The Florida Gators (5-1) suffered their first loss of the season on Friday night at the hands of the No.11 Gonzaga Bulldogs (5-0) 77-72. It was a hard-fought loss for the Gators, and they gave Gonzaga all they wanted in this battle.
Early in the game, the ‘Zags struggled with turnovers and the Gators were able to be leading by as much as 11. Devin Robinson has proved to be the player the Gators can turn to when looking for offense. Robinson poured in 13 points in the first half; four shy of his career high 17 points. The Gators went into the locker room with a lackluster five-point lead after Gonzaga went on a run to close the half.
In the second half, the depth of Gonzaga proved to be too much for the Gators. Struggling from the field, the Gators could not stop the ‘Zags as they took the lead and never gave it back. Gonzaga shot 52 percent from the field compared to the Gators 37 percent. As it has been all tournament, the Gators three-point shooter was nowhere to be found as they went 2-19 from beyond the arc.
Devin Robinson ended the game with a career high 18 points and Kevaughn Allen followed him with 15 of his own. It was a tough loss in a game in which the Gators had a lot of opportunities to win, but a loss like this will only help this team that’s looking to find their identity heading into a tough nonconference portion of their schedule.