As Florida trailed Ole Miss 66-63 with 4.2 seconds left Sunday, point guard Scottie Wilbekin had an opportunity to make the Gators’ uphill battle less difficult.
After Rebels forward Murphy Holloway missed his second free throw, forward Erik Murphy grabbed the rebound and passed the ball to Wilbekin, who was fouled by Ole Miss guard Nick Williams to prevent the Gators from attempting a potential game-tying three.
With Florida in the double bonus and without any timeouts, coach Billy Donovan hoped Wilbekin would make his first free throw and intentionally miss his second so the Gators could try to pull down the offensive rebound, attempt a two-point basket and possibly send the game into overtime.
But the junior point guard’s first free throw was no good.
Following Wilbekin’s second miss, center Patric Young tipped the ball out to guard Kenny Boynton, who was forced to rush a contested, off-balance three-point attempt that rimmed out at the buzzer.
Wilbekin’s first missed free throw was one of many opportunities the No. 14 Gators had at the charity stripe in their 66-63 loss to the Rebels on Sunday in the Southeastern Conference Tournament final at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn.
Excluding Wilbekin’s intentional miss, Florida missed 5 of its 6 free-throw attempts in the final 5 minutes of the contest. The Gators went 8 of 17 from the free-throw line for the contest.
“It’s huge,” Young said.
“Not saying the free-throw shooting is the reason we lost, but it definitely could have changed the game. If [guard Michael Frazier II] hits his, I hit mine, Scottie hits his, we take the lead and it can make or break games as you see.”
Florida struggled defensively in the second half, allowing Ole Miss to score 40 points. But its late failures from the charity stripe did not help its cause.
Young missed 3 of 4 free throws during the final stretch on back-to-back plays. After Sunday’s loss, he is shooting just 49.6 percent from the free-throw line this season.
With Florida trailing 61-59 at the 3:04 mark, Frazier missed the front end of a one-and-one. The shot was a rare miss for Frazier, who is an 82.1 percent free-throw shooter this year.
“I thought that was another change in momentum when he went to the free-throw line with a chance to tie it,” Donovan said.
“We missed them, they scored and the lead went to four.”
UF is 0-6 this year in games decided by six points or fewer.
In those six contests, the Gators have shot 62 percent from the charity stripe. Florida ranks 217th in the nation with a 68.1 percent clip from the free-throw line this season.
No. 3 seed Florida’s second-round NCAA Tournament opponent, 14th-seeded Northwestern State, has cashed in on Southland Conference teams’ free-throw shooting struggles this year.
Opponents are 62.7 percent from the free-throw line against the Demons — the lowest percentage against any NCAA squad.
When Florida faces Northwestern State on Friday at 7:27 p.m. in Austin, Texas, it will hope to improve at the charity stripe.
“Sometimes, I guess it’s just not being focused in on the moment,” Young said. “Your nerves do get to you because you try to not think about how big the moment is. I’ve shot many free throws with people.
“I’ve knocked down big free throws before. I’ve missed big free throws. I don’t know. It’s just different in that situation.”
Junior forward Will Yeguete (15) prepares to shoot a free throw during Florida’s 74-56 win against Wisconsin on Nov. 14 in the O’Connell Center.
