Coach Mike White has, for now, righted the UF ship to five straight wins and back into the NCAA Tournament at-large conversation.
Tough-Luck Dogs Pose Danger for Surging Gators
Saturday, March 2, 2019 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
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By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — With each victory, with each encouraging step forward, the perfunctory question is put to Mike White with regard to his team's increasingly possible (and positive) postseason opportunities. Such was the case Wednesday night in Nashville, Tenn., after Florida defeated Vanderbilt, 71-55, for a season-high fifth straight victory and thus put the Gators on better (though hardly solid) NCAA at-large footing.
"Yeah, I'm not much of a big picture guy," White said. "I just want to get home to Gainesville and start thinking about playing well the first four minutes against Georgia."
As far as sound bytes go, not a great answer.
As far as what is best for his team, excellent answer — and necessary approach.
Credit White, his staff and the UF players for navigating the first half of a very dangerous couple games with a business-like, professional-type approach. After a four-game run that included big road upsets at Alabama and No. 13 Louisiana State, this week looked like a landmine field, what with two games against the two worst teams in the Southeastern Conference. The Gators (17-11, 9-6) sidestepped the first with the victory at Vandy — a team winless in the league, but at a site they'd not won in five years — and Saturday night face Georgia (10-18, 1-14), loser of nine straight, at Exactech Arena/O'Connell Center with a chance to clinch a winning record in conference play.
[Read senior writer Chris Harry's comprehensive "Pregame Stuff" setup here]
The Gators had to withstand a second-half rainfall of 3-pointers and rally from five down in the final nine minutes to win at the Georgia, 62-52, in their Jan. 19 meeting at Athens, where KeVaughn Allen (5) scored seven of his team-high 13 points in the last 3:36.
The natural inclination is to look at the Bulldogs' record and make some predetermined assumptions about the outcome. Florida, after all, beat Georgia on the road earlier this season, 62-52, long before the Gators hit their current stride. UGA is 0-7 in SEC play on the road.
But the Bulldogs, in the first season under Coach Tom Crean, have not quit. They've been thisclose to beating four excellent teams the last four games; four likely NCAA Tournament teams; they just haven't been able to finish. It would be a shame, at least for the Gators, if the Dogs chose the O'Dome a a place to figure out how.
Check out UGA's current run of exasperating defeats:
* LSU 83, Georgia 79 — In the final 30 seconds, host UGA, down three, had possession and a chance to tie or cut into the 13th-ranked Tigers' lead. Forward and leading scorer Charles Claxton missed a driving, contested layup with 21 seconds to go and LSU made a free throw to make it a two-possession game with 15 seconds left.
* Mississippi State 68, Georgia 67 — Georgia guard Tyree Crump hit a 3-pointer with just over nine seconds left to tie the game at 67. MSU went to go-to guard Quinddary Weatherspoon for a last-second shot, with "Q" drawing a shooting foul on Jordan Harris with just one second remaining. Weatherspoon stepped to the line with 0.5 seconds left, and as he missed the first of two free throws, a stuffed Bulldog toy sailed from the stands and onto the floor, prompting officials to assess a technical foul against the home team, much to Crean's dismay. Weatherspoon then hit his second free thrown, then intentionally missed the technical third, with the Bulldogs unable to get a shot off before time expired.
* Ole Miss 72, Georgia 71 — The game was noted more for the Rebels who kneeled during the national anthem to protest a Confederacy rally going on in the Oxford town square. Inside the Pavilion at Ole Miss, the Bulldogs used a 14-2 blitz to open the second half and take an eight-point lead, but the Rebels slowly worked their way back, tied the game inside two minutes remaining and took the lead, 72-69, on Devontae Shuler's 3-pointer with 1:22 to play to give the Rebels the lead. Georgia made it a one-point game on Claxton's basket with 1:02 left, but the Bulldogs twice missed go-ahead jumpers in the final 20 seconds.
* Auburn 78, Georgia 75 — Claxton tied the game on a 3-ball from the top of the key with 54 seconds left. The Tigers twice had go-ahead shots blocked, but retained possession both times and called time out with 27 seconds left, but just :03 on the shot clock. Auburn forward Chuma Okeke caught the inbound and threw in a 3-ball with 26 seconds left that proved the difference. Georgia's final, scrambled desperation shot to tie the game was an airball. The Gators, in quest of a sixth straight victory and 18th on the season, just as soon avoid such drama late Saturday night.
Now comes Florida. If the Gators are an NCAA Tournament team (like those previous four), they'll go into the game focused on the right things.
"They're very dangerous right now," senior center/forward Kevarrius Hayes said. "This is a team that's coming out here after a couple tough losses and trying to make a statement for themselves and get over their own hump. We've got to approach it with the right mentality. Don't take it lightly, 'cause they definitely won't."
