Something’s not right with John Egbunu, and how it will be fixed is unknown.
The redshirt junior scored his first bucket of Saturday night’s contest — a ferocious, two-handed slam — nearly seven minutes deep into the second half of the Gators’ battle with the Volunteers.
It was his only basket.
And despite No. 24 Florida’s clutch performance in its 83-70 win over a physical Tennessee team in the O’Connell Center, UF’s 6-foot-11, 255-pound center registered just two points, three turnovers, four fouls and failed to grab a rebound in a season-low six minutes of action off the bench.
“I thought this was a game where he was gonna end up maybe playing a majority of the minutes,” UF coach Mike White said of Egbunu. “Foul trouble just really hurt him.”
It has been a difficult season for the native of Bauchi, Nigeria.
Egbunu has struggled since the Gators’ season first tipped off back in early November.
Now, nearly two months into the season and three games into UF’s SEC schedule, he has a season-high of 13 points — which came in Florida’s season-opener against Florida Gulf Coast — and is averaging just 8.5 points per game on 42.7 percent shooting.
And even that’s skewed.
Egbunu hasn’t reached double-digit scoring since he dropped 12 points in a 77-72 loss to then-No. 11 Gonzaga on Nov. 25.
In the seven games he’s played since, Egbunu has averaged just 6.4 points per game and is 42.1 percent from the field, and has largely taken a backseat to sophomore forward Kevarrius Hayes, who started Saturday night’s game.
However, there could be some explanation for his recent poor play.
Egbunu has been hampered by a hamstring injury that sidelined him from Florida’s matchups against Charlotte and Arkansas Little Rock, and that injury is still a major hill he’s trying to climb over.
Coach White said the injury not only kept Egbunu from playing in games, but also severely limited him in practice.
“I don’t want to give him any excuses, but … it was like a 13-day absence or whatever between games,” he said. “There was a considerable amount of days where he didn’t even run. It took him a little while to get his wind back.”
But, even with the pressures that come with adversity, White said Egbunu has maintained a great attitude through it all.
“As soon as I walked into the locker room, he was as happy as anyone,” he said. “I think John’s fine.”
Contact Ray Boone at rboone@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @rboone1994.
Florida's John Egbunu (15) reacts after drawing his fifth foul during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against Florida in the Southeastern Conference tournament in Nashville, Tenn., Friday, March 11, 2016. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
