With three of its starters ailing, Florida needed forward Dorian Finney-Smith to step into a starting role for only the second time this year and produce against Arkansas.
By the time the buzzer sounded Saturday in Fayetteville, Ark., Finney-Smith had the most productive stat line of his college career — 22 points on 7-of-15 shooting, 15 rebounds, three assists and three steals.
"I just wanted to come out here with a lot of energy," Finney-Smith said. "I knew the crowd was going to bring a lot of energy. I just wanted to match that."
During the No. 10 Gators’ 84-82 overtime win against the Razorbacks in front of a raucous crowd in Bud Walton Arena, Finney-Smith logged a career-high 42 minutes in the absence of senior forward Casey Prather, who was out Saturday with a bone bruise on his right knee.
Finney-Smith had nine points and seven rebounds at halftime, but the Virginia Tech transfer’s first half was not smooth sailing. He committed three turnovers after mishandling the ball twice and charging into the lane once.
Normally, early mistakes like these would rattle Finney-Smith.
"The one guy who I’ve tried to instill just a belief of confidence in is Doe-Doe," coach Billy Donovan said. "Just be aggressive, play through mistakes. … He takes things so personal when he doesn’t do what he feels he should be doing out there and he gets down sometimes with himself on that, and sometimes it drains his energy."
But Finney-Smith was one of the most energetic and composed players on the floor during the second half and overtime Saturday.
Playing the game’s final 18:34, Finney-Smith made key plays for the Gators down the stretch.
With 2:39 left in overtime, Finney-Smith bailed out freshman point guard Kasey Hill, who had the ball stolen by Razorbacks forward Bobby Portis while taking it up half court. But seconds later, Finney-Smith intercepted Portis’ bounce pass intended for an Arkansas teammate.
Finney-Smith then earned a trip to the charity stripe on the next play, sinking 1 of 2 free throws to give UF a 72-69 lead.
Thirty-seven seconds later, Finney-Smith drained an open three from the left wing to lift the Gators to a 75-69 lead – their largest advantage of the game at that point. Despite missing a three-point attempt late in regulation, Finney-Smith was not hesitant to pull the trigger in that situation.
After Finney-Smith’s confident performance Saturday, his coach was left impressed.
"He’s always been a phenomenal rebounder, and he did a good job of rebounding the ball [Saturday}, but it was good to see him make some shots and put it on the floor," Donovan said.
"He did a lot of different things for us. I was really happy for him personally.
"We’re going to need for him to continue to grow and develop."
A radio broadcast contributed to this report.
Follow Landon Watnick on Twitter @LandonWatnick
Florida forward Dorian Finney-Smith talks to a ref about a call during No. 19 Florida's 67-61 win against No. 13 Kansas on Dec. 10 in the O'Connell Center.
