Up by six against Arizona with less than a minute remaining, Florida melted down late Saturday night.
Wildcats guard Mark Lyons scored the game-winning layup with 7.1 seconds left as No. 8 Arizona (8-0) closed out the game on a 7-0 run to defeat No. 5 Florida (7-1) 65-64 in the McKale Center in Tucson, Ariz.
With the final seconds winding down, Mike Rosario tried get off a shot but lost his balance and fell after running into Arizona’s Solomon Hill. Scottie Wilbekin then sent a desperation heave from beyond the arc that clanked off the top of the backboard as the buzzer sounded. Florida had a timeout remaining but didn't use it after Lyons’ layup.
Three late turnovers – two coming during inbounds pass attempts – propelled the Wildcats’ rally. Before Arizona’s game-winner, Kenny Boynton missed the first free throw of a one-and-one with 21.5 seconds left.
The Gators’ final field goal of the contest was a three from Wilbekin with 2:44 remaining.
Rosario led the Gators with 16 points on 5-of-8 shooting. Erik Murphy finished with 15 points, seven boards and a team-high five turnovers.
Playing with a fractured ring finger on his right hand, Wilbekin recorded 11 points off the bench and made all three of his three-pointers. The junior point guard suffered the injury Thursday during practice.
Boynton recorded five points on 2-of-10 shooting. In the last three games, Boynton has made 8 of 33 shots.
“He’s had a couple of tough shooting nights,” Donovan said. “Probably got to relieve him a little bit off the point. What I mean by that is he’s getting pressured a lot. I’ve got to probably have someone else handle the basketball and have him rest off the ball. … The amount of minutes he’s playing at the point is really affecting his shooting.”
Arizona dominated the free throw battle Saturday, making 18 of 21 attempts from the charity stripe as UF only notched 6 of 8.
Throughout the majority of the first period, Florida controlled the tempo and confused the Wildcats with a mix of man and zone defenses. At the 4:04 mark in the first half, UF led 30-19.
But Arizona clawed back into the game with an 8-0 run to close out the half. Back-to-back three-pointers by Nick Johnson and a fastbreak slam from Hill cut the Gators’ lead to 32-29 at halftime.
“I said to them at halftime after they went on that 8-0 run, ‘If we’re going to lose the game, let’s not beat ourselves,’” Donovan said. “That’s exactly what happened.”
A UF radio broadcast contributed to this report.
Florida's Mike Rosario (3) takes the ball away from Arizona's Kaleb Tarczewski (35) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game at McKale Center on Saturday night in Tucson, Ariz. No. 8 Arizona defeated No. 5 Florida 65-64 by finishing the game on a 7-0 run.
