For what most considered to be a meaningless game during the middle of the NCAA Tournament, the scene in the UF locker room looked like anything but.
Reporters crowded around players with hung heads as they tried to put their disappointment into words.
After starting the year with a preseason No.19 ranking, the Gators' tumultuous season came to an end Tuesday night with a 71-62 loss to Penn State in the quarterfinals of the National Invitation Tournament.
UF (25-11) finished its second straight season without making it to the NCAA Tournament and failed to make a return to Madison Square Garden and the NIT semifinals like it did a year ago.
It was a far cry from the turnaround year the team predicted in October.
A little more than a year ago, Dan Werner sat in a dimly lit locker room in the world's most famous arena and watched as teammates and coaches shook their heads and promised next year would be different.
The scene this year was almost identical.
"I'm just as confused as anybody," Werner said. "Coach built this as one of the top programs in the country, and unfortunately these last two years we took it down a couple of steps."
The game might as well have been the mirror image of the Gators' season.
Their goal was well within reach. A win against the banged up and offensively challenged Nittany Lions would have punched their ticket to New York.
It wasn't the ideal end to the season - UF became the first team since Michigan State in 1981 to not make the NCAA Tournament in consecutive years after winning the national title - but it would have salvaged a little bit of pride.
Instead, UF crumbled under the weight of expectations and played one of its sloppiest games of the season, turning the ball over late and failing to answer Penn State at nearly every critical juncture.
"I went to college wanting to make the NCAA Tournament every year," Werner said. "Obviously, we have a lot of work to do. This is two years in a row we're in the NIT, and this isn't where Coach built the program to be."
War of Attrition
The Gators probably should have known they were in trouble when seldom used walk-on Kyle McClanahan entered the game early in the first half.
But it's not like UF coach Billy Donovan had much of a choice. Injuries had UF practically limping into the postseason.
UF started the year with 12 scholarship players and what looked like a team deep enough to make it through Southeastern Conference play.
The early-season transfer of sophomore point guard and former McDonald's All-American Jai Lucas to Texas was a big blow.
Without Lucas, 5-foot-8 guard Erving Walker was forced to play major minutes.
And although the freshman played well this season, the Gators were sorely lacking the leadership and late-game shooting Lucas could have given them.
Adam Allen, Eloy Vargas and Allan Chaney all missed significant time with injuries this year, crippling an already depleted lineup, and it didn't help that center Kenny Kadji was ruled out during the NIT with a concussion.
By the time Penn State came to town, Donovan was working with an eight-man rotation.
The Gators took their biggest hit inside, where Werner and sophomore center Alex Tyus, a more natural power forward, were forced to play out of position all year.
"You've got to play with what you've got," Werner said. "You can't complain because guys are undersized or playing out of position. We are what we are. We just tried to make the best out of it."
Calathes Can't Do It All
The largest swarm of reporters was huddled around All-SEC point guard Nick Calathes as he dodged questions about a potential jump to the NBA.
"I'm not really thinking about that right now," Calathes said. "But when it's time, I'll sit down with Coach and my family and decide from there."
Calathes set a single-season school record 231 assists and scored 618 points this year, the fifth-highest single-season total in school history and the most by any player in Donovan's tenure.
He scored just 10 points against Penn State and couldn't come up with big plays in the game's biggest moments.
A month ago, Calathes looked like a lock for the first round of the NBA Draft. But after struggling in the Gators' final stretch of the season and failing to get UF back to the NCAA Tournament, his draft stock has taken a substantial hit.
Several draft websites have pushed Calathes out of the guaranteed money of the first round and into the second.
The 6-foot-6 sophomore probably still has a good shot at working his way back into a favorable position, but the waters are much murkier.
"I have no idea (about) any of those things," Donovan said. "I'm supportive of Nick. Certainly we would love to have him back here, and I would love to coach him again. But if that decision is in front of him, it's probably up to him and his family."
Couldn't Finish
With 2:10 left in the game, UF cut a 10 point Penn State lead to 61-59.
But as they have done all year, the Gators managed to pull defeat from the jaws of victory.
The Nittany Lions scored two baskets and went 6 for 6 from the free-throw line in game's final minute.
It was a characteristic collapse for a team that had five losses by 3 points or fewer this season - including Zam Fredrick's heartbreaking buzzer beater after a total defensive breakdown at South Carolina, and a 2-point embarrassment against SEC cellar dweller Georgia.
In a lot of ways UF finished its season the same way it finished games.
They started strong, jumping out to a 18-2 record on the back of one of the nation's weakest non-conference schedules, and then proceeded to lose seven of their last 12 games on their way to missing the NCAA Tournament.
"I was sad," Hodge said. "I knew we were not going to make it after that loss (to Auburn in the SEC Tournament)."
UF was 2-7 on the road this year and 2-6 away from home in conference games.
The Gators searched for a go-to guy in crunch time all season, but no one ever emerged.
Calathes showed that he might have been the guy after his game-winning shot against North Carolina State early in the season.
But the sophomore deferred to teammates in similar situations during conference play, sometimes even passing up open shots.
Walker tried but struggled to make shots late and was blocked several times in late-game situations.
What Now?
Amid a sea of frustration, the name buzzing around the locker room was that of a guy who didn't even play.
In fact, he hadn't all season.
Vernon Macklin, the 6-foot-10 Georgetown transfer, had suddenly become a beacon of hope for the UF basketball program.
"I think it's very, very unfair for Vernon going into next year that people think that he's a dominant (player)," Donovan said. "He's not. He's a good player. He's got a long, long way to go."
Macklin averaged 3.4 points and 2.1 rebounds per game in 2007-08 at Georgetown.
The Gators should also get a boost from 6-foot-2 super recruit Kenny Boynton.
Boynton averaged 34.5 points per game as a junior at Plantation American Heritage High School and chose UF over Duke and Texas.
"What kind of impact do they make? I don't know," Donovan said. "I think they're going to be good players. There's certainly some pieces we need to add, a different element we need to add, there's no question."
With the addition of Boynton and fellow recruits 6-foot-10 forward Erik Murphy and 6-foot-9 forward DeShawn Painter, UF would be over the NCAA maximum of 13 scholarships.
The Gators found themselves in a similar situation last season before Marreese Speights entered the NBA draft and Jonathan Mitchell opted to transfer to Rutgers.
If Calathes elects to return to Gainesville for his junior season, a transfer from one of the team's current members would be inevitable. Vargas, Allen and Chaney are likely targets.
