Coach Billy Donovan said he has been trying to get his guys to overcome the second half struggles that have plagued the Gators since the start of the season. While Florida failed to do just that against Georgetown on Wednesday, it succeeded on Thursday.
No. 18 Florida (3-2) defeated Alabama-Birmingham (2-4) 56-47 in the second game of the Battle 4 Atlantis on Paradise Island, Bahamas.
“We just go through these lulls and theses stretches,” Donovan said in a televised post-game interview. “I felt like today we did a better job coming down the stretch, defensively.”
In a game that saw seven lead changes and six ties, Florida’s largest lead of the game came in the final seconds.
Florida managed to perform when it counted most: the final two minutes. The Gators took the lead for good with 2:34 left on the clock. Florida ended the game on an 11-0 run.
Dorian Finney-Smith played his second straight game since injuring his left hand. He joined sophomore guard Kasey Hill, junior guard Michael Frazier, senior center Jon Horford and senior forward Jacob Kurtz in Florida’s starting lineup for the first time since sustaining his injury.
Eli Carter sat out on Thursday as he continues to nurse his mid-foot sprain. Carter returned to action against Georgetown on Wednesday for the first time since he sustained his injury. But the 35 minutes may have been a bit much for the redshirt junior guard, who sustained the foot injury less than a week ago.
Freshman guard Chris Chiozza was the second leading scorer in the game with 13 points in 29 minutes played. Frazier was the leader with just one more point in 37 minutes. Frazier and Chiozza also led the team in fouls with three each.
“It just gave me that confidence to know he’s gonna let me do what I have to do,” Chiozza said.
Besides his career-high point total, Chiozza also scored a career high three 3-pointers.
Next, the Gators will play their third and final game in the three-day tournament. Florida takes on No. 5 North Carolina, Chapel Hill at 8 p.m. on Friday. The meeting between the Tar Heels and the Gators is the first since the two teams met in the 2000 NCAA Final Four, from which the Gators went on to lose in the championship game.
“I don’t know all the fields of all the events, but certainly this is a really good one in terms of the level of teams and competition, and obviously a lot of representation from a lot of different leagues across the country,” Donovan said of the Battle 4 Atlantis on Monday. “I would think this would be one of the premiere ones. If it’s the best, I don’t know, but it’s certainly very good.”
Follow Erica A. Hernandez on Twitter @EricaAlyssa
Junior shooting guard Michael Frazier II drives into the paint during Florida's 61-56 win against Louisiana-Monroe in the O'Connell Center.
