ATLANTA— Just hours after a crushing defeat in the finals of the Southeastern Conference Tournament, the Gators found new life.
With Sunday’s announcement of the 2011 NCAA Tournament field came the revelation that Florida received the No. 2 seed in the Southeast region, a higher spot than widely predicted.
The Gators will face 15-seed University of California Santa Barbara on Thursday in Tampa.
“We are really excited about being in the NCAA Tournament,” UF coach Billy Donovan said. “I’m very happy for our players and our staff for the opportunity to compete.”
Florida will head into the matchup hoping to rebound from Sunday’s 70-54 loss to Kentucky.
Playing perhaps their best basketball of the season, the Gators entered the contest on a four-game winning streak but fell one win short of sweeping the SEC championships.
“It hurts, but we’ve been here before,” senior forward Chandler Parsons said. “We’re not going to hang our heads after one loss.
“We want to make a run in the Tournament. It hurts right now, and I’m sure it’s going to hurt later, but we’ve got to move past that and look forward.”
The Gators are 6-0 following losses so far this season and have won those contests by an average of 19.3 points per game. This trend is not lost on Donovan or his players, who have spoken all year about how well they handle adversity.
“We’re a resilient group, and, if anything, this will help us focus that much more in practice,” junior guard Erving Walker said.
Over the course of the season, the Gators have found that losses force them to take a closer look at the things they can do to get better.
After victories, the team typically focuses on keeping its momentum going instead of evaluating its imperfections. The Gators have yet to drop back-to-back games this season.
“When you win, I think it doesn’t show the mistakes that you made in games,” sophomore guard Kenny Boynton said.
“We can watch this film, see the mistakes that we made and correct them to be ready for the first round of the NCAA Tournament.”
Before the selection, the team was adamant that its seeding was irrelevant. But the Gators admitted location would be significant.
Of the eight potential regional sites, Tampa was by far the closest.
“I would think we could have the most fans and be able to pack the house,” Walker said. “It’s always good to have.”
Still, Donovan and his players emphasized that every team is strong at this stage of the season, and each game will be hotly contested.
The Gators figure to be prepared, as they are confident that one bad showing won’t affect the way they’ve played over the past month.
“This will blow over,” Boynton said. “We’re going to get right back to where we were.”
Returning to form will be critical, as the Gators will face the UCLA-Michigan State winner with a victory over UCSB.
If seeding holds, Florida would square off against BYU in the Sweet Sixteen and Pittsburgh in the Elite Eight.
“It’s definitely a whole new season,” Walker said. “Everybody is 0-0, and it’s new life. We’ve just got to be ready to go.”
If their words are any indication, the Gators are prepared for Thursday and beyond.
“You have to come out ready to play like it’s the last game you’re ever going to play,” freshman center Patric Young said.
