TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - On a crowded and hostile night in Alabama, the young Gators finally proved they could play with the big boys and showed their coach just how old they really can be.
The Gators, with just one player in junior Walter Hodge with any significant Southeastern Conference experience, overcame a rough start and a feverish finish to hold off Alabama 90-83 Tuesday night.
"When you're playing basketball there really is no age," freshman Jai Lucas, who scored 19 points said. "We don't feel young, and hopefully today we showed that we really aren't at all."
UF head coach Billy Donovan said he was proud of his team after the win, but remains wary moving forward.
"I'm scared to death of this," Donovan said. "I've been around too many young teams that embrace it and think it's easy and don't handle it the right way.
"You can look at this two ways. This can be a great thing in terms of confidence or momentum or it can be a team thing and we get fat and lazy."
UF looked sloppy and shaky early on, committing more turnovers (10) than assists (nine) in the first half. Guard Nick Calathes committed five himself and the Gators looked like they were struggling to stay in the game.
The Gators seemed on the ropes after a bad foul by Marreese Speights put Alabama forward Richard Hendrix on the line with just 6.5 left to play in the opening period. The Gators trailed by 10 for the second time in the game and looked despondent and discouraged.
The Gators then showed a resiliency and maturity absent during their tough games so far this season.
Jai Lucas hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer that brought UF to within seven and made his father, John Lucas II, rise to his feet for the first time in the game.
UF carried the momentum into the second half and silenced the raucous crowd when Lucas hit a 3-pointer that gave the Gators the lead at 61-59, their first all night.
The two SEC teams battled down the stretch, the young Gators never backing down and answering every Crimson Tide score and run with big play of their own.
With the score tied at 71, Florida poured on 11 straight points and never looked back.
The Gators kept the defensive pressure on, pressing the Alabama players from baseline to baseline and answering their coach's request to play harder and more inspired than their opponent.
Alabama refused to go away, pulling to within two with 24.3 left to play and bringing the crowd to its feet.
Calathes was then fouled and hit the first free throw before Dan Werner snagged the second miss and hit two from the line that sent the fans filing for the exits.
Florida native Alonzo Gee had a career day, scoring 32 points including 17 in the opening period.
Speights did a good job of corralling Hendrix early on, holding him to just two field goals for nearly the first 14 minutes. Hendrix would then explode and finish with 24 points and 16 rebounds.
Speights seemed outmatched at times. Hendrix blocked Speights twice in the first half, including a crowd-rousing stop on a dunk that led to an Alabama 3-pointer and UF timeout.
"I'm not saying (Hendrix) was Superman or anything, but he was pretty close to it," Donovan said.
