Saturday, January 28, 2023 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
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By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer
WHAT HAPPENED: The sexy showdown between Florida and its former standout Keyontae Johnson never materialized, but he certainly was a factor in fifth-ranked Kansas State's 64-50 beating of of the Gators Saturday night at Bramlage Colisum. Johnson scored 13 points and grabbed 11 rebounds over 35 minutes, but the real damage to the visitors was done by the Wildcats' electric 5-foot-8 point senior point guard Markquis Nowell, who tallied a near triple-double of 13 points, nine rebounds and eight assists before a raucous sellout crowd on hand for the SEC/Big 12 Challenge that didn't see a very competitive game. K-State, at 18-3 and off to its best start in a decade, scored the game's first five points and was never seriously threatened. The Wildcats had a run of seven straight points and three consecutive made field goals, while the Gators were missing eight straight shots (and nine of 10) over a stretch of four-plus minutes to fall behind by 14 before the eight-minute mark. UF missed its last six shots of the period while KSU scored the last 11 points to take a commanding 37-16 lead to the locker room, with the Gators shooting just 20.7 percent (6 of 29). To their credit, Florida's players showed some second-half fight, scoring the first 10 points out of the locker room to close within 11, but could get no closer, despite limiting K-State to just 31 percent in the second half. After starting the half by making eight of their first 16 shots, the Gators went four of 13 the rest of the way, as the Wildcats methodically took the margin back out to 21 with less than six minutes to go and eventually handed UF its third double-digit loss of the season, while holding the Gators to their lowest point total in nearly four years. UF was led by fifth-year senior forward Colin Castleton's13 points, eight rebounds and four blocked shots. Fifth-year guard Myreon Jones (11 points, 5 rebounds) and sophomore guard Will Richard(11 points, 6 rebounds) joined Castleton in double figures, but the team finished at just 31-percent shooting for the game and four of 22 from the 3-point line (18.2 percent).
UF fifth-year guard Myreon Jones in action Saturday.
WHAT IT MEANS: Another Quadrant 1 opportunity, another loss. The Gators fell to 1-7 in Q-1 games and that mark may go to 1-8 after what Oklahoma (a Q2 loss, for now) did to second-ranked Alabama in another SEC/Big 12 match. Obviously, there's no shame in losing to a top-five team on the road in a maniacal setting, considering the Gators had never beaten a top-five non-conference opponent on the road (now 0-10). Anyway, on they'll go to the next challenge of the most difficult stage of the season; maybe the most difficult for any team in all of college basketball. This marks the end of the SEC/Big 12 event (next season will debut the SEC/ACC Challenge), with UF finishing 6-4 in the games.
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: We'll always love Keyontae.
STAGGERING STATISTIC: The last time Florida scored this few points was a 64-49 loss to second-seeded Michigan in second-round play of the NCAA Tournament on March. 23, 2019 at Dallas. The Gators are now 2-31 all-time against top-five teams on the road, with the last win coming back way in 1988 against No. 4 Kentucky, a 58-56 victory.
UP NEXT: Florida (12-9, 5-3) returns to conference play and moves on to the second of this four-game paddle wheel against national powerhouses. Next up, a visit from fourth-ranked Tennessee (18-3, 7-1) Wednesday night at Exactech Arena/O'Connell Center. The Volunteers, who defeated No. 10 Texas 82-41 in their Challenge matchup, have won three straight in league play and will come to town armed with the top-ranked defense in the country.
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