It was perhaps a harder-fought victory than the Gators intended. It wasn’t glamorous, and it wasn’t without some obvious shooting deficiencies. But it was a win, regardless.
Florida didn’t need a flawless performance to hold of the Mercer Bears 71-63 at home on Tuesday. It just needed three players to reach double digits in scoring, in addition to a season high in rebounds (11) and five blocks from center Kevarrius Hayes, to get its sixth win of the season.
Freshman guard Noah Locke paced the Gators with a team-high 18 points and on 5-of-11 three-point shooting. Senior guard KeVaughn Allen added 15 more points and three assists off the bench.
Jalen Hudson, the senior guard who led the Gators in scoring a year ago, has been plagued by inefficient shooting through every one of Florida’s first nine games of the season.
But coach Mike White decided to give the Richmond, Virginia, native a chance on Tuesday after a solid week of practice. Hudson made his first start since Nov. 22 in place of Allen, but his offensive woes appeared unchanged. He only managed two points while shooting 1-for-7 from the field in his 14 minutes of action.
The Gators, however, got just enough production from everyone else to hang on in front of their home crowd, despite shooting 42 percent from the field.
Locke and Allen’s double-digit performances were met with a 10-point shooting night (2-for-7) from freshman Andrew Nembhard, whose first basket didn’t come until the second half.
That half saw the Gators earn a 16-point cushion after making 10 of their first 20 shots.
But Mercer didn’t go away, and it nearly overcame an equally abysmal shooting night to almost get the upset.
The Bears, who shot just 37.5% in the first half, only trailed by six points at the break. Their poor shooting overall seemed to be masked by the stellar performance of guard Ross Cummings, who – along with Djordje Dimitrijevic -- tested the Gators on the perimeter all game long.
Cummings led the Bears with 18 points, four buckets from deep, and he helped Mercer close the gap to a five-point margin with less than 30 seconds left to play.
But it was Nembhard, with his four assists, seven rebounds and four critical free throws, who helped Florida withstand a late surge by Mercer.
It wasn’t a high display of energy from White’s group, which is what can be attributed to Mercer’s late-game opportunities to cut the deficit. And several times throughout the game, White was seen on the sideline waving his arms, willing his team to pick up the pace.
The Gators ultimately did what they needed to do – holding advantages in rebounding, points off turnovers, blocks and points off the bench – to handle Mercer and pick up another non-conference win before they begin league play in early January.
It may be hard for this Florida program to celebrate a less-than-ideal victory over a four-win team, though, knowing the tough slate that lies ahead.
Follow Alanis Thames on Twitter @alanisthames and contact her at athames@alligator.org.
Freshman guard Noah Locke led the Gators in scoring against Mercer with 18 points, which equaled his career high.
