The Florida men’s basketball team (3-4) was outscored by 21 points in the second half on its way to being defeated by the Kansas Jayhawks (6-1) 71-65 at Allen Fieldhouse on Friday night.
Florida led by 15 points after a sharp shooting first half, and by as many as 18 points in the game. But the Gators scored just 20 points in the last 16 minutes on their way to defeat, including a nine minute stretch without a made field goal.
The Gators’ shot 43 percent from the field and just 34 percent in the second half, as their offense continued to be inconsistent. Florida came into the contest shooting just 38 percent and scoring just 63.5 points per game on the season, which ranked 306th and 260th respectively out of 351 NCAA Division I teams.
However it was the defense that let the Gators down against Kansas. After allowing just 24 points in the first half, Florida gave up 47 in the second half. Fouls were an issue, as the team allowed the Jayhawks to go to the free throw line 32 times, where Kansas was able to convert on 27 of its tries.
“You know for us I think it’s been a little bit of a theme,” Gator coach Billy Donovan said. “We’ve had some practices, but very similar situation to Miami at home (where Florida had a 14 point lead late) but we just defensively fall apart.”
Forwards Devin Robinson and Chris Walker were bright spots for Florida. Both registered career-highs in points, with Robinson scoring 13 and Walker putting up 12 points.
“Chris Walker got better,” said Donovan. “It was a real, real difficult, challenging week for him this last week coming out of the Bahamas. You know he got confronted and challenged, and I give Chris a lot of credit. He responded and he’s starting to get better and starting to see how hard he’s got to play.”
“Devin Robinson, again, had some very difficult shooting (in past games),” added Donovan. “We spent a lot of time working with him shooting the basketball, he was 4 for 9, 2 of 3 from the three point line. So it’s good to see hard work pay off for him.”
Despite the seemingly spirit-breaking loss, the game wasn’t a complete loss to Donovan.
“The one encouraging part for me…is you know from a competitive standpoint, if our guys can view this the right way, and hopefully as coaches we can help them, these are the greatest valuable learning experiences to really understand what goes into winning,” he said.
Guard Wayne Selden Jr. led Kansas to the victory, scoring 21 points while making 9 of 15 shots from the field.
Next up for Florida is a home game against the Yale Bulldogs (8-2) on Monday, a team that just upset defending national champion Connecticut. Tip off Monday is set for 7 PM, with coverage starting at 6:25 PM on Country 103.7 The Gator.
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