Florida stymies Jordan McRae and keeps rolling in SEC to the delight of costumed fan
It didn't take long Saturday for Tennessee guard Jordan McRae and his teammates to spot a hilariously outfitted Florida fan who came to cheer on his Gators wearing a baby bjorn with McRae's face affixed to the baby portion of the costume.
McRae and his teammates laughed about the costume before the game, which was probably just what the TheRowdyReptileBaby intended based on this tweet and photo from Florida beat writer Kevin Brockway.
Here's the Jordan McRae baby that I tweeted earlier about. Fan hoping it will rattle Tenn's leading scorer. pic.twitter.com/7jt2aTgtwf
— Kevin Brockway (@gatorhoops) January 25, 2014
McRae came into the game as the Volunteers' leading scorer at more than 19 points per game and he was making 46 percent of his shots this season. But he made only one of his 15 field goal attempts against the Gators in a 67-41 Florida victory.
Give the fan his due for creativity and taking it to the next level by starting a Twitter account named for his costume, but the Gators deserve credit for shutting down McRae and winning their 11th straight. Florida has risen to No. 6 in the polls and there was nothing from Saturday's performance to suggest it doesn't deserve to be there or even higher.
Coach Billy Donovan has a starting five to matchup with any team in the country led by guard Scottie Wilbekin, center Patric Young and forward Casey Prather. Those three combined for 35 points, making 14 of 22 shots in the victory and fellow starter Michael Frazier II led the team in scoring with 17.
Florida has been to three straight Elire Eights. At this point, no sane person would bet against the Gators making another deep run in March. The Gators appear to be the class of the SEC and a national title contender at this point in the season.
Donovan also deserves credit for keeping his team focused despite the ongoing uncertainty surrounding recruit Chris Walker and the distraction earlier this season from the on-again-off-again relationship the program has had with Damontre Harris.
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is the assistant editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at kyle.ringo@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
