As Keenan Evans’ pass soared through the air, the hopes of the Gators men’s basketball team advancing to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament flew with it.
Texas Tech guard Zhaire Smith dunked the ball in the final minute of the game, completing the alley-oop and crushing Florida’s chances of another deep postseason run.
This time, there was no heroic buzzer-beating shot. There were no celebration from the Gators. In the second round of the NCAA Tournament, Florida fell to Texas Tech 69-66 in Dallas, ending the Gators’ 2017-18 season.
Guard Jalen Hudson led UF (21-13) with 23 points on 8-of-16 shooting. Teammates Egor Koulechov and Chris Chiozza finished with 12 and 11 points, respectively.
The first half featured back-and-forth action throughout, as both Texas Tech and Florida traded buckets and found success on the boards.
Led by 10 points from Koulechov, the Gators shot 46.7 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes of play. Hudson contributed eight points, followed by Chiozza’s seven. The Red Raiders, on the other hand, shot 40.6 percent from the field, thanks to an eight-point performance by Evans on 3-of-6 shooting. Both teams recorded 19 rebounds.
For the first four and a half minutes of the game, Florida couldn’t secure a lead. A three-pointer and a layup from Hudson helped the Gators tie the score at nine apiece. After trading a Chiozza layup for a Red Raider three-pointer, Florida trailed 12-11.
However, a three-pointer from Koulechov and layups from guards KeVaughn Allen and Mike Okauru and forward Keith Stone put the Gators ahead 20-14.
Texas Tech didn’t respond until the 9:05 mark. Smith and and guard Jarrett Culver led Texas Tech on a 10-0 run to go ahead 29-26. Both teams hovered around a tie, but a last second tip-in by Koulechov gave the Gators a 33-32 lead at halftime.
Foul trouble plagued the Gators in the second half. When Chiozza picked up his fourth foul with 13 minutes left in the half, Florida had to turn to freshman Mike Okauru to play extensive minutes in the veteran guard’s place. By that time, both Hudson and center Kevarrius Hayes had also recorded three fouls.
That foul trouble forced the Gators to play carefully on defense. That lapse allowed the Red Raiders to begin to pull away. With the scored tied at 48-all, three layups from Evans and a tip-in from Smith gave Texas Tech an eight-point lead with 7:53 left.
Despite falling behind, Florida stayed in the game. The Gators never trailed by more than five in the final seven minutes thanks to Hudson. The redshirt junior scored seven points during that span for UF to keep it close, including a jump shot while he was fouled to reduce UF’s deficit to two points with 3:29 left. A Koulechov layup tied the game at 64-64 several plays later.
But while the Gators continued to fight back, the Red Raiders did just enough to stay ahead. On the next possession, Evans drained a three-pointer, then forward Zach Smith blocked a Hudson layup off the backboard with two minutes remaining.
Down by three with a minute left, Florida looked for Hayes on the inside, but after the Red Raiders stripped the ball, Hayes forced the ball to Koulechov on the outside, who airballed a three-point attempt.
Texas Tech made the Gators pay with an alley-oop from Smith to go up by five with 32 seconds left, dashing Florida’s NCAA Tournament hopes as the ball was slammed through the net.
Follow Jake Dreilinger on Twitter @DreilingerJake and contact him at jdreilinger@alligator.org.
Guard Jalen Hudson led the Gators with 23 points off of 50 percent shooting in Florida's Round of 32 loss to Texas Tech on Saturday
