Forget the scoreboard. Toss aside the winning record.
After a 77-67 win against a depleted Georgia squad Saturday at home, UF coach Billy Donovan was far from pleased.
"Whatever I'm doing or saying, it's not registering, it's not sinking in," Donovan said. "They think they can beat people with their offense. They rely on their offense. They're all totally consumed with their offense."
In a postgame press conference, Donovan deflected from his team's victory, downplayed the strong play of his bench and turned his focus to his team's greatest weakness: defense.
"They say all the right things - that defense is important," he said. "But I don't know if they internally believe it. Their idea of what affects winning at this level is so far gone."
Donovan said he expects his team to suffer a bevy of lopsided losses if it continues to slack on the defensive side.
Heading into Saturday's game, UF was ranked 11th in the Southeastern Conference in scoring defense (allowing 77.1 points per game), 10th in field-goal defense (47.2 percent) and seventh in 3-point field-goal defense (34.6).
Against Georgia (11-10, 2-6 Southeastern Conference), the Gators (19-5, 6-3 SEC) allowed guard Sundiata Gaines to score 32 points, and the Bulldogs shot more than 40 percent from the field.
At this point, UF's record is not reflective of where this team needs to be, Donovan said. And if things continue down the path they're headed, the Gators may never get there.
"Until we collectively start playing defense like we do on offense, with a level of unselfishness and togetherness, I don't know if this team will ever reach its full potential," Donovan said. "Our team will get hardened by losing, and it will keep rearing its ugly head in front of us until we deal with it."
With the win, the Gators ended a two-game skid where they lost by a combined 41 points to Arkansas and Tennessee on the road.
UF defeated the Bulldogs for the ninth consecutive time and outscored Georgia's bench 27-0 in the contest.
A big reason for the success of the Gators' reserves was forward Chandler Parsons, who scored 18 points on 6-of-9 shooting, including 3 of 6 from behind the arc.
Parsons' big day snapped a five-game slump where he connected on just 7 of 23 shots from the field and hit just 1 of 9 3-pointers.
His success can be credited to a rough week, when Parsons practiced into near exhaustion. He hit the gym and shot until he could hardly stand, sometimes practicing until 3 a.m. After a few days, Parsons thought he might be sick and went to the infirmary for tests.
He skipped class and practice Thursday, but tests came back negative, and doctors recommended he simply get some rest.
"I guess it was me being dumb and shooting until 3 in the morning," Parsons said.
Freshman Nick Calathes struggled to find his shot in the win. He scored just 7 points on 1-of-7 shooting but did manage to dish out six assists.
Center Marreese Speights scored 6 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, while Walter Hodge scored 14 points and Jai Lucas chipped in with 13.
Sophomore Dan Werner had seven steals in the contest, setting an O'Connell Center record, good for second most in UF history.
"You think of all the great players that have come through here, and to be part of that is pretty special," Werner said. "I'm honored, and I give credit to my teammates."
UF next faces LSU on Wednesday night at home.
While Donovan has heard all the right things from his team, he hopes he will see a different kind of defensive effort against the Tigers.
"As games start to unfold, what I think happens is that you start to peel back the skin, and your weaknesses as a team get totally exposed, and they are out there in broad daylight," Donovan said. "It comes down to do you want to choose to do it or do you not choose to do it? And you know what? They will say the right things, but to me, your actions speak louder than your words."
