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Friday, March 29, 2024
<p dir="ltr"><span>A last-second, full-court heave to South Carolina forward Chris Silva helped the Gamecocks earn a 71-69 win over the Gators on Saturday at the O'Connell Center.</span></p>

A last-second, full-court heave to South Carolina forward Chris Silva helped the Gamecocks earn a 71-69 win over the Gators on Saturday at the O'Connell Center.

The Gators men’s basketball team finished its non-conference schedule in a respectable manner. UF squandered an opportunity to upset No. 8 Michigan State, but it took care of business against Mercer and Florida Gulf Coast before manhandling Butler on Dec. 29.

Florida avenged its only non-conference loss against an opponent not currently ranked in the AP Top 25 in the Bulldogs.

Coach Frank Martin’s South Carolina squad limped into Gainesville on Saturday night sporting a 5-7 record which included a 20-point loss to Wofford and a stumble against a 4-10 Wyoming team. It strutted out of town with a 1-0 mark in the SEC after shocking the Gators in the final minutes, winning 71-69.

Florida’s deficiencies were on full display against the Gamecocks after it showed tremendous progress during the month of December.

It was a messy and physical game, as both teams entered the double bonus early in the second half. That played to the Gamecocks’ advantage, as starters Keith Stone and Kevarrius Hayes landed in foul trouble early on. Hayes, the team’s vocal leader and most powerful presence underneath the basket, played a season-low nine minutes on Saturday.

He missed nearly the entire second half, and his absence was noticeable. South Carolina narrowed the gap in the final minutes, overcoming a 14-point Florida lead with 11:05 left in the game. When Hayes was on the court at the end, he missed what would have been the go-ahead free-throw with three seconds to play, and then proceeded to allow Gamecocks star forward Chris Silva to sneak behind him for the game-winning dunk on a home-run inbound play.

Hayes wasn’t the only Gator to struggle behind the charity stripe. Free throws have been a problem all year for UF, and it only hit 12 of 18 in the second half. This kept South Carolina in the game, and the Gamecocks took advantage of their opportunities on the other end, hitting 11 of 13 free throws in the second half.

Senior guard Jalen Hudson saw quality minutes due to early fouls from Deaundre Ballard and Stone. He managed eight points in 17 minutes but only shot 25 percent. Hudson was billed as the leader of the team during the offseason, but he hasn’t proven to be the same scorer he was last year. He lost his starting spot in November to true freshman Noah Locke and has been fighting to see the court since.

Locke, on the other hand, is quickly becoming Florida’s most consistent scorer. He hit five threes and scored 17 points against South Carolina. He still takes questionable shots, however, as he only hit five of his 16 attempts. Fifteen of those attempts were from three.

He and fellow freshmen Andrew Nembhard and Keyontae Johnson are some of the lone bright spots on the team. With veterans struggling, coach Mike White will likely require them to grow up fast, because the path only gets more difficult.

The Gators travel to Arkansas on Wednesday to play a 10-3 Razorbacks team that’s always tough to knock off in Fayetteville, and on Saturday, No. 3 Tennessee comes to Exactech Arena. The Volunteers are fresh off their most-lopsided SEC win in 53 years, drubbing Georgia 96-50.

This Florida team is not devoid of talent, but it may be time to look elsewhere for leadership. If it doesn’t, the Gators could start conference play with three losses.

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Follow Tyler Nettuno on Twitter @TylerNettuno and contact him at tnettuno@alligator.org.

 

A last-second, full-court heave to South Carolina forward Chris Silva helped the Gamecocks earn a 71-69 win over the Gators on Saturday at the O'Connell Center.

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