In basketball, size matters.
Florida has the size in 6-foot-11 starting center John Egbunu, but he’s not much help when he’s planted on the bench because of foul trouble.
Egbunu’s backups, Kevarrius Hayes and Schuyler Rimmer, also have size.
Their issue is inexperience.
In the Gators’ 60-59 loss Tuesday night at Vanderbilt, Florida faced a Commodores team with perhaps the best defensive frontcourt in the Southeastern Conference. The loss exposed the Gators’ lack of production from their big men when they were plagued with foul trouble.
At the 11:28 mark of the first half, Egbunu drew his second personal foul of the game with Florida (13-7, 5-3 SEC) down 11-9. Egbunu sat the rest of the first half, replaced by the rotating tandem of Hayes and Rimmer.
Hayes, a 6-foot-9 freshman, finished 0-of-3 from the field with five rebounds, one block and three personal fouls. Rimmer, a 6-foot-10 junior transfer from Stanford who attempted just nine shots in his only full season with the Cardinal and averaged 0.5 points and 0.7 rebounds in 16 games, finished 0-of-1 from the field with one rebound.
Egbunu eventually fouled out of the game with 1:50 to play and the Gators trailing 52-46. He finished with just two points and four rebounds.
White said after the game that Egbunu wasn’t as involved in the game nearly as much as Florida needs him to be.
"He just got into foul trouble," White said shaking his head. "We need to have him out there on the floor more."
As of Wednesday, Egbunu leads the SEC with 68 personal fouls. Florida needs him to cut down on fouling because they need him on the floor — he’s a difference maker.
The Commodores’ 7-footer Damian Jones and 7-foot-1 Luke Kornet wreaked havoc on Florida, especially with Egbunu out of the game. Jones scored 20 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and blocked two shots while Kornet tallied six blocks and nine rebounds.
The duo overpowered the Gators. White also stressed that he was especially unhappy with his team at the free throw line, not for missing shots but for missing rebounds.
"Free throw line blockouts killed us," White said.
"Got to do a much better job of that. But it’s easier said than done to block out Damian Jones."
In Florida’s three straight wins before falling to Vanderbilt, Egbunu drew just eight combined fouls in 81 total minutes played. His five fouls in 23 minutes Tuesday night hurt the Gators’ cause.
Contact Alex Maminakis at amaminakis@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @alexmaminakis.
UF’s John Egbunu grabs a rebound during Florida’s 95-63 win against Auburn on Jan. 23, 2016, in the O’Connell Center.
