UF center John Egbunu missed the last shot of the first half.
That is, until Florida’s 6-foot-8 forward with a fade flew in from the backcourt and tipped the ball in to beat the buzzer.
UF forward Devin Robinson shows up often in the highlight reel, from ferocious putback dunks to elegant alley-oops. But he was nowhere to be found in the final 90 seconds of UF’s 68-66 loss to Vanderbilt on Saturday.
After he fouled out diving for a loose ball, he was forced to watch his team lose a nailbiter from the sidelines.
“It’s tough,” Robinson said. “I cheer on my teammates that’s in the game, but it’s tough.”
Robinson has also been missing from the box score lately.
After scoring more than 12.4 points per game to start the season, Robinson’s average has dipped to just 9.2 in Florida’s last seven games.
But the drop isn’t Robinson’s fault. He’s been slumping from three but is still shooting nearly 50 percent from the field on the season.
No, it’s coach Mike White’s fault. And it’s guard KeVaughn Allen’s fault.
For the last few weeks, the Gators’ offensive philosophy has boiled down to: pass it to KeVaughn. Just let KeVaughn shoot, and he’ll carry the team to victory. To make matters worse, Allen needs to be “prodded” to shoot, as coach Mike White has said.
It seems whenever another Gators’ player is asked about the offense, they talk about trying to keep KeVaughn Allen’s confidence up, encouraging him to fire each time he gets the ball.
“I told (Allen) yesterday, I don't care if you leave that game and you're 0-for-11 with a couple turnovers,” White said on Friday. “As long as you're the same KeVaughn Allen where you're hunting shots aggressively and you're playing with confidence.”
It’s fortunate that White doesn’t care or else he’d probably be pretty pissed with UF’s performance on Saturday. Because Allen’s prolific scoring doesn’t matter if UF continues losing close games.
Mike White’s offense cannot continue to both baby Allen and dump the entire offensive load on his head.
White was asked on Friday if Allen needs to be the best player every night for Florida to reach its full potential.
White said no. And he got that right. Allen scored 29 against Vanderbilt on Saturday, and the Gators laid a turd. Allen was at his best while Florida was at its worst.
If only Florida had another player who could give you double-figure scoring on offense. One who shot above 30 percent on three-pointers and nearly 50 percent from the field. A lanky, jump-shooting forward who likes hitting pull-ups so much that he pulls his short shorts up over his belly button.
But Robinson is forced to take a back seat when Allen’s always taking the most shots.
Robinson was asked how he’ll balance feeding KeVaughn and being aggressive after the loss.
“I just take whatever’s open for me,” Robinson said. “When he gets it, just go with the rebound basically.”
“Go with the rebound,” didn’t work on Saturday. Let’s see if it ever will.
Devin Robinson attempts a shot during Florida's 88-79 loss to Kentucky on March 1, 2016, in the O'Connell center.
