GAINESVILLE, Fla.— Florida basketball may have an identity but it’s not one to be happy about.
The Gators had a Jekyll and Hyde performance on Tuesday night resulting in a 78-71 loss to Mississippi State.
It was a game Mike White’s men should have easily won.
"That was one of the strangest games I have been part of," Gators head coach Mike White told reporters after the loss on Tuesday. "We were in the first 20 as good as we played probably offensively: down hill, in transition, sprinting down the court. Second half, first five minutes of the second half, I had a pit in my stomach because our level of energy wasn't close to where it was in the first half."
"Lack of focus, lack of energy," said forward Kerry Blackshear. "They beat us in the hustle plays, on the 50-50 balls. They came out had a different second half. They earned it. They really took the game."
Florida came out with an energy and aggressiveness that was lacking in its loss against Baylor just a few days ago. UF went up by as much as 16 points after Florida shot 58.1% from the floor and 57.1% from three-point range.
The biggest change, Florida had a productive bench.
Scottie Lewis led the way with 13 points, as the freshmen recorded 25 points in the first half and the bench had 12 points.
However, the Gators just could not keep that energy going.
"I couldn't get our guys to get the same rhythm on transition offense," said White. "The level of confidence, our flow was completely different... very poor transition defense. Reggie Perry was fantastic and they were dynamite in the second half."
Gone was the good shot selection, gone was the energy and gone was the discipline on defense. The second half saw Mississippi State claw back from a double-digit deficit to take its first road game of the season.
The Gators started cold in the second half, going 3:38 without a field goal and the Bulldogs cut a 16 point lead down to six.
MSU continued to press the Gators. Florida went on another scoring drought that saw the home side unable to score for over four minutes, while also turning over the ball five times in six minutes. The Bulldogs used that time wisely to go on a 9-0 run to tie the game up at 52.
The Bulldogs would take their first lead of the game since the first minute after a three by Tyson Carter put them ahead by one with 7:52 to go and never looked back.
MSU shot 60.9% and 60% from three, while Florida’s offense struggled with 30.8% and 0% shooting from three in the second half.
"Not being about to string together stops," said Blackshear about what happened defensively in the second half. "Turned the ball over a few times and go those guys running, they are a good transition team. We just never recovered as we should have."
"We lost defensive edge," said White. "Who can I get in the game? What can I say to these guys? We keep scoring because they are having their way offensively, this is after we watched our defensive deficiencies at halftime. Our level pride defensively is different than any other team that I have had. Our numbers are not very pretty and they are getting uglier everyday.
"We made common mistakes today that don't allow to success against high level teams," added White. "Our guys have shown to be able to complete at a high level at different points in the season. We got to figure out how to do it all the time or we are going to continue to see this result."
The visitors also played with another energy under the glass in the second frame.
After UF had the edge 15-14 on the glass in the first half, the Gators saw the Bulldogs attack the boards in the second half to out rebound UF 32-25.
"Understanding that we were two different teams out there on the floor," said Blackshear. "We just have to find ways to be consistent throughout the entire game - keep our focus level high and intensity high."
MSU's Reggie Perry led all scorers with 27 points, while the Gators had four guys finish in double digits: Lewis (17), Blackshear (13), and Keyontae Johnson (10) and Andrew Nembhard (10).
UF will need to regroup very quickly.
White’s team is on a three-game losing streak, and they can not afford to let this streak continue. Florida will travel to Vanderbilt on Saturday.
"It was lack of focus and mental lapses and that is something we can fix," said Lewis. "When we are 100 percent focus, we are pretty dangerous. We all know that. We are back at it on Thursday [for practice]."
"I think we have to keep the same approach," said Blackshear. "Understand that we got to be even better. Everyday is a value and we just go to be better."
"It's biting your tongue and asking do you really want to win," said Lewis. "You got to play every game like it's your last because it could be."
