As February approaches, men’s basketball teams around the country are looking for big wins to give them an edge when March rolls around. Resumes are being examined for a possible tournament berth.
The Gators have had their chances for resume-building wins — at then-No. 17 Miami, at then-No. 1 Michigan State and at then-No.15 Texas A&M. UF came up just short in each of them.
But on Saturday, in the first game of the Big12/SEC Challenge, the Gators opened eyes around the country with their 88-71 upset win against No. 9 West Virginia.
Florida shot 60 percent from three-point range (12-of-20) against the nation’s No. 2-ranked three-point field-goal defense. The Gators’ 88 total points were the most surrendered by West Virginia all season.
And the win provided head coach Mike White with his first signature win since taking over UF’s men’s basketball program.
"It’s a huge boost to our confidence knowing that we can beat a top-10 team by 20 points," sophomore Chris Chiozza said. "I don’t see why we can’t do that to any team in the country."
After Florida posted its worst shooting performance of the season (32.9 percent) in a loss to Vanderbilt one game earlier, the Gators bounced back at home on a big stage against a top-10 opponent.
West Virginia, known for its physicality and heavy defensive press, stymied Florida’s offense early and eventually went on a 12-0 scoring run late in the first half.
But after a timeout, the Gators adjusted to the defensive pressure nicely and ended the half on a 9-0 scoring run of their own.
Add in a pregame scuffle before the national anthem and a combined 48 personal foul calls, and the game ultimately came down to which team had the most grit.
With the abundance of fouls, both teams relied on their bench players to play more minutes than might have been expected. For Florida, its four bench players stepped up.
Brandone Francis-Ramirez, who was a combined 5-of-40 from beyond the arc entering Saturday, confidently knocked down all three of his three-point attempts, providing nine points in 15 minutes of action. Rimmer, who filled in at center with John Egbunu in foul trouble and Kevarrius Hayes injured for a portion of the game, played 21 minutes and snatched a team-high and season-high six rebounds along with one block.
It was important that Florida’s supporting players sustain the high level of play set by the starters against West Virginia’s tenacious pressing defense.
They did just that.
"We had a lot of foul trouble. … We were able to just tough it out, and our bench got some decent stops," Chiozza said. "Everybody should be productive when they get into the game and that’s what we need."
The win over the Mountaineers was the Gators’ first win over a ranked opponent under White in five tries. As far as the future is concerned, it’s a resume-building win, but Florida still has a tough SEC schedule lying ahead that it needs to focus on.
This will be a telling week for the Gators. They can either prove that their win over the No. 9 team in the country was not a fluke and that they do belong on the national stage, or they can shrink back into the pack of SEC teams that haven’t quite reached that point yet. Arkansas comes to town on Wednesday night and a date with No. 20 Kentucky in Lexington looms on Saturday.
"I think we played with a lot of effort, a lot of heart," junior center Schuyler Rimmer said. "I think that’s what we’re capable of and I think if we can do that every game, we’re going ot be a really dangerous team."
Contact Alex Maminakis at amaminakis@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @alexmaminakis.
Chris Chiozza signals a play as he drives down the court during Florida’s win over West Virginia on Jan. 30, 2016, in the O’Connell Center.
