No. 13 Florida doesn’t feel like a team that’s won eight games in a row.
Starting center John Egbunu tore his ACL last week, ending his season.
Backup big man Gorjok Gak sprained his foot, sidelining him for two weeks.
And UF’s leading scorer, Canyon Barry, rolled his ankle, missed practice and will be a game-time decision for tonight’s rematch with South Carolina (20-7, 10-4 SEC) in the O’Connell Center.
The Gamecocks dealt Florida (22-5, 12-2 SEC) its first conference loss of the season when they beat UF 57-53 in Columbia on Jan. 18.
South Carolina defended Florida better than any team this year, holding the Gators to a season-low 35.2 percent shooting from the field.
In that game, the Gamecocks also became the first team in more than 20 years to keep UF from making a single three-pointer.
Coach Mike White knows Florida can’t repeat that performance and expect a different result.
“Don’t go 0-for-17 from three,” White said on Monday. “We’ve got to go at least 1-for-17 to have a better shot.”
That could be a challenge without Barry, the graduate transfer who’s shooting above 35 percent from beyond the arc. Only one player on UF’s roster — KeVaughn Allen — has made more three-pointers than Barry.
White said Barry’s rolled ankle isn’t as severe as it was when he rolled it earlier in the season, but there’s still swelling, and he didn’t confirm that Barry will play tonight.
But Florida’s biggest concern is the center position without Egbunu.
“I don’t want to make it out like we lost an All-American,” White said. “But John, for us, was terrific.
“John would clean up six or seven mistakes a game, which allowed us to be a top-five defensive team in the country.”
Florida guards no longer have the luxury of getting beat by their man and relying on their 6-foot-11, 255-pound center to cover for them.
But Florida’s second-string center has proved himself serviceable.
Forward Kevarrius Hayes started in place of Egbunu against Mississippi State on Saturday and pulled in a career-high 10 rebounds and four blocks.
“It felt good,” Hayes said, “seeing that I was able to be dependable kind of helped my team win. It felt good being a factor.”
But Hayes also said dealing with the newfound pressure is stressful.
Mississippi State attacked the rim right away with Egbunu out on Saturday, and Hayes said he’ll take the opening minutes of tonight’s game as a challenge.
Because with Gak out, if Hayes gets into foul trouble, there are no high-level paint-presence defenders to come off the bench.
White said Hayes may need to recreate his performance against Mississippi State to give the Gators a chance to win tonight.
“There’s pressure on him to do so,” White said. “I don’t know if we can get away with him not having a game like that.”
Contact Matt Brannon at mbrannon@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @MattB_727.
UF guard Canyon Barry dribbles during Florida's 71-62 win over Texas A&M on Feb. 11, 2017, in the O'Connell Center.
