rueben Chinyelu and Thomas Haugh Post Double-Doubles
PERSPECTIVE POLICE BEAT
