It’s
tough enough to win on the road in the Southeastern Conference, and it’s been
especially hard for the Florida Gators this season.
That’s
what made their ferocious comeback and 64-60 win at Ole Miss all the more
impressive.
Down 16
midway through the first half and by 10 at the break, UF roared back behind
defense and exemplary execution by senior point guard Erving Walker, who scored
10 points and had nine assists (one off his career) to just one turnover, as
the 14th-ranked Gators (16-4, 4-1) won their fourth straight game, including a
second on the road.
“These
guys battled and showed a level of resiliency, I’ll tell you that,” Florida
coach Billy Donovan said. “They kept their composure.”
It was
Florida’s largest halftime comeback since rallying from 10 points down on Jan.
3, 2009 against North Carolina State and its largest overall comeback since an
18-point comeback from against Alabama on Feb. 14, 2007.
Sophomore
center Patric Young came off the bench to score 15 points and grab four
rebounds. Junior guard Kenny Boynton threw in 12 points, including back-to-back
3-pointers with just over four minutes to go -- just after backup guard Mike
Rosario nailed a three to give UF its first lead since the game’s opening
moments -- and the Gators closed out the Rebels from there.
Ole Miss
(13-7, 3-3) came into the game last in the SEC in 3-point shooting at 26.6
percent, which made their 6-for-6 start from the arc all the more shocking. The
Rebels built a 20-4 lead out of the box and led 38-28 at intermission after
hitting 59.1 percent of their field goals (13 of 22), including that 100
percent from deep.
UF was
out-rebounded 41-23 by one of the league’s best teams on the glass, but the Gators
had assists on 21 of 24 field goals and finished the game with just six
turnovers, only two after halftime.
“First
things first, you have to give credit where credit is due -- they had an
incredible first half, offensively,” Donovan said of the Rebels. “I told our
guys if they do that in the second half, we would lose. That would mean we
can’t miss any of our shots.”
Needless
to say, the Rebels weren’t nearly as blistering after the break. In fact, they
came out ice cold and basically stayed that way.
Ole Miss
made just one of its first seven to start the second half, but scored on
consecutive possessions, the second a driving roller from Terrance Henry
(game-highs of 21 points, 10 rebounds) that still had the home team up by
eight, 44-36, with 13 minutes to go.
Then
came a 12-2 UF blitz, with backup point guard Scottie Wilbekin tying the game
at 46 with a three from the top of the key and Young dropping one in from the
block -- after a missed dunk on Mississippi’s end -- for Florida’s first lead
since 2-0.
The
Rebels regained the lead 52-50, but that’s when the Gators dropped those three
straight bombs (one from Rosario and two from Boynton) to go up five, and after
a timeout got a crazy slam-dunk from Young (one of his five on the night) to
push the margin to seven.
“The
shooting evened out,” Donovan said.
Ole Miss
shot just 8-for-30 (26.6 percent) in the second half, but forced Walker into
his lone turnover of the night with 18.2 seconds left and down by just
three.
That’s
when forward Will Yeguete slapped the ball away from Maurice Anieflok, who was
squared up for an open 3-pointer but curiously turned down to attempt a drive
to the basket. Yeguete swiped the ball, Bradley Beal (9 points, 4 rebounds, 3
assists) grabbed it and made one of two free throws with 9.5 seconds left to
ice the game.
“I
thought we defended them really well in the first half,” Ole Miss coach Andy
Kennedy said of a defense that limited UF to just 42 percent from the floor
and 4-for-11 on 3-point shots. “They come out and shoot 52 percent in the
second half, and for those of you who have seen us play a number of times,
that’s not who we are. ... I wish we could’ve made them do it a little less
efficiently than they did in the second half.”
That
efficiency started with Walker.
“He was
great,” Donovan said. “I thought he made some terrific decisions with dump-down
passes to Patric and some great plays to get guys open 3-point shots. That’s
his role, and he was at his best tonight.”
