GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The game was tied with just over a minute to go when Florida grad-transfer forward Kerry Blackshear Jr. got the ball on the block and banked in a go-ahead jumper. The UF defense responded with a couple big late-game defensive stops, each one followed with a couple lead-padding free throws, that allowed the Gators to close out a game that was very much in doubt.
The opponents were the Towson Tigers, not the Auburn or LSU Tigers. But this is November, when bizarre (sometimes unfathomable) scores crawl across the bottom of television screens across the land. No. 15 UF's 66-60 win Thursday night at Exactech Arena/O'Connell Center won't initiate any wow factor, but there was definitely a relief factor for everyone (players, coaches, support staff, fans) associated with the program.
Freshman guard Scottie Lewis answered his first career start with a team-high 15 points, Blackshear added 13 points and 13 rebounds for his third double-double in as many games, and sophomore point guard Andrew Nembhard had 11 points and nine assists to get the Gators (2-1) back on the winning side after a disappointing and deflating home defeat Sunday against rival Florida State.
"We grew a little bit tonight," Blackshear said of a game that featured seven ties, 16 lead changes and no lead larger than the final margin of six points. "We have to continue to grow."
The most significant growth came in the final five minutes when UF put the clamps down on a team that through the first 35 minutes had shot 48 percent, but then proceeded to miss six of its final seven field goal tries, including all three in the final minute after Blackshear's bank pushed the Gators in front, 62-60, with 1:03 to.
A go-ahead 3-point attempt by guard Brian Fobbs (12 points, 5 rebounds), the former first-team national junior college All-American, was rebounded by Nembhard, whose two free throws pushed UF in front by four with 29.6 seconds left. Next time down, Fobbs bounced another 3-ball, with Lewis rebounding and hitting two more free throws with 18.5 left to make it a two-possession game. Another long ball, this one from guard Allen Bertran (14 points, 4 rebounds), was contested and errant, with Lewis gathering the final rebound of the night to seal the deal.
"I thought we played with some toughness," Florida coach Mike White said.
So did the Tigers (2-2), who shot 50 percent in the first half while holding the Gators to just 12 of 32 through (37.5 percent) the first 20 minutes, including two of 12 from the 3-point line (16.7 percent), as the teams went to the locker room tied at 30.
UF, behind 48-percent shooting in the second half and 5-for-10 from deep, managed to take mini-leads of four and five points, but each time Towson made the stops and shots to grab the lead back again. Example: sophomore shooting guard Noah Locke, having missed eight straight 3s spanning two games, finally knocked down a big one to give the Gators a 55-54 edge with 6:01 to play. Fobbs canceled it out with a 3 of his own 20 seconds later to put the Tigers back up by two.
"That's how it is sometimes," Blackshear said. "Our guys did a good of sticking together throughout, even when it was looking a little scarce on the offensive end. We were able to pick each other up when we were down."
UF guard Scottie Lewis (23)gets in a defensive stance against crafty Towson guard Brian Fobbs.
Down 57-55, UF's next two trips netted two free throws by Nembhard and one of two from Lewis, who later drove for a bank shot in traffic for a fifth straight Florida point that pushed the Gators in front, 60-57, at the 3:27 mark.
Just over a minute later, Bertrand buried a 3 to tie the game with 2:11 remaining.
"But we stayed together, stayed composed, and our leaders really carried us," Lewis said.
That's when Blackshear hit the go-ahead bucket, which his teammates on the floor followed with an all-out defensive assault — with Lewis in Fobbs' jersey — to shut the door.
"We hang our hat on that, regardless if our shots are falling or not," Nembhard said. "We've got to guard. We did that down the stretch."
Now, the Gators have to carry over all things good as they hit the road this weekend for the first time this young season with a date at Connecticut, followed by three games next week at the Charleston (S.C.) Classic. White hopes the positives he saw toward the end of the game not only travel, but are built upon, as well.
Yeah, it was only one win against a so-called "low-major" from the Colonial Athletic Conference, but the outcome also beat the alternative.
Ask Kentucky, for example.
"I liked the connectivity we had on both ends of the floor the last few minutes, [but] we just have to get better," White said, speaking to the overall product. "Our transition defense has to get better. The fouling, and lack of discipline [in fouling]. A little bit of miscommunication there, but for the most part the defense was pretty good, Offensively, we have to settle in. We have to find some more identity — Who are we exactly offensively? — and put it together. And I don't anticipate it happening the next few days, either. It's a work in progress."
