UF guard Tre Mann, who led the Gators with 19 points, doubles over in disappointment after the final buzzer of Sunday's loss to No. 15-seed Oral Roberts.
'Cinderella' Eagles End Gators' Season
Sunday, March 21, 2021 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
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By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer
INDIANAPOLIS — Turnovers and too much fouling had a big hand in Florida's undoings during the 2020-21 season, so it only made sense those ailments were prominent in ending the Gators' season.
They weren't the only culprits, mind you.
Two big-shot dudes wearing Oral Roberts uniforms were significant factors in UF's 81-78 upset loss to the 15th-seeded, still-standing tournament darlings in Sunday night's second-round play of the NCAA South Region at Indiana Farmer's Coliseum. Forward Kevin Obanor scored 28 points and grabbed 11 rebounds while playing all 40 minutes. Guard Max "Mid-Range" Abmas, the nation's scoring leader, poured in 26 points, including a 12-for-12 effort from the free-throw line, to go with seven assists. Those two were huge all game, but the Golden Eagles, two days removed from their giant-killing upset of second-seeded Ohio State, got winning plays across their lineup in rallying from an 11-point second-half deficit — and down seven with just over five minutes left — to grab a spot in next weekend's "Sweet 16."
The Gators (15-10), who missed two desperation 3-point attempts in the final seven seconds, were ousted despite shooting 55.2 percent for the game. That's because they turned the ball over 20 times, leading to 23 points, and committed 19 fouls that put the Eagles (18-10), the No. 2 free-throw shooting team in the nation at 82.2 percent, at the line 23 times. Three times UF fouled a 3-point shooter and twice the shooter converted, leading to a pair of four-point plays.
"That's exactly what it was; turnovers and fouls," said UF sophomore guard Tre Mann, who led his team with 19 points, but failed to score over the game's final 17 minutes. "You're not going to beat a good team with 20 turnovers, and then making a lot of fouls against one of the best free-throw shooting teams in the country."
And they didn't.
But they could have.
Whether it was Osayi Osifo (left) or any of his UF frontcourt mates, the Gators had no answer for the inside-outside game of ORU forward Kevin Obanor. (Photo: Alex de la Osa/UAA Communications)
UF led by five at halftime, 42-37, thanks to making 58 percent to ORU's 41.4 and winning the rebounding battle 23-10. Such box score numbers would normally make the scoreboard numbers tip much heavier in the leader's direction, but not when the Gators turned it over 10 times, with twice that number on the way.
"We're fouling as we're trying to stay in front of Abmas, who's like a track athlete out there. It's hard to stay in front of him. … They earned a lot of those fouls," UF coach Mike White said. "The 20 turnovers? Yeah, this group, I just did a poor job of getting this team to embrace the level of valuing the basketball to compete at a high level."
Yet, thanks to a couple back-to-back 3-pointers by Mann early in the second half, the Gators had an 11-point lead with 17 minutes to go. The margin was still nine inside 10 minutes, and six inside five after an old-time three-point play by junior guard Tyree Appleby (14 points, 5 assists).
But the game, at least from the Florida side, had a feel about it. Not necessarily a good one, either, with White slowing tempo as he sensed fatigue setting as the Gators scrambled to guard the Eagles' spread offense.
"We were tired. These guys get you in rotation. I was hoping slowing it down would help us make better decisions," White said. "We made some erratic decisions. We made some passes that, boy, I wish we had back."
Those passes (and other miscues) allowed ORU to remain in striking distance and a chance at being just the second No. 15 seed (joining Florida Gulf Coast in 2013) to win a second NCAA game.
"As I told the guys, we're not going to let somebody put a number in front of our name and tell us that that's our worth, or that's our value,'' Eagles coach Paul Mills said. "We're not capitulating to anybody here."
Added Obanor: "It was very important to stay poised. Our coach was very hard on us, told us that this is March. You know, this is when players make plays."
The Eagles swooped in for the kill.
Gators shooting guard Noah Locke(10) scored 17 points, his most in 11 games, including a bucket with 2:23 remaining that gave the Gators a 78-77 lead. They didn't score again. (Photo: Alex de la Osa/UAA Communications)
Obanor keyed the ORU comeback, first by hitting a 3-pointer (his fourth of the game). The two teams swapped buckets until junior forward Osayi Osifo missed the front end of a one-and-one with 3:11 to go and his team up by just one. At the Oral Roberts end, Obanor threw in a jump hook over UF 6-11 forward Colin Castleton (14 points, 10 rebounds) for his team's first lead since late in the first half. The Gators, though, got it back when junior guard Noah Locke (17 points) drove for a floater with 2:28 remaining, but it was short-lived. At the Eagles end, forward DeShang Weaver, who had played 11 minutes and missed both his shots, bombed a 3-pointer from the corner to go ahead 80-78.
Florida's next two trips ended with turnovers (Mann's fourth, Castleton's fifth).
The lead was still two when Locke missed a 3 and ORU guard Francis Lacis ripped a 50/50 ball away from Scottie Lewis and shoveled a pass to Obanor, who was fouled. He made one of two free throws with 16.3 seconds left to keep it a one-possession lead.
The Gators didn't turn the ball over the next time down. But they didn't score, either. They went scoreless, in fact, the final 2:29 and missed their last four field-goal attempts, while the Eagles nailed five of their last six from the floor and a celebrated like Cinderellas do this time of year.
"It's a big moment. I think our guys were really fired up and had a lot of respect for our opponent. Sometimes playing really hard defensively, as we all know, can translate to some sped-up offensive decisions. We struggled with that tonight."
