With Florida’s 89-42 drubbing of Palm Beach Atlantic in its exhibition game on Thursday, here are a few takeaways from coach Mike White’s inaugural game at the helm of the Gators.
The good: Devin Robinson had been working on his shooting all offseason.
On Thursday, it showed.
The sophomore forward went 3-of-4 from behind the arc, including multiple contested jumpers.
And Robinson wasn’t the only Gator with the hot hand from long range. Five of his teammates hit at least 40 percent of their three-point shots.
“I just took every shot like it was my last shot and tried to knock it down," Robinson said.
Florida’s freshmen backcourt also added scoring in droves. KeVaughn Allen hit two threes — one heavily contested — and Brandone Francis-Ramirez came off the bench to shoot 2-of-4 from long distance.
Overall, UF hit 40.7 percent of its three-point attempts while limiting the Sailfish to just 18.8 percent from downtown.
“Forty-one percent, I would take that for the season,” White said.
Additionally, the Gators overwhelmed their opponent on defense, forcing 30 turnovers and collecting 18 steals.
Center John Egbunu anchored UF’s frontcourt, blocking three PBAU shots and sending one 20 feet into the stands.
“It helped us defensive wise as well as offensively. We got somebody who’s big and vocal behind us guarding the paint,”redshirt senior Dorian Finney-Smith said. “I expect to see a lot of that this year.”
The bad: Florida accumulated 23 turnovers, with many of them coming as the result of a hurried pass, a bad decision or sloppy ball handling after a defensive stop.
Robinson led the team with five turnovers, followed by sophomore Chris Chiozza with three.
“If we turn the ball over that much against a good team, we’ll be down 20 points,” Finney-Smith said.
Florida’s free throw shooting left much to be desired. The team shot just 37 percent from the foul line, including an uncharacteristic 0-for-5 night from Finney-Smith.
Free throw shooting was one of White’s top priorities heading into this season. UF shot just just 63.5 percent from the foul line last year, 328th worst in the nation.
“Everyone was so hyped up, energetic,” Robinson said. “In the long run it's gonna hurt us. So we're gonna work on them and knock them down in the future."
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UF forward Devin Robinson soars for a dunk during Florida's 89-42 exhibition win against Palm Beach Atlantic on Nov. 5, 2015, in the O'Connell Center.
