CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Thirteen days earlier, with the clock approaching midnight, Todd Golden sat at the post-game podium after his team was drummed by unbeaten Connecticut. He'd just witnessed the Gators put together a dreadful night shooting the basketball. To have a chance to beat a team as good as UConn, Golden bemoaned, a team has to put the ball in the basket.
Golden just as soon could have emailed those remarks — most of them, at least — to the post-game session that followed Tuesday night's 62-53 loss to Oklahoma in the inaugural Jumpman Invitational at Spectrum Center.
"I thought we competed well, which is something we've emphasized getting better at," Golden said. "They're a good offensive team and we held them under 40 percent for the night, did a good job on the glass and a great job of taking care of the basketball."
Then came the refrain.
"But to beat a good team you have to make shots."
The Gators (7-5) didn't make many, especially from the 3-point line, where they clanged to a miserable 2-for-22 performance — one of those two makes actually was banked in — including 0-for-9 in the second half. The Sooners (9-3), meanwhile, took control of the game midway through the second period, erasing an 11-point deficit in the first half and overtaking the Gators despite shooting just 37 percent after intermission by banging five 3s, three of them by guard Grant Sherfield on his way to a game-high 22 points.
Sherfield, who came into the game shooting 46.7 percent overall and as one of the nation's top 3-point shooters at 55.4 percent, played through first-half foul trouble to make seven of his 13 field-goal attempts and go four of six from deep, plus four of five from the free-throw line. He left the game with better season's shooting numbers both overall (47.3 overall) and from distance (56.5 from distance), though his one missed free throw dropped him to a paltry 88.6 on the season. OU forward Tanner Groves added 13 points and 10 rebounds, while guard Jalen Hill posted six points, 12 rebounds and three blocks.
UF was led by fifth-year forward Colin Castleton's 22 points and eight rebounds, plus 14 points from junior guard Trey Bonham. Those two combined to make 12 of their 24 shots and score all but 17 of their team's points. Meanwhile, Florida's three other starters — forward Alex Fudge, plus guards Will Richard and Kyle Lofton — combined to hit only four of 23 shots and go 0-for-9 from deep. Minus Castleton and Bonham, the eight other Gators who checked in totaled 17 points.
"We were playing good on defense, rebounding the ball, doing a lot of good things," Castleton said. "But the shots didn't fall."
They did at first. The Gators started the night well enough, making nearly half their shots (9 of 19) and opening an 11-point first-half lead deep into the period before the Sooners (and maybe the basketball gods) put a lid on the Florida basket. UF knocked down just two of its final 16 field-goal tries of the half, as the Sooners cut that 11-point margin to just two at the break, 31-29, thanks to a 9-2 run to close the period.
OU guard Grant Sherfield (25) was a problem forColin Castleton (12) and the Gators on his to 22 points and four 3s.
OU took it first lead since the opening minutes on a 3 from Jacob Groves, but UF wrestled back ahead on a couple free throws by Castleton for a 41-39 edge with 13:19 remaining. On Florida's next possession, a loose ball turnover became a transition opportunity that the Sooners finished with a open-floor 3 from Sherfield for a 42-41 lead at the 12:35 mark.
The Gators never led again, despite the Sooners shooting just 37 percent in the second half and making as many 2-point baskets (5) as 3-pointers. Oklahoma won the battle of boards, 42-37, and out-scored Florida 15-4 on fast-break points, most of them ending in scramble 3-point opportunities. The Gators scored just 22 points in the second half.
"You can overcome a lot when you defend and get rebounds," OU coach Porter Moser said.
And you can't overcome much when you're missing 20 of 22 from distance.
"When shots don't fall it gets in your head," said Richard, who was 3-for-7 for the game and 0-for-5 from the arc on his way to six points. "That's when you have to bond together, stay positive and find a way to get things done."
Up next (after the holiday break) for the Gators: The start of a brutal Southeastern Conference season, tipping off with a road date at reigning league champion Auburn in a week.
In four losses to high-major opponents UF has knocked down 17 of 81 from the arc. That's 21 percent.
Florida has 20 games remaining on the schedule. All against high-major opponents.
"When we go back and evaluate this game no one in our program should be OK with the result," Golden said. "We've got to pull some positives from it and find a way to improve in areas that we just weren't up to snuff with, starting with shooting the basketball."
Maybe even starting and ending with the shooting the basketball.
