A second-half barrage saved the Gators from a devastating home loss to Texas A&M on Tuesday night. No UF player had scored 20 points in a game this season heading into the matchup with the Aggies, but KeVaughn Allen and Noah Locke scored 31 and 27, respectively.
Florida overcame a 13-point halftime deficit to secure back-to-back conference wins and get back to a .500 record in the SEC. It was the best half of basketball the Gators have played this season.
The team showed just how dangerous its offense can be when threes are falling, as it shot 54.9 percent in the second half and earned an 81-72 win. Locke and fellow freshmen Andrew Nembhard and Keyontae Johnson are quickly taking over the team, with fourth-year junior Keith Stone out for the rest of the season with a torn ACL. Their play has to thrill coach Mike White.
It was a huge step in the right direction for Florida, without a doubt. But make no mistake, UF is still in a very tenuous position.
The Gators are currently in Joe Lunardi’s “Last Four In” despite having seven losses on their resume. A major reason for this is the affection advanced analytics seem to have for UF. Florida is ranked No. 37 in the NCAA’s NET rankings, and it’s understandable why. None of Florida’s losses are embarrassing, after all.
It’s hard to fault UF too much for its effort in hard-fought losses to current No. 6 Michigan State and No. 1 Tennessee. Even a two-point home loss to a South Carolina team that had a losing record at the time looks a lot better just a few weeks later. The Gamecocks are now 5-1 in the SEC and upset No. 16 Auburn on Tuesday night.
This all makes sense. Florida’s schedule has been brutal so far, and the Gators are better than their record indicates as a result. But that doesn’t mean Florida should feel confident its name will be called on Selection Sunday.
Far from it.
UF needs to show that its offensive performance against Texas A&M was no aberration, because the upcoming schedule is relentless. On Saturday, Florida will travel to Fort Worth, Texas, to play TCU in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge. The Horned Frogs are coming off a 65-61 win over Texas and recently beat West Virginia by 31 points. The Gators struggled to beat the Mountaineers in December.
After that, Florida plays a stretch of four ranked teams in a row. Ole Miss and Kentucky travel to the O’Connell Center, and then the Gators will take on Auburn and Tennessee on the road. Realistically, Florida needs to win two of these games, and that isn’t going to be easy.
The magic number for the Gators is 10 SEC wins, meaning they would need to finish 7-5 in their remaining league games. This should be doable, but the margin for error is minimal. Florida can’t afford to lose another game to an average team. In fact, it probably needs to score a win against a team it shouldn’t beat, like the No. 8 Wildcats at home. Regardless, it seems the Gators are doomed to be sitting on the bubble for the remainder of the year.
White hopes that his team has turned a corner, and it’s possible it has. But if not, UF could be watching the festivities from home or in the NIT come March.
Tyler Nettuno is a sports writer for the Alligator. Follow him on Twitter @TylerNettuno or contact him at tnettuno@alligator.org.
Freshman guard Noahe Locke is the Gators' second-leading scorer this season, averaging 11.4 points per game. He scored a career-high 27 points against Texas A&M on Tuesday Night.
