The second dunk wasn’t nearly as deflating as the first, when Alabama’s Jimmie Taylor jumped into the body of Florida’s John Egbunu and forcefully slammed the ball over his outstretched arms.
It sent the 6-foot-10 center backpedaling into the basket’s padding and launched the Alabama bench into a frenzy.
A few minutes later, it happened again. Taylor dunked over Egbunu, who stood helplessly under the basket — he had four fouls, and attempting to defend another Taylor dunk might have meant a fifth and a permanent trip to the bench.
Nearing the end of its 61-55 upset on Saturday, Alabama’s players jumped and screamed at Taylor’s throw-down. Florida’s players sulked back to their bench for a timeout.
UF’s body language reeked of disappointment, and not just because it had lost only its second game at home this season, and not just because it had shot a season-worst 28.6 percent from the field, but because a loss to a conference rival in mid-February, less than one month out from the NCAA Tournament, carries much more weight than usual.
"It’s a very tough loss for us. It’s very tough," UF coach Mike White said. "As I just told our guys, just being honest, the next two will be a lot harder than this one was."
In the next week, Florida will play road games against Georgia and South Carolina.
The Gators have gone 2-6 in true road games this season. At home, the Bulldogs are 12-3 and the Gamecocks are 13-1.
Needless to say, after dropping a conference home game to a ninth-place Alabama team, Florida doesn’t have much margin for error left this season.
In the last decade, the Southeastern Conference has averaged four NCAA Tournament teams per year. With a 7-5 record in league play, Florida and Georgia are in a four-way tie for fourth place in the SEC standings. South Carolina sits in third place, one game ahead of both teams.
The good news: The selection committee has allowed in at least five SEC teams in five of the last 10 years, and in those five years, the final SEC team to earn a bid has had between 17 and 20 wins.
Florida would merely need to win half of its final six games to finish the regular season at 19 wins, and with the 31st best RPI (Rating Percentage Index) in the nation — behind only three other SEC teams — Florida should, at the very least, feel confident about its chances of making the tournament.
After all, that’s what this season has been about — making the jump back into postseason play in March.
After missing out last year for the first time since 2009, and with White having never qualified for the tournament in four years as a head coach at Louisiana Tech, Florida has made no attempt to hide its postseason aspirations this season.
"I’m dying to get to the NCAA tournament," White said earlier in the season. "I think our guys are too."
So did Florida's loss to Alabama on Saturday actually hurt its chances?
It depends.
It depends on how Florida finishes the season, either emerging from its shooting slump and earning wins against a challenging thicket of SEC teams, finding a rhythm, and in the process, their identity.
Or, the Gators can continue with their theme of inconsistency, stumbling to the regular-season finish line against a difficult remaining conference slate that boasts a combined 94-54 record.
"It only gets tougher," White said. "There’s no time to get healthy, to take a rest, to take a break. We’re right back at it tomorrow."
Ian Cohen is the Sports Editor. Contact him at icohen@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @icohenb.
Florida coach Mike White calls out a play from the sideline during Florida's 77-72 win over Ole Miss on Feb. 9, 2016, in the O'Connell Center.
