UF has flourished this year when sending a full-court press at opposing teams, and Tuesday night was the perfect example of how successful it has been for Billy Donovan’s unit.
Thanks largely to the press, Florida forced Georgia to commit 10 turnovers during its 26-4 run that spanned over 10:45 in the first half.
UF committed only one turnover during that time, while UGA attempted only five field goals during the span.
After their run, the No. 7 Gators (14-2, 3-0 Southeastern Conference) led by double digits throughout the remainder of the contest to grab a 72-50 victory in the O’Connell Center.
“Huge impact. It changed the game,” sophomore guard Michael Frazier II said of the press.
“Coach D did a great job of telling us who to go trap, from where, different spots, keep them off-balance, keep them on their toes.
“We did a good job of that, and they didn’t handle it very well.”
During many of the Gators’ full-court press sets, they sent a guard and a big man — often Will Yeguete or Dorian Finney-Smith — to the forefront of the formation.
Both players would converge on the first Georgia player in play to touch the ball and try to force a turnover.
Bulldogs guard Charles Mann, the reigning SEC Player of the Week, was the biggest victim of the Gators’ full-court press Tuesday.
He finished with a game-high five turnovers, four coming during the Gators’ key run.
Three of his mistakes were committed in the backcourt.
Mann, who look gassed and frustrated on the floor Tuesday night, recorded more turnovers than made field goals and finished with only eight points in 34 minutes.
“We know their two guards, Mann and [Kenny Gaines], they play a lot of minutes, so Coach D wanted to bring fatigue into play,” Finney-Smith said.
“So, that’s why we pressed on them.”
With 7:25 remaining in the first half and Florida ahead 22-10, Florida’s full-court press began to get to Mann.
As he ran down the floor with Frazier trailing, the Georgia guard lost his handle at half court.
Yeguete then grabbed the ball and took it to the other end for an easy layup.
Fewer than two minutes later, Yeguete and Wilbekin double-teamed Mann, who threw an errant pass to Nemanja Djurisic out of bounds. After the error, Mann shook his head in disgust.
“I don’t think they were expecting it,” Yeguete said.
“They turned the ball over a lot. It got us going; it got the crowd going. We got layups, fastbreaks, dunks.
“They didn’t know what to do on the press.”
But the onslaught stemming from the press continued.
Fifty-six seconds after his last turnover, Mann stumbled and was trapped by Finney-Smith and Wilbekin in the right corner of the back court.
Then, Wilbekin swiped the ball and dished it to Finney-Smith for the easy slam to lift UF to a 30-10 lead.
Georgia eventually made adjustments in the second half and did a better job of handling Florida’s press.
But by that time, the damage was already done. The deficit was too big to erase.
Yeguete admitted after the game that he did not know Florida would press that much early in the contest.
The Gators found success with the press, so they improvised.
“[Donovan] just told us to, ‘Just go, just go,’ because he knew they were struggling,” Yeguete said.
“And we just went.”
Follow Landon Watnick on Twitter @LandonWatnick
Scottie Wilbekin covers Georgia’s Charles Mann (4) during the Gators’ 72-50 win against the Bulldogs in the O’Connell Center on Tuesday.
