GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The Bulldogs gave the Gators all they could handle and were perfect down the stretch to defeat Florida 61-55, ending the five-game winning streak. Head coach Mike White said the Bulldogs simply came out better than his squad.

“I thought Georgia was more deserving for sure,” White said after the loss. “I’m just ashamed that late in the year you feel like you’ve figured out the formula and you win five in a row and you got a team coming in who we’ve already beaten at their place.

“To have the energy level that we had in practice yesterday and in shoot-around today at the tip tonight it was discouraging. I reminded our guys after the game.

“Yesterday was probably the first time in three or four weeks where we had to start several drills over. We had to put guys on the line several different times because we were walking around, and it carried over.”

Jalen Hudson led the way for the Gators with 13 points off the bench (4-13). Andrew Nembhard had eight points (2-6) and four assists and Hayes finished with eight as well on 4-5 shooting.

Noah Locke finished with seven points on 3-7 shooting as well, but KeVaughn Allen had one of his worst games of the season, finishing with just five points on 1-10 shooting. He and Keyontae Johnson (six points) both had off nights.

The first half did not started exactly as White said, poor and with little energy. A few turnovers, defensive lapses and poor shooting (29 percent from the floor) and the Bulldogs jumped up to an 8-4 lead five minutes in.

The poor start would grow into a poor first ten minutes unfortunately for Florida as Georgia was finding open lanes consistently, buffing up their efficient shooting to 78 percent with 11:51 to play in the first half while the Gators couldn’t buy a bucket, going on a two and a half minute drought.

Florida would will themselves out of the slump though. Defensively they started playing like they had all season and they finally started hitting some shots. With just over seven minutes to play in the half they were on a 6-0 run and cut the Georgia lead to four.

The good fortune would continue for Florida as Georgia would then go cold with a four and a half minute drought themselves and with just over six to play Allen hit his first field goal on a triple to make it a one-point game.

After that both teams would go on a drought for a few minutes until Nembhard hit a pair of free throws to keep it a one-point game. Unfortunately, with 3:30 to play he attempted a three and came back on defense grasping his back.

He would head into the locker room with back spasms, but would eventually be just fine for the second half.

The Gators would continue to find success as the first half dwindled down and with 2:13 remaining Hudson hit a three to take the first lead of the game for the Gators and they would head into the break up 28-27.

The second half would start just as the first ended as Florida went on a 6-0 run to increase the lead to 34-27 a minute in. Georgia wouldn’t go away though. They answered with a 5-0 run to make it a two-point game just under 16 to play.

It was back and forth for a few minutes with the Gators gaining the edge 39-33 with 13:37 left on a three from Locke, but once again the Bulldogs responded and eventually took a 43-41 lead with just under 11 minutes left on a layup by E’torrion Wildridge.

That’s where the game turned ugly.

Neither team would hit a field goal until William Jackson’s jumper with seven minutes left to make it a 47-43 lead for the Dogs. The Gators wouldn’t convert on a field goal until Nembhard’s layup with 4:56 to go, making it a 49-48 lead for Georgia.

The offense was struggling mightily, but the defensive effort didn’t dip and the Gators were right there with five to play.

Unfortunately, the Dogs would save the best for last. And the best was Claxton. After he missed a jumper with 5:17 remaining he and Georgia wouldn’t miss a shot, going 5-5 to finish the game.

Claxton was unstoppable for most of the game but especially late, dropping four points in the final minutes along with six points from his teammates. Whenever they needed a bucket it seemed Claxton was there to deliver.

“I thought Claxton dominated the game,” White said. “Offensively his 25 – he dominated the game in the second half. Defensively as well, especially the last ten minutes. He got in the paint a bunch and if he didn’t block it he altered it and forced a miss. He was terrific.”

He finished with a career high 25 point on 9-12 shooting.

Florida would hit some shots late via a three from Hudson and a jumper by Nembhard but they simply couldn’t generate enough stops down the stretch and fell 61-55.

Florida couldn’t turn to its leading scorer in Allen or its second for the most part in Locke and nobody else really stepped up outside of Hudson in stretches. The defense was not what it usually was as well for the Gators and it was a bad loss to a 1-14 team in conference and losers of nine straight.

“It’s human nature,” White said of the let down after winning five straight. It’s how you handle success. We go to Vandy the other day after winning four in a row and our edge was evident.

“Our last home game our edge was very similar to what it was tonight. I think that certain teams can get casual at home and we’re certainly one of them. Not for lack of not communicating about it and we’re gonna continue to talk about it.”

The only thing they can do now is move on and focus their efforts for LSU Wednesday and Kentucky next Saturday, but this loss definitely hurts Florida’s tournament chances.

“I feel like (the loss) definitely puts a lot of – I guess gives us more of a realization that we aren’t really, we haven’t done anything yet," senior center Kevarrius Hayes said. "We still got a lot to do as far as taking a step back and dropping the ball in this one. We understand that we gotta have the same edge going into the next game.”