Florida Gators

WHAT HAPPENED: Guard Keon Ellis scored 16 points and grabbed eight rebounds to pace a balanced and impressive Crimson Tide up-and-down assault Tuesday night at Coleman Coliseum in a battle for first place in the Southeastern Conference. Ellis hit five of his six field-goal attempts, including all three 3-pointers, and tied for high-scoring honors with forward Herb Jones and guard Jaden Shackelford, with their 16, followed by 15 points from forward James Rojas, plus another 12 points from standout guard John Petty. The 75 points from those five players alone would have been enough to beat the Gators, who shot just 39.7 percent from the floor after coming into the game leading the SEC in field-goal percentage at at 50.6. The win left Alabama as the lone unbeaten team through three games in the SEC. The Gators led by three, at 24-21, with less than seven minutes to go in the first period when Bama went on an 8-0 run, keyed by a couple 3-pointers by forward Alex Reese, to take a five-point lead. The margin swelled to 10 late in the first half, as the Tide roughed the Gators up on the glass, with 10 offensive rebounds on 18 missed shots, and led 39-32 at the break. UF started the second half on an 7-0 run to tie the game, but that's where Alabama, out of a timeout, bucked up to go on a 12-2 blitz that was momentarily broken up by a Tyree Appleby (season-high 18 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists) coast-to-coast bucket, but continued with an old-fashion three-point play from Keon Ellis, then a long-bomb 3 from Petty to take a 16-point lead (and make it a 20-4 run) with 12:31 remaining. The Tide's margin eventually went to as high as 21, as they finished at 46.3 percent for the game and outscored the Gators 46-28 in points in the paint. After Appleby, UF got 13 points and eight rebounds from forward Colin Castleton and 11 points each from guards Tre Mann and Noah Locke. 
 
WHAT IT MEANS: A chance to open SEC play with three straight wins for the first time in three years fell hard by the wayside. This was easily the Gators' worst defensive effort of the season, though the Tide, who three days earlier did a road number on No. 7 Tennessee, certainly deserve some credit. Alabama made a statement in its game at Knoxville and another one in this game. UF needs to file it away, learn from it and move on. 

IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Appleby averaged more than 17 points two years ago at Cleveland State, but had hit double-figures just twice through the team's first six games (including only two points in Saturday's defeat of LSU) before netting his 18 points against the Tide. Be nice to see him provide that kind of spark on a consistent basis. 

STAGGERING STATISTIC: At halftime, Alabama's leading scorer had six points, but the Tide had five guys with six points (and six with at least five points). That's balance. And they maintained it for the rest of the game. 

UP NEXT: Florida (5-2, 2-1) returns home this weekend to face reigning SEC champion Kentucky Saturday at 5 p.m. The Wildcats (3-6, 2-0) got off to their worst start to a season since 1928, thanks to a six-game losing streak against some brand-name opponents, but they've momentarily righted the ship with back-to-back wins to open league play and stand with Alabama as one of two unbeatens in the conference after defeating Vanderbilt at home Tuesday night.