NEW
ORLEANS — The shot went up, and for a moment, Florida freshman guard
Bradley Beal thought he had given Florida a late lead against No. 1
Kentucky.
“I
thought it was going down, but I felt myself hesitate a little bit,”
Beal said. “I was like ‘Dang, I hesitated because I saw two people
running at me.' I was open at first, but then I hesitated.”
That
slight hiccup was all that separated Florida from pulling off one of
its biggest upsets in school history. Instead, Kentucky escaped with a
74-71 win over the Gators to advance the Southeastern Conference
Tournament final.
Florida
(23-10) got a career-high 24 points from junior forward Erik Murphy and
20 more from Beal. But Beal's miss on an open 3-pointer from the right
corner with 1:04 left allowed Kentucky to retain its slim 68-66 lead.
From
there, Kentucky made six straight free throws to close out the game.The
Wildcats (32-1) won the game on the boards, out-rebounding Florida
39-25 with its bigger, stronger frontline.
“Offensive
rebounding late in the second half and a few of our turnovers hurt us,”
Florida coach Billy Donovan said. “But I give our guys credit. They
battled and fought to get themselves back into the game to give
themselves a chance.”
The
Gators returned home and will find out Sunday where they will play in
the NCAA Tournament. Most analysts have Florida projected as a No. 5
seed.
Beal
didn't view Florida's effort as a moral victory, considering the Gators
had lost to Kentucky by 20 points and 15 points during the regular
season.
“It
still stings, because it's a loss,” Beal said. “It doesn't matter if
it's by one point, two points, 10 points, 20 points. A loss is a loss,
but I thought effortwise we did a great job and we stuck to our game
plan.”
The
sea of Kentucky blue that filled New Orleans Arena (attendance was
18,523 with just dozens of Florida fans in the crowd) watched the Gators
open the game with a strong right hook. Florida exploited Kentucky's
weakness in transition defense, consistently beating Big Blue big men
Anthony Davis and Terrence Jones down the floor. With 4:25 left in the
first half, Florida built a 39-32 lead.
“We
knew they only played six guys,” Florida sophomore center Patric Young
said. “We knew their guys would get fatigued because they've been
playing way too many minutes all year.”
Said Beal: “That was our key. It worked a little bit. I had Kentucky guys telling me on the court, ‘Man I'm tired.' ”
But
Florida couldn't sustain its high level offensively, missing its final
eight shot attempts in the first half. Kentucky took advantage with an
8-0 run, taking a 40-39 on a 3-pointer from Davis with 15.8 seconds left
in the first half.
In
the second half, Florida regrouped, maintaining its aggressiveness on
both ends of the floor. Murphy and Beal combined for Florida's first 12
points in the second half, scoring both from the perimeter and the
paint. Murphy went 4 for 4 from 3-point range and Beal was 4 for 7.
A
Young hook shot extended Florida's lead over Kentucky to 56-51. But
then Florida hit another offensive rut. The Gators went the next 6:33
without scoring, a stretch that included four turnovers and seven
Kentucky offensive rebounds. Kentucky went on a 14-0 run during the
scoreless stretch to take a 65-56 lead.
“We
got a little complacent I guess, gave up a few rebounds,” Young said.
“We should have stepped on the gas instead of stepping on the brake,
trying to take a little rest when they saw that we were about to knock
them off. They stepped their game up, and we just settled back a little
bit and they were able to take advantage of that.”
The
Gators, though, had one final run in them. Murphy hit his fourth
3-pointer and then scored on a layup in transition to cut Kentucky's
lead to 65-61 with 3:30 left. After a Jones miss inside, Murphy scored
on another inside layup to cut Kentucky's lead to 65-63 with 2:43 lead.
“When
you have two teams at this stage in the season, meeting for the third
time, you pretty much know each other,” Murphy said. “I think that's
what kept it close, the energy and the passion that we played with.”
But
time and again, Kentucky came up with the big plays when needed. Off a
missed free throw from Kentucky point guard Marquis Teague, Davis had a
put-back dunk to put Kentucky back up 68-63. Beal answered with a
3-pointer with 1:55 left to cut Kentucky's lead to 68-66.
“We didn't give up,” Beal said. “The first two games, we kind of gave up down the stretch.”
All
five of Kentucky's starters reached double figures, led by sophomore
guard Doron Lamb's 16 points. Florida didn't have the same balance
because starting guards Kenny Boynton and Erving Walker both struggled
from the floor. Boynton had just 2 points on 1-of-9 shooting, and Walker
had 8 points on 3-of-10 shooting.
“My
shot just wasn't falling today,” Boynton said. “I did an OK job at
finding people you know, I kind of drove and passed out, but my shot
wasn't falling.
The Gators shot 50 percent (11 of 22) from 3-point range, dropping to 18-3 when they make 10 3-pointers or more.
“That's
the No. 1 team in the country and they've been that for the whole
year,” Walker said of Kentucky. “On the road, basically and to play them
to a one-possession game shows we can play with anybody if we come with
the right mind-set and right energy level.”
THREE QUESTIONS
1.
Can Florida make smart decisions driving the paint and avoid Kentucky
center Anthony Davis from becoming a factor with his shot-blocking
ability?
Davis
had just two blocks after averaging six blocks per game in his two
games against Florida. Erving Walker and Kenny Boynton were more careful
in their decision-making driving the lane. Walker did a good job making
the extra pass in penetration, drawing the big guys to him.
2.
Can Florida sophomore center Patric Young come up with another big
performance against Kentucky after a disappointing effort against
Alabama?
Young
had 10 points, but just five rebounds. He could have been more active
on the glass, but said he was trying to block out more to open up
rebounds for teammates. He was 5 of 9 from the floor and was most
effective beating Kentucky big men Anthony Davis and Terrence Jones down
the court to establish strong post position.
3. Can Florida knock down more wide-open 3-point shots and shoot the ball for a higher percentage from beyond the arc?
The
Gators were 11 for 22 from 3-point range, shooting 50 percent. It was
Florida's highest percentage from 3-point range since shooting 56.5
percent against Arkansas last Feb. 18.
