Florida has dominated Southeastern Conference opponents this season, but it finally experienced the other end of the beating against Arkansas.
The Razorbacks used hot outside shooting to stun the No. 2 Gators (18-3, 8-1 SEC) 80-69 on Tuesday night in Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville, Ark., snapping UF’s 10-game winning streak.
Arkansas’ 80 points are the most Florida has allowed this season.
Before Tuesday’s contest, UF defeated SEC opponents by an average margin of 26.5 points per game.
“Winning, success, it’s really hard to handle,” coach Billy Donovan said.
“A lot of people have a hard time handling success. I thought we came out and did not play like we have played. That was the disappointing part.”
The Razorbacks (14-8, 5-4 SEC) shot 49.1 percent from the field and 44.4 percent from beyond the arc. Arkansas, the No. 12 three-point shooting team in the SEC at 29.8 percent before Tuesday, scored 7 of its 8 threes in the first 10:16.
“I put it on the board to our guys. We can’t disrespect the three-point line,” Donovan said.
“There were so many times our guys were standing there with their feet below the line in great defensive position but not even putting a hand up to alter it, to change it, to make them think twice about shooting.”
Donovan chose not to send a full-court press at Arkansas early in the game, and the Razorbacks excelled offensively in the half court and in transition.
Arkansas made 3 of its first 4 three-pointers and jumped out to a 9-2 lead.
Razorbacks forward Marshawn Powell scored nine of Arkansas’ first 21 points on 4-of-4 shooting.
For a 6-minute stretch until 9:12 remained in the first half, the Razorbacks outscored the Gators 22-5, taking a 36-13 lead. Arkansas started the game shooting 15 of 20.
The Razorbacks, who took a 43-26 lead into halftime, opened the second half on a 6-0 run. Arkansas led by as many as 27 points in the second half, but Florida cut the deficit to 13 with 3:52 remaining after an 11-2 run.
UF’s rally fell short. The Gators couldn’t hit enough shots to cut the deficit to single digits.
Florida shot 41.1 percent, including a 29.2 percent clip in the first half. Redshirt senior guard Mike Rosario recorded a team-best 15 points, while junior point guard Scottie Wilbekin scored 14 points on 5-of-15 shooting.
Senior forward Erik Murphy, the Gators’ leading scorer in SEC play before Tuesday with 14 points per game, scored nine points on 2-of-7 shooting and tallied a team-high four turnovers. Murphy drilled his only three-pointer with 8:11 remaining in the contest.
Will Yeguete left with 15:52 remaining in the first half because of discomfort caused by tendinitis in his right knee. He played 1 minute.
Junior center Patric Young tallied nine points and four rebounds but fouled out with 3:41 remaining.
With Yeguete out and Young playing only 11 minutes in the first half due to foul trouble, the Razorbacks outrebounded the Gators 20-14 before halftime and 34-33 for the game.
Florida committed 16 turnovers to Arkansas’ nine.
Razorbacks guard BJ Young tallied a team-best 13 points and five assists off the bench.
Eight Arkansas players scored at least seven points, and its bench outscored Florida’s reserves 40-12.
UF has three days to regroup before hosting Mississippi State on Saturday in the O’Connell Center.
“Sometimes getting humbled is a good thing to get us back to, ‘Who are we?’” Donovan said.
“We could have played a very good game and lost, but for our basketball team to be down to anybody by 25, 26, 28 points, that’s more of a reflection of us and not Arkansas. They played well — don’t get me wrong — but they’re not 28 points or 26 points better than us. They are when we show up like we did today.”
A radio broadcast contributed to this report.
Center Patric Young wipes his brow with a towel during a timeout in Florida’s 83-52 win against Missouri on Jan. 19 in the O’Connell Center.
