Removing one 4-minute stretch, the Gators’ offense played about as well as it possibly could in Florida’s 78-64 win against Minnesota on Sunday.
UF hit half of its threes and 64.7 percent of its twos.
The Gators made a season-high 26 free throws in a season-best 36 trips to the line.
Excluding the first 4 minutes of the second half, Florida scored an incredible 1.41 points per possession.
But that 4-minute stretch is the reason Florida fans are always on the edge of their seats.
The Gators missed two threes, two layups and a jumper.
They turned the ball over twice and went 2 for 4 at the line.
In eight possessions, Florida scored two points.
Even at their best, the Gators will have rough offensive stretches.
As a result, a Minnesota team that entered with just six wins in its past 17 games trimmed a 21-point deficit to 10 in what seemed to be an instant.
The Gators will constantly be trying to dodge the type of devastating run that can knock them from the NCAA Tournament, and it may be only a matter of time before they slip up for good.
UF’s slumps have typically been reserved for the end of games, an unfortunate coincidence that has led to an “un-clutch” label. But Sunday’s early slip was equally dangerous.
Just as it was wrong to be terrified of an early flame-out when the Gators’ play seemed to dip down the season’s final stretch, feeling that Florida somehow proved itself with a strong showing Sunday would be unwise.
Up-and-down offensive play has been a trend all season.
A below-average outing has followed four of UF’s five most efficient offensive games. When you take as many threes as the Gators do (40.5 percent of attempts) and rarely get to the free-throw line (Sunday excluded), sustaining offense can be difficult.
As has been discussed all season, UF doesn’t have a go-to scorer to help it get out of ruts. If Sunday’s 4-minute stretch was 6 or 8 minutes long, would the game have turned out differently?
Luckily for the Gators, they have an unbelievably easy Sweet 16 game against No. 15 seed Florida Gulf Coast.
Everybody knows FGCU beat Miami, Georgetown and San Diego State, but this team also lost to Maine, Mercer, East Tennessee State, Stetson and Lipscomb — twice.
All week, you’ll hear that FGCU is for real. And maybe the Eagles are good.
But last year everybody bought into 15-seed Norfolk State after it upset Missouri.
Then NSU faced Florida in the second round. After just more than 10 minutes, the Spartans were down by 23.
UF is by no means guaranteed to blow out FGCU, but the early lines that have Florida as an 11-point favorite are way too low.
While FGCU is a great story, teams don’t simply improve by a factor of 10 overnight.
Once Florida gets past FGCU, the Gators will still be three wins away from a title. Can they drain threes and avoid cold stretches against elite teams for three straight games?
I don’t think so, and a great first weekend against a bad Northwestern State squad and a mediocre Minnesota team doesn’t change my stance.
Contact Greg Luca at gluca@alligator.org.
Center Patric Young pulls down a rebound during Florida’s 78-64 win against Minnesota on March 24 in Austin, Texas. Young had surgery to remove a bone spur in his right ankle on Friday.
