NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Florida is going to have to play the waiting game once again.
The Gators (21-12, 9-7 Southeastern Conference) likely would have locked up an NCAA Tournament at-large bid with a win over Mississippi State on Friday night in Bridgestone Arena, but they came out flat, and fell 75-69 to the Bulldogs (22-10, 9-7 SEC).
Now, all UF can do is wait to hear its name called on Selection Sunday, when the Tournament field is announced.
“It’s terrible. It’s awful,” junior forward Chandler Parsons said. “My first two years, we kind of had a feeling that we weren’t going to make it. Now, I think we have a much better team. I think we have a much better chance, but it’s completely out of our hands, so we have no idea.”
After knocking off Auburn on Thursday, it seemed UF was on its way to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2007, but a woeful start and lackluster finish could put doubt in the selection committee’s mind.
“It’s really tough. I wish tomorrow was Sunday,” said junior power forward Alex Tyus, who followed up a season-high 24 points by scoring five and committing four turnovers. “But we just don’t know. We’ve just got to hope for no upsets.”
Although Florida’s season was essentially on the line, the team came out with a lack of intensity, giving up open shots and going scoreless for the first 3:43 of the game.
The Bulldogs hit 14 of their first 20 shots and nine of their first 13 three-point attempts. The Gators were fortunate to only trail by 11 points at halftime, a margin due largely to freshman guard Kenny Boynton’s 16 first-half points.
MSU pushed its lead to 19 before UF went on a 14-0 run midway through the second half.
After sophomore point guard Erving Walker cut the lead to four, senior forward Dan Werner had a clear lane to the basket but bobbled a pass out of bounds. UF would cut the lead to three with less than 30 seconds to go, but MSU guard Barry Stewart put the game away by hitting four free throws down the stretch.
“They wanted it more tonight,” said Boynton, who finished with a game-high 23 points. “We tried to fight back, fight back, but we were just in too deep. When we fought back, they kept fighting also.”
Along with possibly jeopardizing UF’s Tournament chances, MSU broke the SEC East’s dominance over the West. Entering Friday night’s game, the top four teams in the East — Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Tennessee and Florida — were 28-0 against the West on the season.
Maintaining that perfect record would have also given the Gators the perfect chance to get back into the NCAA Tournament — something readily apparent to everyone in UF’s locker room.
“I’m concerned — real concerned — because I know it’s not in my hands,” Parsons said. “I can’t control anything. No one can. Coach Donovan can’t, our school can’t. I think everyone’s just concerned, anxious and just hoping.”
The Gators will have to hope their wins against Florida State and Michigan State in November — and a late-season thrashing of Tennessee — are enough to put them in the field of 65 and keep them out of the National Invitation Tournament for the third-straight year.
Despite the loss, Parsons said he thought his team had done enough throughout the rest of the season to be deserving of an at-large bid.
“I personally feel that way. I’m gonna keep my fingers crossed until then,” Parsons said. “I think we should be there, and we can do nothing else but hope because no one in this room knows anything.”
