In the heat of Saturday afternoon’s game against Kentucky, Florida went cold.
The No. 11 Gators (24-6, 14-4 Southeastern Conference) went scoreless in the final 7:36 of their 61-57 road loss to the Wildcats in Lexington, Ky., missing their final 11 field-goal attempts.
UF also committed five turnovers during Kentucky’s 11-0 run to close the game.
“I can’t put the ball in the basket for them,” Donovan said.
“I cannot make a jump hook, but I can try to put them in positions where they can be successful.”
Wildcats guard Julius Mays said: “We were getting stops, and they couldn’t score. We just kept fighting and fighting.”
Prior to Saturday’s game, Donovan said that the Gators needed to eliminate wasted possessions, which he defined as plays where his team takes bad shots, turns over the ball or does not take advantage of open looks.
But UF wasted plenty of opportunities down the stretch against UK.
At the 4:53 mark, guard Mike Rosario sent an errant pass to guard Scottie Wilbekin, which Kentucky guard Archie Goodwin intercepted.
Goodwin then drove to the other end for a two-handed slam to cut Florida’s advantage to 57-55.
Two offensive possessions later, Wilbekin looked to guard Kenny Boynton on the right wing. Unfortunately for the Gators, Boynton cut to the top of the key and Wilbekin’s pass made its way to Florida’s bench.
On UF’s next play, Wilbekin heaved the ball to a wide-open Casey Prather, hoping the forward could finish with a dunk. But Wilbekin’s lob sailed over Prather’s hands.
“The play was well-executed in terms of screening and those kinds of things,” Donovan said. “We didn’t deliver the ball correctly.”
With 3:17 remaining, forward Erik Murphy drove down the right side of the lane and was called for an offensive foul after charging into Kentucky center Willie Cauley-Stein.
After committing numerous turnovers, Florida failed to convert a handful of well-executed possessions into points.
Center Patric Young missed an open reverse layup with 2:52 left after receiving a bounce pass from Murphy in the post.
“We run a play and we get Patric Young underneath the basket,” Donovan said. “You know what I mean? How much better can you execute?”
UF’s most crucial miss came with 15 seconds remaining.
When Boynton drove by his defender, Wildcats guard Ryan Harrow, he attempted a mid-range jumper after gaining separation.
Although Boynton’s shot could not find net, Donovan thought the attempt was a decent look.
“In those situations, you’re not getting a wide-open shot,” Donovan said. “It was unchallenged. There wasn’t a hand in his face. … It wasn’t like a high-percentage, great, great shot. Probably not. Was it a bad shot? Certainly wasn’t a bad shot.”
Florida’s failure to score down the stretch helped Kentucky (21-10, 12-6 SEC) earn its first win this season against a top-15 opponent and boost its NCAA tournament hopes.
UF owns the No. 1 seed in this week’s SEC Tournament and will play either No. 8 seed Georgia or No. 9 seed LSU on Friday at 1 p.m.
But after Saturday’s loss, the Gators’ chances for a No. 1 seed in the Big Dance are doubtful.
Junior point guard Scottie Wilbekin drives the lane during Florida’s 66-40 win against Vanderbilt on Wednesday in the O’Connell Center.
