Instead of another slow start, the Gators hope to be on point from the opening tip Wednesday night at Texas A&M.
Gators' Next Goal: Show Up on Time
Wednesday, January 18, 2023 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
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By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer
COLLEGE STATION, Texas — The Florida Gators went to Auburn to open the Southeastern Conference season and fell behind 7-0 in less than three minutes. In their home league opener against Texas A&M the UF deficit was 11 inside six minutes to go in the first half. The next game against Georgia? The Bulldogs scored 13 straight points and led by 13 midway through the opening period. UF then went to LSU, missed its first four shots and trailed 7-0 in just over three minutes. And then there was Saturday's home game against Missouri, with the Tigers jumping ahead 11-0 in barely four minutes.
Anyone see a trend?
Anyone on the Florida bench care to see a different trend (like, exactly the opposite) sometime soon?
"Before every game we say, 'We can't start slow! We can't start slow!' Every game," fifth-year point guard Kyle Lofton said. "And every game we look up and it's like 7-0."
Playing from three or four possessions behind from basically the opening tip can be exhausting, if not oftentimes fruitless. But give UF credit. Somehow the Gators have worked through the early sucker-punches and not only managed to get back into every game, but be in position to win all five. As it stands, Florida (10-7, 3-2) have won three straight and will seek a fourth when it faces torrid Texas A&M (12-5, 4-0) in the Southeastern Conference rematch Wednesday night at Reed Arena.
[Read senior writer Chris Harry's "Pregame Stuff" setup here]
It's probably worth noting that the Aggies, who won the Jan. 4 at Gainesville 66-63, are the only SEC team the Gators actually scored first against this season. And it's equally worth noting that UF took its 1-0 advantage before the opening tip-off because A&M left its uniforms at the team hotel, thus delaying the opening tip-off, and were assessed an "administrative" technical foul for delaying the game. The Gators already were up 1-0 before the clock even start.
Probably shouldn't count on that happening this time. And even if it does, wouldn't it be nice, even if fleeting, to be ahead 7-0, 9-0 or 11-0?
"We definitely need to start better," Gators coach Todd Golden said Tuesday. "I don't think it's a good strategy to be down seven points every game."
And let's not forget the 21-point first-half deficit at Florida State (they came back to win) or being down 16 in the first half against West Virginia in the Phil Knight Legacy at Portland, Ore. (lost by 29).
Each game, Golden talks about throwing the first punch. One of these nights, the opponent is going to be the one dazed one up against the ropes. The sooner the better.
The Florida coach staff is expected to tweak the starting lineup against A&M after the recent production tremedously steady play from fifth-year senior Myreon Jones.
In pursuit of that scenario, look for UF to shake up the starting lineup against A&M. Golden said as much Tuesday without providing details, but the obvious move would be to insert fifth-year senior guard Myreon Jones into the first five for junior Trey Bonham.
During the three-game winning streak, Jones has averaged 9.7 points, shot 45 percent from the floor, 50 percent from the 3-point line, grabbed 10 rebounds, dished 10 assists and nabbed five steals in just over 91 minutes — with two just turnovers along the way. Bonham, meanwhile, has totaled just three points and gone 1-for-8 from the 3-point line in almost 32 minutes during that span. This it not to suggest, however, that Bonham will be or should be filed away. In fact, in the last A&M game Bonham led all scorers with 21 points, including a 4-for-7 night from the arc. But he also had seven of UF's season-worse 20 turnovers that game, which served as the impetus for shuffling the starting unit, but they Gators are going to need his on-ball defense and shot-making down the line. Maybe even against the Aggies, who four nights ago went to South Carolina and pulverized the Gamecocks by 41 points.
"A&M is playing over a four- or five-game stretch as a top-10 team in the country the past couple weeks," Golden said. "They're playing very, very well. Again, we look back at how we played [the first game] and know we have to take care of it better."
Despite the Aggies' double-digit lead in that first meeting, and their 21 points off those 20 turnovers, the Gators stormed back. They shot 55 percent in the second half, defended at 32 percent (1-for-10 from distance), grabbed a brief one-point lead midway through the period and were tied three times, including inside a minute to go when A&M guard Wade Taylor IV hit a driving floater with 42 seconds left, giving the Aggies the lead. For good, as it turned out.
UF had a chance to tie, but turned it over.
For the Gators, this game will start a stretch of two straight road games (five of the next seven and eight of the next 13 are on the road, too), so what better time to start playing well from the start.
"We got to just be able to come out and not let teams dig us a hole a little bit early," fifth-year senior forward Colin Castleton said.
Maybe dig one for the other guys, instead.
"We've shown that we can take a punch and go on runs, but we have to play for 40 minutes," Lofton said. "Do it from start to finish."
And do it sooner (as in Wednesday night) rather than later.
