NASHVILLE, Tenn. — In a sea of sulking players and buzzing reporters, Mike White sat alone.
Hands clasped. Shoulders slumped. Head down.
Florida’s second-year head coach’s piercing gaze could have burned a hole through the carpet in UF’s locker room at Bridgestone Arena.
With moments left before having to address the media after the second-seeded Gators’ 72-62 loss to seventh-seeded Vanderbilt in the SEC quarterfinals on Friday night, White took a couple deep breaths and walked briskly out of the locker room.
I don’t know for sure what he was thinking about.
Maybe he was thinking about how senior guard Kasey Hill scored 16 points on 16 shots.
Maybe he was thinking about how the Commodores made 11 three-pointers on what was supposed to be an excellent UF defense.
Or, maybe horrifying images of Vanderbilt’s 7-foot-1 forward Luke Kornet posting up 6-foot-6 guard Canyon Barry danced across his mind.
That aside, as Commodores dribbled out the clock in the overtime period, one thought crossed my mind.
Why in the world can’t the Gators, a perennially good basketball team, beat Vanderbilt?
From the onset of Friday night’s game, Florida (24-8) struggled.
UF couldn’t make shots, couldn’t stop the Commodores from taking — and making — shots, and couldn’t do anything positive when it mattered most.
After finally tying the game, Hill had a chance to win it with nine seconds left in regulation.
He missed.
In overtime, it wasn’t even a contest. Vanderbilt (19-14) blitzed UF 10-1 to start the period.
In three seasons, the Gators are 1-6 against the Commodores and 0-5 against them under White. Friday night marked Florida’s third straight loss to Vanderbilt this season.
As for the Gators’ struggles, White said the Commodores present a variety of challenges both offensively and defensively unique from any other conference team.
“We’re not just this dominant team that is just rolling through people,” he said. “In these one-, two-, three-possession games, sometimes a poor decision … the ball bouncing, going halfway down and coming back out, sometimes that’s a factor.”
With the NCAA Tournament starting next week, Florida is going into its first March Madness in two years losing three of its last four games.
It’s not a good look.
But who am I to say the Gators won’t play well?
Remember, a two-point loss to the Commodores on Jan. 21 sparked a nine-game winning streak by UF.
Maybe this kind of loss was the kick in the butt Florida needed heading into tournament play.
“I think it’ll get us fired up,” forward Kevarrius Hayes said.
Then again, maybe it won’t.
Contact Ray Boone at rboone@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @rboone1994.
UF head coach Mike White expresses frustration during Florida's 72-62 loss to Vanderbilt in the Southeastern Conference Tournament on March 10, 2017, in Nashville, Tennessee.
