Gators coach Todd Golden wants to relocate the great defense that defined his team during its run of six wins over seven SEC games.
Gators Look to Redirect vs Rebels
Wednesday, February 15, 2023 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
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By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — A video review of Saturday's disappointing performance did not reveal anything that Florida coach Todd Golden and his team already didn't know.
"More of a confirmation," Golden said of the 88-80 home loss against Vanderbilt, a game the UF coaches and players down the line may very well pinpoint as they one they could not let slip away, courtesy of a dozen 3-pointers by the Commodores. "I felt like we didn't have the same tension in our body, the same urgency regarding things."
Whatever the opposite of that Vandy body language and demeanor looks like, the Gators (13-12, 6-6) better have it Wednesday night when Ole Miss (10-15, 2-10) comes to Exactech Arena/O'Connell Center. As if the demands of a rugged four-game stretch against a trio of top-five teams (plus a date at Kentucky) didn't wear on the team both mentally and physically — UF went 1-3, losing all three games on the road — the friendly confines of the O'Dome proved no less invigorating. The Commodores ran circles around the Gators in transition and on the 3-point line and the home team paid dearly.
[Read senior writer Chris Harry's "Pregame Stuff" setup here]
The despondence was evident on the face of the Florida players as they left the floor.
"It definitely hurts. This one was one we needed to win," said fifth-year forward Colin Castleton, who had his third consecutive game of at least 25 points and 11 rebounds — the first UF player to do so in 54 years — in what unfortunately became a third straight defeat. "We've got to figure out ways to win these games." There was something missing on the energy front Saturday with Will Richard (5), Kyle Lofton (11) and the rest of the Gators.
Frankly, maybe even all of them. If no all, then at least five of the final six, then do some damage in the Southeastern Conference Tournament. That's the task facing the Gators if they have any hope of realizing their stated preseason goal of getting back to the NCAA Tournament.
Obviously, UF can't fix all of the damage done with this one game, but the team can start working in that direction by plugging holes in a defense that two weeks ago was playing statistically like one of the five best in the country during SEC play. Over the last two dreadful weeks, however, the Gators played statistically to the 255th defense in the country, with their inability to close out 3-point shooters at the root of the problem.
Kentucky didn't rip UF from the arc, but hit an efficient five of 11. Then came Alabama, now the No. 1-ranked team in the nation, which bombed the Gators for 15 long balls in a 29-point blowout at Tuscaloosa that, at the time, seemed like more an outlier. But then came the 12-for-23 slippage (52.2 percent) against Vandy, which came into the game basically neck-and-neck with Florida in 3-point marksmanship for the season (which is to say not very good) at 32.4 vs. 32.3 percent.
The Gators went 2-for-20 (or 10 percent) and have been outscored by 60 points from the 3-point line over the three straight defeats.
Now here comes Ole Miss. The Rebels are at 29.5 percent from the 3-point line on the season, which ranks 12th among the league's 14 teams. Obviously, the Gators don't want to be their get-well card.
"Everybody in our program— staff, players included — didn't feel great about how Saturday ended up and realize [that] everything we want is still in front of us," Golden said. "Obviously, it's a little more difficult now, but that's the beauty of this league."
The same day Vanderbilt won at Florida, Missouri went on the road and stunned sixth-ranked Tennessee with a 40-foot prayer at the buzzer and Mississippi State, with five straight wins after dropping eight of nine, upset Arkansas on the road. Vanderbilt, which won its fourth straight Tuesday night, is a team on the rise. The Gators get the Commodores again Feb. 25 at Nashville.
"The difference between the third and 11th spot in this league is razor thin," Golden said. "It's a great reminder that when we have great urgency, great attention to detail we can be toward the top of that and when we don't we're not going to be."
