Florida guard KeVaughn Allen remained impossibly composed. Despite having just launched the ball 65 feet through the air to connect on a first-half buzzer beater, he wore his usual collected, serious expression.
It doesn’t get any easier for Mike White and the Gators.
The number two appeared in the box score numerous times after Thursday night’s Florida women’s basketball game.
Chris Chiozza received an inbound pass and drove toward the basket. Down by five with 25 seconds remaining in the contest, the senior guard sprinted by two defenders as he made a beeline for the hoop.
When seniors Haley Lorenzen and Paulina Hersler hear the buzzer sound for the final time as members of Florida’s women’s basketball team, they will leave a gaping hole in UF’s starting frontcourt.
Florida guard Deaundre Ballard held his hands high above his head, less like a defender and more like a helpless victim signaling his surrender. Tennessee forward Grant Williams pushed him back and back until Ballard looked straight up from under the rim — arms still locked — and watched the ball fall gently through the net.
Florida men’s basketball coach Mike White stripped himself of certain formalities before Monday’s practice.
There wasn’t a particular moment one could point to that swung the momentum of the game. There wasn’t a slick crossover or a single bucket or rebound that signaled it would be Florida’s day.
As Vanderbilt guard Riley LaChance’s second free-throw attempt bounced off the rim, guard Joe Toye sprinted into position, jumped up and brought down the rebound. With 2:04 left in the game and down by only one point, the Commodores had another chance to take the lead.
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A hand in her face didn’t stop Dyandria Anderson. From the left wing of the three-point line, the senior guard shot over her defender, finding nothing but the bottom of the net and giving Florida a 16-point lead midway through the third quarter.
Consistency.
Down 71-68 with 8.9 seconds left, the Gators had a chance to tie the score.
With just over a minute left in the fourth quarter and the Florida women’s basketball team down by one possession, Texas A&M had the ball. From the right wing, freshman Chennedy Carter pulled up from three and watched as her shot fell through the basket.
When Yante Maten drilled his second three-pointer in 12 seconds, another Florida lead died. The 11-point advantage the Gators built crumbled during a furious Georgia comeback, a loss Florida coach Mike White called as tough as any he’d experienced.
At the beginning of the regular season, Florida men’s basketball coach Mike White relayed to the media what team doctors were telling him about injured center John Egbunu. Late January was the targeted time period for the redshirt senior’s return.
Georgia forward Pape Diatta raced toward the right corner of the court and collected a rebound off his own missed three-pointer with 6:11 left in the second half.
Nursing a six-point lead with 17 seconds left to play, the Gators men’s basketball team gave up a three-point shot to Georgia forward Yante Maten. Florida still led 59-56.
If the Gators women’s basketball team was disappointed following its fifth consecutive loss of SEC play on Sunday, it hardly showed. Instead, coach Cameron Newbauer and his players talked about the fight and pride that has been a staple of postgame press conferences and pre-practice soundbites all season long.
More than three quarters of the way through a season filled with highs and lows, the Florida men’s basketball team faces Georgia tonight at 9 in the O’Connell Center in the teams’ second meeting of the year. The Gators (17-8, 8-4 SEC) fell 72-60 at Georgia (13-11, 4-8 SEC) on Jan. 30, their second of three straight SEC losses, but enter tonight’s matchup riding momentum from convincing wins over LSU and South Carolina. Here are three things to look for in tonight’s rematch, which will air on the SEC Network.
Solutions by The State News
