The Gators traveled to Oxford, Miss., with the memory of Marshall Henderson’s Gator chomping spectacle on their minds.
But after days of watching video on loop in their locker room of the candid guard’s celebration from Ole Miss’ victory against Florida in last year’s Southeastern Conference Tournament final, the Gators finally exacted their revenge on the Rebels on Saturday afternoon.
Despite allowing Henderson to score 22 points on 7-of-14 shooting by halftime, No. 2 Florida (25-2, 13-0 SEC) held him scoreless on 0-of-6 second-half shooting to win 75-71 in the Tad Smith Coliseum.
“We played a much better second half,” coach Billy Donovan said. “Henderson made some really, really difficult, tough shots, to his credit. But there were a couple times we did not guard him correctly and didn’t do the right things, and we let him get going.”
Henderson put on a show in the first half and carried the Rebels (16-11, 7-7 SEC) offensively by making 5 of his 11 three-point attempts in the contest’s first 20 minutes. The senior scored six straight points — notching a four-point play and then a layup after a steal from Derrick Millinghaus in the backcourt — to make it even at 24-24 with 9:06 in the first half.
Ole Miss, which shot 6 of 13 from downtown in the first half, then finished the half on an 18-8 run to tie it up at 42 at halftime. It was the sixth straight game Florida had either trailed or stood tied with an opponent at halftime.
But in the second half, Florida tightened up defensively and contained Henderson and the Rebels’ hot shooting.
After a tight 12 minutes of action that did not see a team lead by more than three points, Florida began to pull away. Fueled by a dunk from Patric Young, a jumper by Casey Prather and three made free throws — two coming from Young — Florida went on a 7-0 run to take a 66-59 lead with 4:08 left. Following the 8:04 mark, UF held Ole Miss scoreless for about four minutes.
But with 3:11 in regulation, Michael Frazier II gave UF its largest lead (71-63) since the first half by burying a three-pointer from the right wing. Scottie Wilbekin then sunk a runner down the right lane on the next possession to give UF a comfortable 73-65 advantage with 2:23 left.
“We did a good job of executing offensively,” Donovan said. “Scottie had a nice runner in the lane, which was good. We did some good interior passing. Patric knocked down his free throws. It was good to see him do that.”
Wilbekin led the way with 18 points on 6-of-12 shooting and seven assists against five turnovers, while Frazier added 17 points on 5-of-10 three-point shooting.
Florida’s 25-2 start to the year is its best in school history, and its 19th straight win continues a school record. After today’s win, the Gators are in good position to be ranked No. 1 in Monday’s AP poll for the first time since February 2007.
UF plays its next game on the road in Nashville, Tenn., against Vanderbilt on Tuesday night at 7.
“This is a hard stretch for us,” Donovan said. “When you talk about having to play Wednesday, Saturday, Tuesday, you go a long period of time without a break and it’s one game after another. And it’s games against teams we haven’t seen before, so there’s a lot to get these guys familiar with.”
A radio broadcast contributed to this report.
Follow Landon Watnick on Twitter @LandonWatnick
Scottie Wilbekin is guarded by Ole Miss' Jarvis Summers, left, and Marshall Henderson in No. 2 Florida's 75-71 victory on Saturday.
