GAINESVILLE, Fla.-- The No. 6 Florida men’s basketball team was brought down to earth on Sunday.
"I feel like we had a lot of hype behind our name so it probably got to like some of the players, like me as well," forward Keyontae Johnson said. "Saying that we was a top ranked team. This game can like show us that we really not that good, like we’ve got room to improve on.”
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The Gators was certainly humbled against Florida State. The Noles came to Gainesville and beat the home side 63-51- dictating the game from start to finish.
"The reality is we've got a talented senior, we have three sophomores that honestly came off 16 losses, we have two juniors that are hurt, we have five freshman that have no idea how to play a high-level game. And you've got a coach who did a horrible job today, especially offensively," said a candid Gators head coach Mike White. "That's who we are. So them, ranking this and that, hype this and that, when our kids go to class on Monday they're going to be told how bad they are."
Florida looked unprepared for the Seminoles' physicality, and the Gators simply had no answer offensively.
They were outmuscled. They were outmatched.
"More than anything I’ve got to do a better job of putting these guys in position offensively," White said.
The team looked frustrated and sometimes looked like they were even hesitant to shoot. UF shot just 28% from the floor and 18.2% from three-point range.
“They’re a great defensive team," forward Kerry Blackshear said. "Their coaching shows throughout each and every player that steps on the floor. They play hard, gritty guys and that’s why they’re going to be one of the top-four teams in their league every year.”
On the flip side, Florida left Florida State shooters wide open in the second half - the Noles shooting 45.2% and 50% from three-point range.
"Defensively we weren’t as sharp there, really throughout the entire second half, all the way until the last five minutes of the game," said White. "We gave up a couple of three balls with no one within no more than 15 feet within of guys, and we’ve got two players guarding one guy on the other side of the floor. Just a complete lack of communication and discipline.
"As we struggled to score it affected our defense, as well. We weren’t very good. I wasn’t very good, period.”
White was not a believer of the hype around the program. In every opportunity with the media this preseason and early this season, he has made mention that this team needed to ignore the rankings.
They needed to focus on their improvement.
You can bet after this loss, White will be preaching that same line each and every day.
With several new faces, everyone was expecting some growing pains coming into the season.
"Yeah, absolutely," White said. "We were hopeful that in this one, you’d get over this one and if you played really, really well you could end the streak. I tell our guys at practice all the time how far away we are, whether they believe me or not."
Well White certainly will hope that his team will rebound quickly. Although his seat is not quite hot, the fifth-year coach will certainly be closely watched moving forward.
This game was a wake up call for White and his team.
"We know there are a lot of things that we need to work on," Blackshear said. "Playing that game makes it more evident for us. It can be a big wake-up call and it can show how this team can come together rather than splinter."
"Our whole team’s mad, like we was all silent in the locker room," added Johnson. "I feel like we gonna come back Monday and really aggressive practice.”
