Oliver Barry, CRS, GRI, SFR
Begin forwarded message:
From: Shane Ford <goufgators@bellsouth.net>
Date: November 23, 2015 at 7:01:58 AM CST
To: GatorNews <gatornews@googlegroups.com>
Subject: [gatornews] [SUN]: Purdue boils Florida in tipoff tournament
Reply-To: gatornews+owners@googlegroups.com
--Purdue boils Florida in tipoff tournament
Published: Sunday, November 22, 2015 at 8:25 p.m.
Last Modified: Sunday, November 22, 2015 at 8:25 p.m.
UNCASVILLE, Conn. -- Florida's first test against a ranked team in the Mike White era ended up with a failing grade -- on defense.
Enlarge |
Purdue's Rapheal Davis, center, keeps the ball from Florida's Chris Chiozza, left, and Devin Robinson during the first half Sunday at the Hall of Fame Tipoff Tournament in Uncasville, Conn.
The Associated PressThe Gators couldn't stop No. 21 Purdue inside or outside in an 85-70 loss Sunday in the finals of the Hall of Fame Tipoff at Mohegan Sun Arena.
The loss exposed some weaknesses for UF (3-1) on the defensive end of the floor against a high-level opponent.
"Purdue is just really good," said White, following his first loss as UF's coach. "I'm not very pleased with a lot of the things we did, especially defensively. But the better team beat us."
The Gators actually outscored Purdue 36-32 in the paint, but while collapsing inside to contend with Purdue's big men, couldn't rotate quick enough to guard the 3-point line. The Boilermakers went 11-26 from 3-point range, while Florida shot just 6 of 20 from beyond the arc.
White said the Gators stressed defending the 3-point line going into the game as much as they stressed defending Purdue's trio of big men -- 7-foot-2 center Isaac Haas, 7-foot forward A.J. Hammons and 6-9 freshman forward Caleb Swanigan.
"We knew those big guys could make hard, contested shots, whether they are turn-around jumpers or jump hooks with either hand," White said. "There's not really a lot you can do about that. They make six, seven, 10 jump hooks over length, so be it, we better defend that 3-point line. They beat us in all areas defensively."
The 85 points is the most the Gators have given up in a game since losing 85-83 to Rutgers in double-overtime on Dec. 29, 2011. It's the most points the Gators have given up in regulation since losing 93-75 to Ohio State on Nov. 16, 2010.
"It was all about effort and communication tonight," Florida sophomore point guard Chris Chiozza said. "We watched film at halftime and it seemed like we didn't put up much of a fight on the defensive end. We didn't talk much on defense. That hurt us too."
Purdue also outrebounded the Gators 43-34, holding Florida to just eight second-chance points. Florida came into the game with a rebounding margin of plus-16.3 against three smaller teams to start the season.
"Their physicality took a toll on us, for sure," White said.
The Gators were competitive for 30 minutes, cutting Purdue's lead to 63-60 on an Egbunu layup with 8:54 remaining. But the Boilermakers responded with a 12-0 run to break the game open. It started with a 3-pointer from Dakota Mathias and continued when, off pretty ball movement, backup point guard P.J. Thompson hit a corner 3-pointer to put Purdue up 69-60.
Hammons extended Purdue's lead to 71-60 with a 15-foot jumper. Then, off a Chiozza turnover, Raphael Davis hit a breakaway layup in transition to put Purdue up 73-60 with 6:28 left. Florida trailed by as many as 22 points in the closing minutes.
Egbunu led Florida with 19 points before leaving the game with two minutes remaining due to leg cramping issues. Senior forward Dorian Finney-Smith added 17 points for the Gators and freshman guard KeVaughn Allen scored a career-high 12 points.
Davis led five Purdue scorers in double figures with 18 points. Thompson added 15 points off the bench for the Boilermakers and set a physical tone when he wrested the 6-foot-11 Egbunu to the floor on a tie up with 11:30 left in the game.
"For him to come in and play at a high level off the bench for them had a big impact in the game," White said.
Florida's point guard play, on the other hand, was more shaky. Starter Kasey Hill struggled from the floor, going 1 of 8 with two points and two assists. Chiozza had eight points, one assist and one turnover in 19 minutes.
"Defensively, I don't think either one was great tonight, and we needed to be great, not only our point guards, our entire roster needs to be great," White said. "Offensively, it obviously wasn't Kasey's night. I'm sure he's as disappointed as anyone. I thought that he was aggressive. He got in the paint for us. He just couldn't convert."
The Gators trailed by as many as 10 points in the first half, but took a brief 38-37 lead with 1:03 left on a driving layup by Allen. But Purdue closed the half with a 6-0 run. Thompson began it with a 3-pointer. A key mistake followed when, with Florida down 42-38 with the ball with 5.2 seconds left, Finney-Smith and Hill had a miscommunication on an in-bounds play. Thompson stole Finney-Smith's errant in-bounds pass and was fouled, making 1 of 2 free-throws to put Purdue up 43-38 at halftime.
Finney-Smith, who scored 13 of his 17 points in the first half, took blame for the mistake.
"That changed the momentum of the game," Finney-Smith said. "Me and Kasey, as vets, we've got to do a better job of communicating better. Things like that can't happen, especially against good teams."
FREE THROWS: The announced crowd of 3,813 at Mohegan Sun Arena was about 70 percent Purdue fans, 30 percent Gator fans. … Among fans in the crowd included 2017, 6-foot-9 power forward prospect Tomas Murphy, the younger brother of Gator forward Alex and Erik Murphy. Tomas Murphy said he's had conversations with White and visited the UF campus over the summer. He plans to visit UF again next spring. … Finney-Smith, who averaged 15 points in two games against St. Joe's and Purdue, was named to the all-tournament team.
Sent From Shane's iPhoneGo Gators! & Skål Vikes!ALPCA #8756Europlate #1045
--
GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY!
1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions 2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions 2008 National Football Champions |
Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996), Tim Tebow (2007)
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "GatorNews" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to gatornews+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
No comments:
Post a Comment