So far, so good.
UF kept its Southeastern Conference record perfect with a 72-56 win over Auburn Saturday at home, despite being outrebounded, outhustled and generally outplayed for most of the game.
An 11-0 closing run made it look like an easy victory for the Gators (15-2, 2-0 SEC), who trailed by as much as seven early on.
Freshman guard Jai Lucas poured in 7 consecutive points in UF?s late run to close out any hope Auburn (9-5, 0-2 SEC) had of an upset. He finished with 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting, while hitting 2 of 3 from beyond the arc.
BJai is just a great player,C UF forward Dan Werner said. BHe understands the game so well - when to go, when not to go, when to pass, when to shoot. He?s been around basketball his whole life.C
Werner turned in an equally impressive effort - 11 points and 5 rebounds - on an injured ankle that kept him out of the starting lineup. As always, his biggest contributions weren?t captured on the stat sheet.
His presence helped the Gators overcome a minus-10 rebounding margin in the first half by providing scrappy play that led to fast breaks and easy points in the paint.
BI?m a guy that has to go bang people around or maybe hit somebody in the mouth, I don?t know,C Werner said. BDive on the ground for loose balls, put in a bucket here and there, knock down open shots and pass the ball. That?s what my role is.C
Werner missed two days of practice this week and was replaced by Jonathan Mitchell in the starting lineup. Coach Billy Donovan even compared Werner?s gutsy play with Al Horford?s regular-season game against Ohio State last season when he overcame an ankle sprain to produce 11 points.
BI didn?t know what to expect,C Donovan said. B(Werner) couldn?t run, couldn?t even shoot.
BThe only thing I worry about with Dan, more so than anything else, is does he now think the rest of the season he can ride the bike and just play in games?C he joked.
The opening minutes were dominated by Auburn forward Quan Prowell, who finished with 13 points and 9 boards to lead the Tigers. UF quickly fell behind 7-0 but climbed back into the game and traded baskets with Auburn for most of the first half.
Despite starting the contest 1-for-10 on 3-pointers, the Gators took a 33-29 lead into the locker room.
A halftime decision to employ a full-court press enabled UF to control the game?s tempo and led to six Auburn turnovers in the first seven minutes. The Gators also held Auburn to just one offensive rebound in the second half after giving up 11 in the first.
BI think (the press) helps our game to go up and down,C said guard Nick Calathes, who scored 16 points and went 4-of-8 from long range. BWe want to be an up-and-down team, so our press definitely helped a lot. (Donovan) just said we have to box out, or we?re not going to win this game.C
The turnaround coincided with the play of center Marreese Speights. Speights started slowly but picked up steam as the game went on to score 14 points and nab 8 rebounds.
As with most young teams, the Gators told a tale of two halves, but managed to overcome their inconsistencies by playing as a team rather than each player trying to take over out of frustration, something that impressed Donovan.
BRight now, them trying to play to win is maybe a little bit higher than their own selfish, personal things,C he said. BThat can change. They have to keep that mentality because they want to do the right thing for each other.C
