Florida Gators

WHAT HAPPENED: Senior guard KeVaughn Allen returned to his home state and scored 18 points, including four free throws in the final 12 seconds to ice a much-needed Southeastern Conference road victory over the Razorbacks at Bud Walton Arena. Allen may have been the hero, but his shooting percentage was the game -- for both teams -- in microcosm. Allen finished 3-for-11 from the floor and missed all but one of his nine 3-point attempts for a UF team that shot 31 percent overall and went 6-for-26 from the 3-point line (23.1 percent). Thing about it? Arkansas was worse. The Hogs, who got a career-high 30 points from sophomore guard Mason Jones, finished at 30 percent overall and also 6 of 26 from deep. Arkansas led early, 6-2, after a dunk by Adrio Bailey at the 15:58 mark of a first half that was ugly from the start. It got really ugly for the home team. After Bailey's bucket, the Hogs, over the next nearly 10 minutes, missed 10 straight field goals and turned the ball over seven times. When Jalen Harris broke the drought with a steal and layup, the Gators were nonetheless ahead 15-9, having withstood their own bad offensive start with great defense. Allen had 11 first-half points, thanks to 7-for-8 from the free-throw line, as UF led 33-22 at the break despite shooting just 31 percent. Why? Arkansas shot just 28 percent, including 2-for-14 from the 3-point line, and turned it over 12 times. The Gators led by as many as 16 in the second half, thanks to a 1-for-10 Hogs drought, but Arkansas came alive inside the final six minutes with a 15-2 that made it a two-point game, at 53-51, after two free throws by Jones with 1:02 to go. After Andrew Nembhard missed a late-clock drive, the Hogs had a chance to tie or take the lead, but Bailey missed down low, UF rebounded and Allen made the first of his two free throws with 12 seconds left to make it a two-possession game. Freshman guard Noah Locke had 10 points for the Gators, his sixth straight double-digit outing. Fifth-year senior swingman Jalen Hudson, starting for Keith Stone, struggled with his shot like everyone, but managed nine points and six rebounds. Jones, a junior-college transfer, was 7-for-13 overall, made four of nine 3s, and 12 of 13 free throws.
 

WHAT IT MEANS: Four nights after a loss to South Carolina that felt more like a knee-capping, the Gators avoided falling to 0-2 in SEC play for the first time since 2010 and became the latest team to demonstrate just how unpredictable the league can be. And as for that loss to the Gamecocks, they beat 14th-ranked Mississippi State on Tuesday, so don't even try to figure out what's going to happen over the course of the next two months. This team still has plenty of offensive issues, but that conversation is for another time.

IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Besides Allen, of course. That would be backup center/power forward Dontay Bassett, who made a big impact in the second half when Kevarrius Hayes was forced to the bench with his third foul just 15 seconds in. Enter, the 6-foot-9, 250-pounder to bang away against 6-11 future NBAer Daniel Gafford (9 points, 12 rebounds) Bassett more than held his own. He showed up on the offensive end with five straight points, including an old-time 3-point play, then grabbed an offensive rebound, kept the ball high above his head, and pitched a pass to Allen, who sank a 3-pointer, his only one of the game. Bassett finished with seven points on 3-for-5 shooting, plus five rebounds.

STAGGERING STATISTIC: Arkansas came into the game averaging 81.2 points per game. Florida kept the Hogs a cool 30 under that average, making for the third time the Gators had done that to a high-scoring team this season (West Virginia and Butler being the previous two). 

UP NEXT: Florida (9-5, 1-1) is back home this weekend to face third-ranked Tennessee (13-1, 2-0). The Volunteers, an utterly complete team and one of the most physical in the country, manhandled Missouri 87-63 on the road Tuesday night, showing no mercy in keeping several starts to the final horn despite being up by 24 points. UT is a legit national-championship contender.