Before Florida tipped off against Arkansas at the O’Connell Center on Saturday afternoon, junior Dorian Finney-Smith had an inkling that teammate Michael Frazier II would make the game-winning shot.
That’s exactly what happened.
“He told me before the game but I didn’t think anything of it until the last play,” Frazier said.
After heading to the foul line with 1.9 seconds remaining on a questionable call where Arkansas forward Alandise Harris rejected Frazier’s put-back layup attempt, Frazier drained two free throws to take the lead and seal a 57-56 win for the Gators.
With the win, the Gators improve to 12-9 on the season and 5-3 in conference play.
It was a sloppy game where both teams combined to commit 30 turnovers but Florida was able to halt the Razorbacks defensively. Arkansas only shot 40% (24-for-60) from the field and scored 25 points below their season average.
“In the game defensively we did two things; we took away the three-point line which was really important (and) we did not foul them because they are a team that gets fouled about 20 times per game,” Gator head coach Billy Donovan said. “When I say we didn’t play well, I thought we really competed in the game but we missed layups, we missed free-throws, we missed open three-point shots.”
Arkansas was paced by sophomore big man Bobby Portis, who led the Razorbacks with 21 points on 9-for-15 shooting and 10 rebounds. Michael Qualls struggled all afternoon with only five points on 2-for-10 shooting.
The Gators had their own share of offensive struggles, shooting 34.6% (18-for-52). Frazier, Kasey Hill, and Eli Carter combined to shoot a dreadful 5-for-28 on the floor. Despite the struggles, Florida was still able to stay engaged in the game.
“I was really proud of our guys in terms of a competitive standpoint,” Donovan added. “As a coach, I was proud of that. There’s been times where I’ve been very disappointed with our competitive spirit that I felt like (the players believed) it was more about the individual than it was about our team… and hopefully some way we’re moving away from that mentality.”
Finney-Smith led the team with 16 points, nine rebounds, and four assists.
“He did a lot of good things. He got caught a couple of times on drives where he’s trying to spin back into the defense and he turned it over (but) I thought he did some really good things,” Donovan said. “Some great drives to the basket (and) he finished strong.”
Next up, the Gators will try to build on their momentum when they travel to play Vanderbilt (11-10, 1-7) on Tuesday.
To listen to the audio from the story, click below:
Donovan says the team has made some strides in terms of competitiveness
Donovan on Dorian Finney-Smith’s performance