AUBURN, Ala. - In their first two Southeastern Conference bouts, the Gators have scored the first knockdown only to have their opponents pick themselves up off the canvas.
Winthrop, Stetson and Longwood all stayed down for the proverbial 10-count, but this young UF squad is learning a lesson: The heavyweights fight back.
In the last two games, UF has outscored its opponents 93-73 in the first half but has been outscored 60-53 in the second period.
The Gators were the first to score Wednesday night in Auburn and opened up a 9-point lead with a minute remaining in the first half.
Freshman forward Kenny Kadji and sophomore forward Alex Tyus combined for 21 points and nine rebounds, controlling the paint against an undersized Tigers' front line.
Auburn settled for long-range shots against UF's two-three zone and headed to the locker room after converting on just one of 13 3-point attempts.
"They had a lot of open looks, to be honest," UF point guard Nick Calathes said. "They missed shots, but I thought our tempo got them tired."
When the two teams resumed play, Calathes and the Gators seemed equally worn down from the aggressive tempo, jacking up 14 threes and abandoning the pick-and-roll game that led to easy points in the paint in the first half.
"We could have worked some possessions a little bit deeper to find a way to maybe go inside a little bit more (in the second half)," UF coach Billy Donovan said. "The ball was moved around the perimeter, and we never had anything going to the basket. We settled possessions where it looked like we were trying to win the game from the 3-point line."
For a while it looked as though UF might lose the game from the 3-point line, as Kadji and Tyus combined for just five field-goal attempts in the second half.
Just like Mississippi before it, Auburn battled back from an early deficit, but the Tigers were able to do something the Rebels couldn't ? take the lead.
"They gave us the opportunity to put them away," Calathes said. "We definitely could've put them away earlier."
The Gators leaned heavily on their sophomore playmaker to push, distribute and take care of the ball, something Calathes only lived up to in the first 20 minutes of play.
Before the break, he scored 11 points and dished out four assists without turning the ball over a single time. In the second half, he had as many turnovers as points and added only one assist to his total.
"Your team is going to go, offensively, as your point guard goes, and Nick turned it over six times," Donovan said.
If Donovan's team is going to start putting away conference foes, Calathes can't be leading the team to a 17-giveaway performance.
"My fault," Calathes said. "I turned the ball over way too much, forcing things, but I think we hit big shots at the end."
