Kenny Boynton carried the painful memories for a year, all the while waiting for this shot.
Once again, an 11-point lead was slipping away in the closing seconds of an Elite Eight game, and once again, Boynton had a chance.
Down by three with eight seconds remaining, Boynton received the pass from Brad Beal, gathered and let go of a jumper. As he landed he held his follow through, clenching his teeth for what must have felt like an eternity as the ball soared toward the hoop. Realizing the shot was off, Boynton leaned back and to his left, trying to change the ball’s trajectory by sheer force of will. Predictably, his attempt was futile. The ball clanged off the right side of the rim and Florida’s collapse was complete. A chance at the Final Four had slipped away yet again. Boynton sluggishly swung his arms in dejection and began his walk to the other end of the floor, where Louisville hit one of two free throws to ice a 72-68 win.
Boynton had been in this situation before.
In 2011’s Elite Eight loss to Butler, Boynton had a chance to save the game. With 19 seconds remaining in overtime and Florida trailing by one, he missed a catch-and-shoot three after a hand off from Erving Walker. The shot likely would have given Florida the victory, but it caught only iron and Butler moved into the Final Four with a 74-71 win.
The miss and the loss stuck with Boynton through the offseason, serving as inspiration for 2011-12.
“I know this year we’ve got the amount of talent that we can make it in the same position we were in last year,” Boynton said at the team’s media day on Oct. 12. “We just need to finish it out this year.”
His prediction proved prophetic. The talented Gators put themselves in the exact position they were in last year: In the Elite Eight, with an 11-point lead and only 9:03 separating them from a Final Four berth. By KenPom.com’s win probability estimations, Florida had about a 90 percent chance of victory.
But it was not to be against Butler, and it was not to be against Louisville. The Cardinals came back, ending the Gators’ season a game shy of the Final Four and providing a kick to the stomach even harder than last year’s blow.
Russ Smith and Chane Behanan hit tough shot after tough shot, and Florida missed some good looks. Beal traveled twice and missed a layup after a baseline drive with 4:39 remaining. In all, the Gators scored three points on 1-of-12 shooting and 1-of-4 from the free-throw line over the final 8:15. After hitting 8 of 11 threes against Louisville’s zone in the first half, Florida hit 0 of 9 against a man-to-man look in the second.
As Billy Donovan said, it was “totally different” from what happened against Butler last season, when UF gave the game away by yielding offensive rebounds and not fighting for loose balls.
But for UF’s players, it was 2011 all over again.
“Same feeling,” Boynton said.
“Really similar because you taste victory with five minutes left and just weren’t able to close the game out,” Patric Young said.
Maybe Florida should have gone inside more. Despite Louisville’s foul trouble, neither Young nor Murphy attempted a shot after 6:55. Maybe the Gators should’ve attacked the basket more or settled for fewer jumpers. Maybe Beal shouldn’t have traveled.
All of those points are moot now. Another UF season has ended with heartbreak, leaving another memory sure to cause months of torment.
Walker said at the start of the year that he and Boynton hardly left the house for two weeks after the loss to Butler. He said the feeling of failure would probably be with him for the rest of his life, but that he’d use it to learn and get better.
It’s impossible not to feel for UF’s lone senior now, as he ends his career with two trips to the doorstep, no appearances in the Final Four and no chance to redeem himself next year.
It can’t be much easier for Boynton, Murphy and Young, who have to start from scratch with the knowledge that twice they’ve been as close as it gets to the pinnacle of college basketball.
And there’s no one they can blame but themselves.
Contact Greg Luca at gluca@alligator.org.
