Gators fall to Bulldogs to end trip in Bahamas
The offensive struggles re-emerged for the Gators on Friday evening, as Mike White's squad fell in the fifth-place game of Battle 4 Atlantis against the Butler Bulldogs, 61-54.
The Gators were hot and cold all night long, and eventually too cold to claw its way back into the contest. Florida shot 36 percent from the field, as well as 31 percent from three-point range.
However, the first half flashed some promise for the Gators. Freshman guard Andrew Nembhard was a perfect 3-of-3 from beyond the arc, while sophomore Deaundre Ballard chipped in with two triples as well.
As a team, the Gators knocked in seven first-half threes en route to a 32-27 halftime lead.
Defensively, Florida was rock solid during the first 20 minutes. At one point, the Gators didn’t allow a single field goal for over six minutes and ended the half on a 17-9 run.
However, UF eventually witnessed he hot finish to the first half come to a screeching halt.
The Gators' shooters were ice cold over the final 20 minutes of play, only making eight field goals on 27 attempts.
Over the last seven minutes of the game, UF would only make three field goals while having plenty of opportunities to get back into the game. Butler went on a four-minute scoreless drought late in the ball game, but the Gators were unable to generate any offense.
Butler would use the strong play of guard Kamar Baldwin to firmly take control in the second half. He would finish with 19 points, six rebounds and five assists.
Paul Jorgenson would also pace Butler with 16 points and three triples to go along with it.
UF's upperclassmen were nowhere to be found once again. Jalen Hudson started the game on the bench and could never get anything going from the field, finishing with two points on five attempts.
Senior KeVaughn Allen had three points and didn’t score a field goal until less than a minute to go in the game.
The underclassmen stood out though. Nembhard would finish with 11 points and seven assists while not committing a single turnover.
Ballard finished with 11 points, while Kevarrius Hayes recorded nine points and a team-high six rebounds.
The road ahead doesn’t get any easier for the Gators either.
After hosting North Florida on Tueday, the Gators will then travel to New York to battle West Virginia before returning home against Michigan State. The offensive struggles will need to be fixed if Florida wants to be competitive with higher-level competition.
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