Coach Billy Donovan went into Columbus, Ohio, knowing his guard-laden Gators would be exposed somewhere on the court.
He said against good teams like Ohio State, it is only expected.
Much like last year’s 18-point loss to the No. 3 Buckeyes (2-0) that featured 18 giveaways, it was a bevy of turnovers that deprived the No. 7 Gators (1-1) of a marquee win in the second game of the season.
Florida committed 16 turnovers this time around and trailed by as many as 16 points Tuesday during an 81-74 loss to the Buckeyes.
“Playing on the road versus a good offensive team, you can’t do that,” Donovan said. ”The turnovers on the road certainly hurt you. It’s going to be good for our guys to watch the film. I think it is something we can learn from.”
Though the Gators shot 50 percent from three for the game, Donovan said the number of attempts would haunt the team as the turnovers mounted.
“We got off to a real good start,” Donovan said.
“We probably took too many threes … and we tried to (shoot) way too early in the possession.”
Using a spread-out set featuring four players on the perimeter in the first half, Florida stretched the young backcourt of Ohio State into open looks on 11-of-22 shooting from beyond the arc.
Freshman guard Brad Beal had a team- and career-high 17 points while going 6 for 16 from the floor. Shooting guard Kenny Boynton added 15, including three made 3-pointers. But the pair also combined for eight giveaways.
As the lone Gator in the paint for much of the game, starting sophomore center Patric Young recorded his second straight double-double with 14 points and a game-high 12 rebounds.
“Patric keeps playing, motor’s running and I was really proud of his attitude,” Donovan said.
“Our guys looked at that and said, ‘Geez, he’s only got one shot, we need to get the ball to him a little bit more.’”
Young also made an impact defensively against last year’s National Freshman of the Year, Jared Sullinger, who scored 16 points but only managed eight field goal attempts. Eight of Sullinger’s points came from the free-throw line, where the Buckeyes ended the game with a large advantage.
“The difference really in the game was they took 34 free throws to our 21, and we didn’t shoot it particularly well from the free-throw line,” Donovan said.
Half of the Gators’ 3-pointers in the first half were made by junior forward Erik Murphy, who finished the game with 14 points. After going a disappointing 2 of 9 from the field in the season opener against Jackson State, the 6-foot-10 Murphy flourished from behind the arc and was a perfect 4 for 4.
Even with Murphy’s hot shooting, the Gators hit a 6:30 stretch between halves when they didn’t make a field goal. Coupled with nine turnovers in 20 minutes, the scoring drought allowed the Buckeyes to take control of the game.
“We then started kicking it around and turning it over; then we got into a little bit of a funk where we really weren’t making shots,” Donovan said. “We needed to have more resiliency on the court, to get back and fight defensively.”
A radio broadcast contributed to this report.
Contact John Boothe at jboothe@alligator.org.
Ohio State and forward Deshaun Thomas, who finished with 15 points and six rebounds, defeated Florida, 81-74, on Tuesday in a matchup of top-10 teams.
