Florida made it a close game against Wisconsin, but one shot late in the contest ended the Gators’ hopes Tuesday night.
Badgers guard Traevon Jackson made a jumper from the right elbow to put his team ahead by five points with eight seconds remaining in the game as No. 11 Florida fell to No. 20 Wisconsin 59-53 in the Kohl Center in Madison, Wis.
“We gave ourselves a chance,” Florida coach Billy Donovan said. “[Jackson] made a tough shot.”
With Florida (1-1) down 56-53 with 41.8 seconds left, UW guard Ben Brust missed a three-pointer. Center Patric Young battled for the rebound with Badgers guard Josh Gasser, came down with the ball and drew a foul.
Young went 1 of 2 from the line.
But during the next possession, Florida chose to not foul and allowed Wisconsin (2-0) to run down the clock.
After Jackson’s shot, guard Michael Frazier II raced down the other end to find Jacob Kurtz on the wing. Kurtz drove down the lane past two defenders but saw his shot blocked by Frank Kaminsky, and the Badgers got the rebound.
Brust made his first free throw with 2.4 seconds left to effectively end the game.
“We have too many breakdowns in crucial situations,” Donovan said. “We don’t get the rebound after a missed shot. We fall asleep on a three-point shooter. We have a careless turnover. We fall asleep on a back cut. We foul with two seconds to go on the shot clock.
“Just little things like that that’s got nothing to do with talent. It’s got much, much more to do with experience and being in those situations a little bit more.”
Florida struggled to defend the three-point line Tuesday. After starting 0 of 4 from behind the arc, Wisconsin hit 9 of its final 16 three-point attempts.
Frazier led the way for the Gators with 20 points on 7-of-11 shooting, including a 5-of-7 clip from behind the arc. Excluding Frazier, Florida was 0 of 7 from three-point range.
After a 28-point showing Friday against North Florida, forward Casey Prather added 12 points. Freshman point guard Kasey Hill, who fouled out with 3:25 remaining, went 2-of-11 shooting for four points, recorded four assists and grabbed three rebounds.
Donovan stressed after Florida’s 77-69 win against UNF that his team needed to improve defensively and change its overall attitude. Those adjustments were present early.
Behind a trio of three-pointers on consecutive possessions by Frazier, Florida jumped out to a 16-4 lead about seven minutes into the game.
But the Badgers responded with a 13-0 run during a span of 7:15 late in the first half to enter halftime with a 29-26 lead.
The Gators trailed by as many as 11 points in the second half after a 14-4 Badgers run, but they used a 15-9 run during a span of 10 minutes to cut the deficit to three.
Florida shot 40.4 percent from the field, but missed 7 of its 17 free throws. Wisconsin shot 43.8 percent and outrebounded UF 31-28.
Despite the loss, Donovan saw his group — which was without Scottie Wilbekin, Dorian Finney-Smith and Damontre Harris due to suspension — make progress Tuesday night.
“This is really, really good for our team,” Donovan said. “Just to see what we’ve got to do, where we need to continue to get better.”
A radio broadcast contributed to this report.
Follow Landon Watnick on Twitter @LandonWatnick.
Wisconsin’s Duje Dukan (center) grabs a rebound from Florida’s Casey Prather (left) and Jacob Kurtz during the Badgers’ 59-53 victory against the Gators in Madison, Wis., on Tuesday night.
