Billy Donovan did not waste any time letting the media know who played the better game Wednesday night.
“First, I thought Auburn outplayed us,” the 18th-year coach said to open the postgame press conference. “You know, saying it like it is.”
Despite the sluggish defensive performance for the majority of the game for the Gators, whose 10 allowed threes were the most since Arkansas sunk 10 in an overtime loss, No. 2 Florida stepped up in the final minutes to snatch a 71-66 victory out of the hands of defeat.
But Donovan recognized the eight-point comeback at halftime, which was the biggest deficit at the break since UF was last ranked No. 2 on Feb. 5, 2013, couldn’t have been achieved without a hand.
“We got some help from Auburn coming down the stretch,” Donovan said.
If it wasn’t for an errant foul by the Tigers’ Asauhn Dixon-Tatum on Patric Young during a free-throw rebound, the Gators would have been forced to sink a last-second bucket or face overtime for the second time this season.
Instead, Young hit both his free throws to put Florida ahead 68-66.
And when Auburn had a chance to either tie or win the contest, it threw the following inbound pass into UF’s bench to essentially seal victory for the Gators.
Although Donovan’s team allowed zero field goals in the game’s final four minutes while hitting 8 of the last 10 free throws, luck doesn’t hurt during a 30-game home winning streak.
According to KenPom.com, Florida is the 71st luckiest team in the nation and second luckiest in the Southeastern Conference — behind Mississippi State.
“I think Auburn had a lot more bounce; they were a lot more lively; they played fearlessly ... They knew where the ball was going, what they were doing and they made plays when they needed to make plays,” Donovan said.
Despite the laundry list of things the Tigers did better than the Gators on Wednesday night, Florida is still the team up for the No. 1 spot in the country, not Auburn.
And because his team earned the win, Donovan said he was going to celebrate it. He said he and his guys are happy for every victory, no matter how ugly it could have been.
However, he added that is not going to let him stop pursuing perfection because the last minute of the game isn’t always going to work out the way the Gators like.
“They are in uncharted territory,” Donovan said of his squad. “And I’ve got to find a way to do a better job in terms of mentally getting them to play close to their potential.”
Hill doubtful: After sitting out Wednesday’s win over Auburn with a groin injury from the Kentucky contest, Kasey Hill is doubtful for Saturday’s matchup with Ole Miss on the road.
“Hill is not progressing as fast as we thought he would,” Donovan said.
The freshman point guard suffered a sprained — not a pulled — groin Saturday in Lexington, Ky., Donovan added.
Without Hill’s 23.3 minutes per game in the backcourt, the Gators were forced to play DeVon Walker 14 minutes Wednesday night, which was the most for the sophomore guard since playing 22 minutes on Jan. 14 against Georgia when Casey Prather was out with a right knee bruise.
Walk-on Jacob Kurtz also saw the floor when Michael Frazier II temporarily left the game with a right wrist injury. Kurtz’s five minutes on the court marked the first time he entered a game since playing six minutes against Texas A&M on Feb. 1.
With both Prather (ankle) and Young (knees) not at 100 percent either, both Walker and Kurtz could see more playing time in Oxford, Miss.
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Down 38-30 at the half, the Gators stormed back in the final 20 minutes behind their four seniors and the clutch three-point shooting of sophomore Michael Frazier.
Patric Young scored all 17 of his points in the second half and went 7-for-9 at the free-throw line, including hitting three within the final 20 seconds.
The Tigers had the opportunity to make their comeback down 68-66 but Allen Payne threw the inbound pass over the Gators’ bench to essentially seal UF’s 18th straight win.
With No. 1 Syracuse losing to unranked Boston College earlier that night, Florida’s victory against Auburn gave Billy Donovan’s squad the top ranking for the first time since 2007.
