GAINESVILLE, Fla.-- Florida basketball has taken two steps forward in its quest to qualify for the NCAA tournament.
The Gators have won three straight games, two of those coming against opponents in "Quadrant 1" - helping their chances of a NCAA tournament berth. Florida's overtime win over No. 13 LSU certainly helped the team's stock.
"We did a good job knowing personnel," said senior guard KeVaughn Allen about the win over the Tigers. "Down the stretch, when they made a run, we didn’t get too discouraged. We stayed the course, stayed together. I think it brought us closer to together and made us fight harder.”
Although this team has had its fair share of lows, this season also had several highs, like the big win over Butler early on. However, this team did not deal with success well.
The Gators have strung three wins in a row and just beat a ranked team in overtime. The expectation is there.
Mike White does not want his side to fall into the trap.
"Everybody's got distractions. Missouri's got distractions. Every team in our league does," White told reporters on Friday. "This isn't the only time of year you have them, as well. I do think it can become harder for potential postseason teams this time of year, when they're not sure-fire postseason teams. So you just do your best.
"I think you can make a mistake, though, and talk about it too much, talk about the external noise too much. Because the more you talk about it, the more you're focused on it," added White. "We addressed it yesterday. Spent three minutes on it, and hopefully we handle in correctly in terms of continuing the process, just grinding on, improvement, development. Missouri, that's it. And it better be or they can come in here and make foolish the way they spread the floor and make threes and defend you. They're very, very tough. They're a very good team."
The Tigers (12-13) (8-10 SEC) have had their share of struggles this season. However, the Gators head coach is not underestimating the visitors.
"I think they’re as sound and prepared as you’ll see in college basketball. I mean they’re gonna come in here and guard the heck out of us," explained White. "They’re very physical. They’re very intense. I think they’re mentally tough, they’re competitive in every game"
“They’re a good team that has good players who can hurt us, on the ball and off the ball," said Allen. "We just have to good job of making everything for them just hard.”
"In addition they on the season are shooting 37 percent from three. You got eight different guys shooting 33 percent or better from three. That’s very, very rare," added White. "We’ve got eight guys that we’ve gotta scout as shooters, again with the compliment of Tilmon and Kevin on the interior. So, very difficult to guard. They really space you, they run good stuff, they execute. I think Jordan Geist is one of the most improved players in all of college basketball, gotta lot of respect for his game, how he approaches the game, his toughness. He’s very difficult to defend as well and they’ve got some freshmen that are very talented.”
Missouri will bring a set of challenges to Gainesville this weekend, however, Florida players and White are confident heading into the game.
According to the Gators, the composure around the team has changed.
"I’d say we have more guys who are connected," said Allen. "More guys playing together. The energy.”
"Late clock, late game, less erratic, more poised, a little bit more of a plan. Roles have been defined a little bit better," said White. "We’re not great offensively, but we’ve made a jump. We have. We’ve settled in a little bit. We’ve picked our spots more in transition. We’ve all needed to learn that. It’s not typically the way I’d like to play. I think most guys would like to shoot it within eight seconds. Most guys do. I think we’re finding that this gives us a better chance the way we’re playing offensively. It’s still obviously much room for improvement.”
A meter of how far this team has come will be on Saturday. How will Florida handle its recent success.
