Florida's two-game winning streak in SEC play and the built-up momentum that came along with it were simultaneously thrashed after 40 minutes of basketball at Coleman Coliseum on Tuesday night.
The Gators were outplayed and outmuscled by a very physical Alabama team that was playing its best basketball coming into the contest as well.
UF gave up a season-high 86 points, 44 rebounds and 15 offensive boards, while simultaneously shooting its worst two-point percentage of the season at 38 percent (18 of 48) on offense.
Those numbers coupled with four Alabama players scoring at least 15 points led to the 86-71 road loss for Florida.
"I thought (Alabama) played harder than us," UF coach Mike White said. "They were really good on the offensive glass, they were better at changing ends, both offensively and defensively. We tried to make it interesting early second half, but it got away from us. Our transition defense really hurt us."
Usually a team that plays with high energy for a full 40 minutes of play, the Gators slowed down toward the end of the first half of a competitive game, and that allowed for Bama to balloon its lead to seven at the break.
The Crimson Tide shot just 15 of 33 through the first 20 minutes, but 11 offensive rebounds under the glass led to 12 second-chance points. That combined with UF's 5-of-10 performance from the free-throw line allowed Bama to jump out to a sizeable lead.
Despite the halftime deficit, Colin Castleton (nine points and five rebounds) and Noah Locke (eight points, 2-of-2 from three) played well to give Florida a shot to come back in the second half.
That comeback was off to a great start after an initial 7-0 run was put together by the Gators a minute and a half into the second period. That spurt tied the matchup at 39, seemingly giving White's team a spark it needed to last deep into the second half.
The Crimson Tide quickly deleted any hope of that however, imposing their will for the next five and a half minutes by going on a 20-4 run, which all but ended any chance Florida had of mounting a comeback.
"College basketball is full of runs," Tre Mann said. "They had a bigger run than we had. We were focused for two minutes, and then we went right back to where we were in the first half. It's just effort, energy and attention to detail."
Mann and White both admitted Alabama played harder and were tougher on Tuesday night, and that was evident both on the floor and in the box score.
Alabama scored twice as many free throws than Florida, outrebounded the Gators 44-39 and outscored UF in the paint, 46-28.
On a positive note, Florida did manage to have four players in double digits with Tyree Appleby scoring a season-high 18 points on Tuesday night.
UF will now look to fix some things with a struggling Kentucky (3-6, 2-0 SEC) coming into Exactech Arena on Saturday.
"We got a lot to work on," White said. "We're kind of limping into a day off tomorrow into another quick turn (on Saturday). I wish we had a couple weeks to prepare for the next one."
Stay tuned to GatorsTerritory.
