Image Credit: UAA
No. 22 Florida Gators basketball has struggled to shoot all season, and those issues continued to haunt head coach Todd Golden’s program as it opened SEC play on the road Saturday night. Florida fell 74-69 to Missouri, shooting worse than their already poor average from beyond the arc in a game that could have been won by the visitors little going differently.
Falling to 9-5 on the season, UF through 14 games has more losses than it did last year in its national championship-winning campaign. It will fall out of the AP Top 25 when the new poll is released Monday, marking the first time all season that Florida will not be a ranked opponent.
Let’s take a look at what went wrong with some Fastbreak Takeaways.
It was over when … the Tigers banked in a 3-pointer to take 5-point lead with 21 seconds remaining. Gators junior forward Thomas Haugh air-balled consecutive triples on either side of the make, though he made a rushed layup in the waning seconds and completed a traditional 3-point play. UF was gifted a last gasp after the hosts missed consecutive free throws, but sophomore guard Boogie Fland missed a potential game-winning trey at the buzzer.
Florida opened the second half 2 of 10 from the floor and 0 of 6 from downtown, allowing Mizzou to create an eight-point edge that was soon increased to 10 with 12:39 to play. The Gators scored six straight as the hosts missed as many consecutive shots, and the visitors added a 9-0 run punctuated by a triple from Haugh to take a one-point lead with 3:37 remaining. Mizzou answered immediately, though, scoring five in a row to go back on top as Haugh scored seven straight and 11 of 15 for Florida over a stretch of more than 6 minutes.
First half focus: The Gators led by as many as eight, but the Tigers consistently chipped away at their deficit over the latter portion of the period, ultimately hitting a wide-open, buzzer-beating triple to tie the game at 39 entering the locker rooms. UF did not have its normal statistical advantages in the paint, and Haugh went 2 of 9 over the first 20 minutes.
Exceptional efforts: Haugh came on tremendously in the second half, finishing with a game-high 24 points with seven rebounds. He only shot 9 of 20 from the floor and 2 of 6 from downtown but stood as Florida’s only consistent scoring threat, almost single-handedly keeping the Gators in the contest. He made the final four field goals of the game and scored 10 of UF’s last 14 points over the final 4:27. Junior F Alex Condon remained inconsistent from the field but scored 14 points with five boards and six assists. Redshirt senior G Xavian Lee contributed 11 points, hitting 3 of 7 attempts from long range.
Frozen for Florida: Fland contributed seven important dimes on the game, but his ice-cold shooting as a starter playing 30+ minutes a game is killing the Gators each night. After shooting 34% from downtown as a freshman at Arkansas, the second-year transfer missed all seven of his 3-point attempts (technically 0 of 6 as the last came at the buzzer), falling to 20% from bonus land on the season (12 of 60).
Odds & ends: Florida is now 12-7 all-time against Mizzou, 4-2 under Golden and 4-4 on the road … the Tigers beat the Gators for the second straight year … UF is now 1-4 this season when tied or trailing at halftime, 0-4 when trailing with 5 minutes left, 0-2 when not winning the rebounding battle, 0-4 when its opponent shoots better than 45% from the field, 1-5 when being outshot from the field and 0-4 when an opponent has more free throw attempts … the Gators shot worse than 30% from 3-point range for the ninth time in 14 games
What it means: There are 361 teams playing Division I men’s college basketball. Florida entered Saturday night ranked 354th nationally in 3-point shooting (.282), seventh-worst in the country and worst of any power-conference team. UF was somehow even more excruciating over its last 40 minutes of action, going 7 of 27 from downtown (.259). Sometimes, basketball is simple. In the modern game, the Gators are not making shots with enough consistency to compete against the best teams in the nation.
Condon’s inconsistent and inefficient play is only exacerbating matters as Florida is not dominating in the post like it should. The Gators only shot 20 free throws Saturday night and barely edged the Tigers 36-32 in paint scoring as each team grabbed 37 rebounds. The final margin of two points was a relative miracle.
What’s next? Florida turns around for its SEC home opener Tuesday when it hosts Georgia. The game will tip off at 7 p.m. ET and air live on SEC Network.
What about the previous game? Florida won 94-72 over Dartmouth to conclude nonconference play in the Stephen C. O’Connell Center last week. The Gators had five players score in double figures, including Condon, who posted a game-high 17 points, hitting 9 of 12 free throws, with nine rebounds. Chinyelu posted a double-double of 13 points and 12 boards. UF dominated the paint with massive edges scoring (56-20) and rebounding (60-24).
