ATLANTA — UF’s bench did not provide much production Saturday, and it’s something Billy Donovan cannot be too happy about.
During No. 1 seed Florida’s 56-49 win against No. 4 seed Tennessee in the Southeastern Conference Tournament semifinals in the Georgia Dome, the Gators’ bench combined for five points on 2-of-7 shooting, four rebounds, one assist and three turnovers.
“I thought our struggle today was we did not get great productivity off of our bench and we had to sub,” Donovan said. “When we sub, that's when I thought Tennessee went on a run.”
When Donovan began playing subs Dorian Finney-Smith, Kasey Hill, Chris Walker and DeVon Walker during the first half, Tennessee eventually went on a 14-4 run over a span of about five minutes to lead 19-13 at the 11-minute mark.
Donovan eventually shortened his bench during the second half. Florida starters Michael Frazier II, Casey Prather, Scottie Wilbekin and Patric Young each logged 30-plus minutes.
“There were not a lot of guys that absorbed a lot of minutes,” Donovan said. “We played with a veteran group out there, kind of.”
Finney-Smith, the SEC Sixth Man of the Year, went scoreless on 0-of-2 shooting in 22 minutes of action Saturday. He picked up his fifth foul and exited the contest with 4:03 left, leaving the Gators thin across the frontline.
Chris Walker did not provide much impact, either. He was responsible for a few defensive breakdowns and airballed his only field-goal attempt against the Vols.
A play after missing the shot, he was taken out of the game. After that, he would play only the final 49 seconds of the first half and not see the court in the second half.
“Would have liked to have gotten Chris Walker a few more minutes,” Donovan said. “We tried to play him early in the game, but I thought he had a hard time defensively with a lot of their actions they were running.”
Hill had all five of the bench’s points, but he played only 13 minutes in the contest. Until checking into the game with about a second remaining, he sat out for 11:38 and was not an integral piece in Florida’s late surge.
DeVon Walker made an athletic block on UT guard Derek Reese, which resulted in a layup on the other end by Hill. But aside from that, the sophomore wing did not log any other stats.
Luckily for Florida, Tennessee’s bench was also not very productive, as it scored only five points on 2-of-7 shooting as well. But Florida might not be that fortunate Sunday at 3:15 p.m. against No. 2 seed Kentucky in the tournament final if its bench doesn’t set up to the plate.
“Tomorrow, we're going to have to use more of our bench,” Donovan said. “We're going to need to get more productivity out of our bench — not necessarily scoring.”
Follow Landon Watnick on Twitter @LandonWatnick.
Kasey Hill attempts a free throw during Florida's 56-49 win against Tennessee on Saturday in the Georgia Dome. Hill scored all five of the Gators' points off the bench against the Volunteers.
