NEW ORLEANS -- Throughout the season, Florida has become known for its propensity to shoot the three. Still, when he heard the final stat line Friday, Patric Young couldn’t believe it.
The Gators took 52 shots from the field in a Southeastern Conference Tournament quarterfinals win against Alabama. Thirty of those came from beyond the arc.
“Geez, 30?” Young said. “Wow. That’s too many.”
For a team that entered Thursday taking a 3-point shot on 44.3 percent of its attempts, it almost was too many.
No. 4 seed Florida made 10 from long range, helping them squeak past No. 5 Alabama, 66-63, and advance to Friday’s semifinal against No. 1 seed and top-ranked Kentucky, which has already beaten UF twice this season by a combined 35 points.
Boosted by a 22-point effort from senior JaMychal Green, who was suspended during the Gators’ nine-point win over the Tide on Feb. 14, Alabama kept it close throughout and had a chance to win or at least force overtime in the final seconds.
But Green missed the second of a pair of free throws that would have tied the game at 64 with 21 seconds left to play. Florida freshman Brad Beal picked up the rebound and fed it to guard Kenny Boynton, who helped put the game away with two from the charity stripe on the other end.
“This time of year, you got to find ways to advance and move on and we did,” Florida coach Billy Donovan said. “We had some opportunities both in the first half and the second half to really extend our lead and we weren’t able to do that. … You can sometimes overcome and a tough defensive night if you make enough threes and the other team doesn’t. And I think that’s what happened today.”
A two-point game at the half quickly stretched to a 12-point Florida lead just several minutes into the second half, and it appeared the Gators would cruise into their third shot at the Wildcats. But Green and Alabama made Florida play until the end of a game in which Beal said the Gators’ defense, and not their 3-point shooting, made the difference.
After making 3 of 4 from three en route to 12 first-half points, Beal cooled considerably in the second, failing to make a 3-pointer in five more attempts. He finished with a team-high 16 points, seven rebounds and five assists.
“We had to bear down and play defense,” Beal said. “Coach always tells us, he says every night we’re not going to make a lot of shots.”
Beal’s defensive rebound after Green’s free-throw miss was admittedly huge, but Donovan pointed to two different plays as keys to the game, and both were on threes.
After Alabama evened the game at 51 with just more than six minutes to go, Boynton was fouled on a long-range shot and made all three free throws. Boynton then grabbed a steal to set up another dagger from deep, this time from reserve guard Scottie Wilbekin.
Donovan said that was the important stretch in a game Florida won despite being outshot and outrebounded and playing poor defense at times.
“Ten threes – the greatest equalizer in college basketball,” he said. “We made seven more than they did. That was the difference in the game.”
And for a team that has proven to live and die by the three, the shot will be just as important in Saturday’s matchup with Kentucky.
In two embarrassing losses to the Wildcats this season, the Gators have shot just 24.5 percent from beyond the arc. Young, who had his second-highest point output in UF’s 74-59 loss last Sunday, said he thinks things could go differently this time.
“I don’t think anybody gives us any respect when it comes to playing big-time games,” he said. “We’re always the underdog … but when we come out and we do all of the right things and play the right way, I don’t think there’s anybody we can step on the court against and lose to.”
Contact Matt Watts at mwatts@alligator.org.
Florida's Patric Young (4) dunks the ball as Alabama guard Charles Hankerson Jr. (2) watches during the second half of the Gators' 66-63 win in the SEC Tournament on Friday.
