Losing a game is one thing. Losing in the exact same way, over and over again, has to be torturous for Florida men’s basketball coach Mike White.
Florida’s defense has been strong all season, and the Gators are rarely out of the game late as a result. The offense hasn’t matched that effort, however, and it has cost them multiple winnable games this season.
It cost them once again on Saturday, as Florida fell to TCU 55-50 in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge, despite only allowing the Horned Frogs to shoot 27.3 percent in the second half.
TCU (15-4) begged the Gators to assert control of the game. Florida (11-8) had chances aplenty to take the lead. It was gifted 12 second-half turnovers but managed only seven points off those giveaways.
White will surely be frustrated with the way the Gators lost, but were it not for an impressive second half defensive effort, the outcome could have been much, much worse.
Florida looked outclassed in the opening minutes of the game. It looked like it didn’t belong in Schollmaier Arena.
UF shot 1-of-15 in the first 11 minutes, allowing TCU to jump out to an 18-3 lead. The Gators turned the ball over seven times in that stretch.
But then, the shots began to fall for Florida. It ended the half shooting 50 percent and cut the Horned Frogs’ lead to 12 at the break.
The Gators looked like a different team coming out of the locker room.
They tied the game at 34 on a 14-2 run to open the second period. UF couldn’t take control though, allowing TCU to maintain a close lead for most of the second half. The Gators never led in the loss.
TCU’s size presented a major problem for Florida. The Frogs out-rebounded Florida 45-33. Kouat Noi, a 6-foot-7 forward from Australia, dominated in the absence of Keith Stone. He scored 22 points, while 6-foot-5 guard Desmond Bane scored 17.
Only one Florida player, KeVaughn Allen, scored double figures (11 points). Freshman guard Noah Locke, fresh off a career-high 27-point performance against Texas A&M, only managed seven points and shot 2-of-9. He missed a contested three early in the play clock when the Gators trailed by four with under a minute to go, forcing them to start fouling.
Freshman Keyontae Johnson may have only scored nine points, but his eight rebounds demonstrated the all-around player he is quickly becoming.
It was a missed opportunity to earn what would have been the best win of the season for Florida, but the Gators can’t afford to dwell on what could have been in their sabbatical from SEC play.
The next four games are about as tough as they get. No. 20 Ole Miss, who lost by 14 to No. 24 Iowa State in their inter-league game, comes to Gainesville on Wednesday night, followed by a home game against No. 8 Kentucky before the Gators hit the road to play No. 16 Auburn and No. 1 Tennessee.
For better or for worse, Florida should have all the answers it needs by the end of that stretch.
Follow Tyler Nettuno on Twitter @TylerNettuno and contact him at tnettuno@alligator.org.
Freshman Keyontae Johnson scored just nine points but pulled down a team-high eight rebounds in the Gators' 55-50 loss to TCU in Saturday's SEC/Big 12 Challenge.
