Pat Dooley’s instant reactions to Florida’s close loss at TAMU
Florida has probably seen enough of Texas A&M this year.
The Gators had their three-game winning streak snapped because of a miserable first half and missed opportunities in the second, falling to the Aggies for the second time this year and the fourth time overall. The final was 54-52 and it was as ugly as it sounds.
The Gators rallied in the second half and even had a shot to win at the end, but after a turnover, Myreon Jones could only get off a forced three and it fell woefully short.
UF is now 10-8 and 3-3 in the SEC. Texas A&M is 13-5 and 5-0 in the conference.
UF never led in the game as the Aggies swept the two games by a total of five points.
What happened
Erik Williams-USA TODAY Sports
Florida put together a typical second-half charge, but missed free throws down the stretch were brutal in the loss, especially the front end of the 1-and-1 by [autotag]Will Richard[/autotag] with less than two minutes to go and A&M up two.
If we thought we had seen some bad starts for Florida, we hadn’t seen anything like the first half in College Station. The Gators scored 12 points and made two – count ‘em two – baskets in the first half and trailed 23-12.
Florida trailed despite the fact that A&M came into the game leading the country in free throws made and didn’t attempt one in the first half. UF was 2-for-26 in the first 20 minutes and while the 3-point shooting was bad (1-for-11), the problem was scoring inside the arc where the Gators were 1-for-15.
The Gators came out and made shots early in the second half, but Wade Taylor hit a floater and four straight free throws to give the Aggies what looked like the game before Jones hit a 30-foot jumper with four seconds to play to cut it to two. A&M butchered the inbounds play, but Florida could not get anyone open in the last 2.5 seconds and Jones forced up the last-second shots.
What it means
Erik Williams-USA TODAY Sports
Another chance to get a Quad 1 win, another missed opportunity. The Gators are now 0-for-7 in games that would have qualified as Quad 1 wins. It feels like a broken record, but if Florida is to have any chance to make the tournament this season, they will have to beat a good team on the road.
Player of the Game: Texas A&M
Erik Williams-USA TODAY Sports
Yes, Julius Marble had 19 points after scoring 17 against Florida in Gainesville. But the player of the game was Dexter Dennis, who had 11 points and 16 rebounds. He had 11 rebounds in the first half and helped A&M enjoy a 45-41 advantage on the boards in a game with plenty of opportunities to get them.
Player of the Game: Florida
Erik Williams-USA TODAY Sports
They came at [autotag]Colin Castleton[/autotag] with double teams all night, but he still managed to score 14 points. He also had 13 rebounds and six blocked shots. But he also had four turnovers in the first half. The bigger problem was that the rest of the team went 11-for-51 and Florida was 6-for-26 on threes.
Inside the numbers
Erik Williams-USA TODAY Sports
A&M didn’t get its usual number of free throws in the game, but the Aggies made all seven, which made the difference, Florida actually made twice as many with 14, but the five misses were not good for a team that was again offensively challenged.
He said it
Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports
“We didn’t do a good enough job offensively in the first half. That’s the understatement of the year. That deficit was too much to overcome.” — [autotag]Todd Golden[/autotag].
Next up
Matt Krohn-USA TODAY Sports
Florida is back on the road for a late game Saturday at Mississippi State (8:30 p.m, SEC Network). The Bulldogs under new coach Chris Jans have some nice wins this season including the Ft. Myers Tipoff championship where the Bulldogs beat Marquette and Utah.
Mississippi State is 12-6 on the season, but only 1-5 in SEC play after a 70-59 loss at home Tuesday night to No. 9 Tennessee. The Bulldogs are another opportunity for Florida to get a Quad 1 win as they are currently 53rd and top 75 wins on the road are Quad 1s.
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