GAINESVILLE, Fla.-- Florida basketball does not have time to relive the 21-point comeback against Alabama.
The Gators need come back to earth and quick.
"You better or you're not going to have any success [Tuesday] night," said Mike White on Monday.
White and his team will travel to Columbia on Tuesday to face South Carolina.
"We started talking about that game immediately after the game in the locker room," explained the Florida head coach. "We have to get some sleep. We have to manage our phones tonight. This is 2020. We’re talking about guys’ phones. It occupies a lot of their time. You don’t turn your phone off at a certain time, you’re not going to get any sleep. We got to get sleep, got to get rest. We got to hydrate. On to the next one."
"Just understanding that it’s a long season and that we have 17 more of those type of games left," said senior Kerry Blackshear. "Tat was a hard fought one but we still play a high quality team on the road so I think that will humble you pretty fast."
"Hopefully our guys are bought into the scouting report and having a good practice, just to give us a chance up there," said White.
Just like Florida, South Carolina has also had its fair share of ups and downs this season.
The Gamecocks are playing for the first since losing at home to Stetson, which was eight days after Frank Martin's team beat a ninth-ranked Virginia on the road - scoring 70 points against a stout UVA defense.
"I just think it's college basketball as a whole and this year in particular. I've never seen something like this year," said White. "Everybody's talking about it. I haven't studied the numbers. I can't imagine there's been a year where there's been this many upsets and this many crazy outcomes -- for whatever reasons. I guess that's another conversation. With these guys, they've proven they can play with anybody in the country. To go on the road and win at Clemson and go on the road and win at Virginia, that's who we're anticipating playing against -- a team that's year-in and year-out really competitive in this league, a Final Four program.
"Their big kid (Maik) Kotsar played in a Final Four and he's still there. That's the program and the team that we're anticipating going up against. The other game I just think was a fluke. Credit Donnie and those guys. Stuff happens in college basketball; that was just one of those games."
Kotsar is an active rebounder that is shooting at a 51 percent clip, while AJ Lawson will be a name to watch offensively.
Lawson, who played with Andrew Nembhard on Team Canada, is averaging 15.5 per game, while shooting 44.3 percent overall.
"Speed. Quickness. Versatility. Ability to shoot off the catch, go get his own shot, good passer, good defender," White said about Lawson. "You get 16 a game in this league, you're good player."
South Carolina is averaging 69.5 points per game by shooting 43.7 percent from the floor, meanwhile defensively opponents are scoring an 64.8 points per contest while shooting 38.1 percent from the floor and 31.4 percent from three-point range.
"They are very hard playing team," said Blackshear. "A different style team. You don’t play many teams that deny and pressure as much as those guys do, so understanding that we are going to play a very good team, and we have to be ready to play for the entire 40 minutes."
After the win against the Crimson Tide, White warned his team they had to move on quickly because the first year Gators have no idea whats in store for them in Columbia.
According to White, it's hard to simulate South Carolina's defense.
“I guess you have a decision whether or not you even want to try to simulate their defense, because now you’re creating bad habits for us because we play a different type defense," said White. "Maybe if we had like 28 walk-ons out there who were really tough, fast and aggressive, and you had a chance to rep it every day for a few months, maybe you could. But it’s not going to happen. When it’s tipped, a few minutes into the game, our guys will understand that it’s just a different deal. It’s different than what they’ve experienced, not only from how South Carolina plays and defends and rebounds, but also how they execute. And just … an SEC road, in itself, will be a challenge for these guys.”
"They are very physical team, very high in their gaps, really good rebounding them, pretty fast paced team that we have to play pretty hard to beat those guys. They are gritty, gritty guys," said Blackshear. "It helps that we played a few road games already against some quality teams like Butler and played in some neutral site games. Taking that same preparedness and also taking what we learned from those events and those environments, to try to get a win against a solid team."
Although the message the last few days has been to put the Alabama win behind them, there are a few things that can be carried over.
"Potentially you could draw upon that performance, the fact that we were able to pull one out. We were in a really tough spot. My goodness," said White. "We talked about in post-game the other night. When you go back and watch it, you're like, 'Wow.' It puts it into even more perspective.”
"I think it was a big learning moment for us. I think it’s something that we understand if we want to win at a high level we need to play for a full forty minutes," said Blackshear. "That will help us a lot so we won’t be in those situations. That was a pretty fun game to be part of and I’m glad we came out with that one."
Florida (9-4, 1-0); and South Carolina (8-5, 0-0) will tip off at 7 p.m. The game is set to be broadcasted on ESPNU.
