Florida Gators fall to Duke in Jimmy V Classic

The No. 21 Florida Gators (7-2) fall to the No. 6 Duke Blue (9-1) in Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night 84-74. It was only the Gators second slip up of the year but turnovers and defensive miscommunications helped the Blue Devils get their ninth win of the year.

The Gators started the game fairly well getting out to a six-point lead and not getting called for a foul in the first eight minutes of the game. The momentum was quickly grabbed by Duke as they closed the half on a 13-1 run to end the half and led by 10 going into the locker room.

Duke picked up where the left off starting in the second half; a quick foul on the Gators and Duke was headed to the line to go up by 12 just seconds into the fresh half. From there, Duke would not let off the gas peddle and win 84-74.

KeVaughn Allen was the leading scorer for the Gators with 21 points. The Gators gave up 75 points to the just three players in Kennard 29, Jefferson 24 and Tatum with 22.

Duke out rebounded Florida 35-30 and shot 10 percent better from the field 53.3-43.3. It wasn’t the night that Mike White had envisioned, but there was some good to take away from this loss. The Gators will travel to Tallahassee on Sunday to face off with in state rival Florida State. The Noles have won the last three meetings between the two.