TAMPA - The room reeked of heartbreak.
As you might imagine, the St. Pete Times Forum locker room that housed the UF men's basketball team fresh off its crushing 61-58 defeat at the hands of Auburn on Friday night was not very welcoming.
It felt like a child asking his parents why they were splitting up.
There are many small reasons - a last-second loss to Auburn being the final straw - but it is never as simple as one of these.
There is always a bigger picture.
The snapshot of the Gators locker room looked something like this:
On your left sits Walter Hodge, the senior who just watched his last chance at getting back to the NCAA Tournament fall short. Next to him is Nick Calathes, the Gators' best player, who flamed out down the stretch. Panning to the right brings Dan Werner and Alex Tyus into focus, two "big" men who each played out of position yet gave their all. Then finally, directly to your right, is the inconsolable man, Erving Walker.
Hodge may feel like he failed this team and his coach. The lone holdover from the back-to-back national championship teams, he was the veteran who linked those glory years with the rebuilding ones.
But the man who has won more than anyone else in UF history couldn't turn his teammates into similar winners.
The Gators lost 10 games this season, and only one of those was by double digits (79-63 at Tennessee on Jan. 31). Eight of them were decided by 6 points or fewer.
"They need to learn how to win," coach Billy Donovan said of his team. "Just because you're a year older doesn't mean you're a year better."
As soon as Calathes confidently stated he thought his team would make the Tournament, his play sank.
He scored 34 points in UF's final four games. He had previously racked up 33 points at Kentucky on Feb. 10.
Give him credit for not making any excuses. Teams started guarding UF differently on the pick-and-roll, Calathes' bread and butter, and fatigue likely set in for the 33-minute starter.
It's hard to criticize a generally amicable guy, but you can't avoid pointing out that Calathes let his team down. That is the power of guarantees: You're a hero if you live up to them, but you must face the music if you fall short.
"The thing you love about him is Nick is such a competitor," Donovan said. "He wants to take all that on, and I'd rather have a guy like that."
Then again, it may have been Calathes' own will that effectively stopped him.
Fierce competitors hate to lose. When they fall behind or perform poorly, they push themselves harder in an attempt to will the outcome in their favor.
There is a downside to this, though, and his recent slump shows you can't always "try" your way out of a hole.
"Sometimes guys go in to a game with their mind made up of how they're going to play, and what they're going to try to do instead of allowing the game to come to themselves," Donovan said. "Nick's got to allow it to come a little bit more."
So now the Gators enter the NIT. They may go far, or they might face an early exit.
While UF tries to find its consistent, winning ways again, there may again be more sights like Friday night.
Hodge, the proven winner, comforting Walker, the clutch freshman whose potential game-tying shot had just fallen short.
I imagine he might say what a soon-to-be divorcee might:
It's not your fault. There is a bigger picture.
