Florida lost to rival Florida State by a score of 81-71 but the result was far from the most important part of the game.
In what can be described only as a truly terrifying scene, star junior Keyontae Johnson collapsed on the Florida State court only minutes into the game after walking back on the floor from the timeout. The incident happened with little lead up as mere minutes prior he threw down an alley-oop in transition looking like his normal self. That dunk capped off a run that put the Gators in an early lead and led to a Florida State timeout. Following the break, he collapsed without warning. A stretcher took him off the floor and he was raced to a Memorial Hospital in Tallahassee where his condition was described as “critical but stable.” That is the last update we have received.
After that moment, the Gators understandably and justifiably looked frazzled and generally disinterested in playing basketball. Seeing their leader stretchered off the court left the Gators in tears and they showed a lot of mental toughness just being able to continue playing. When the game resumed Florida immediately turned the ball over multiple times and had some lapses on defense, something that can largely be attributed to their minds being on the state of Johnson. In the opening three and a half minutes the Gators looked crisp offensively and defensively and jumped out to a huge lead, but after Johnson fell the Gators weren’t the same club.
Scottie Lewis gave 110% for the rest of the game leaving everything he had on the floor, finishing with 19 points which tied his career high as well as 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, and 3 blocks. Many of his buckets were simply him willing his way to the hoop and muscling up shot attempts against the larger Seminoles and you could tell he was playing with a fire in his belly.
Tre Mann also had a decent showing despite the circumstances finishing with 17 points, 8 rebounds, and 7 assists. He was the one player capable of getting separation against the tight Florida State defense and almost got the Gators back into the game on a couple of occasions.
Florida State was led by freshman phenom Scottie Barnes who finished with 17 points and 3 assists, punctuated by two highlight reel poster dunks. Keyontae Johnson was the one player on Florida’s roster capable of matching up with him and behind him the Gators had no options to stop him.
Ultimately the Gators were unable of getting stops as the Seminoles ended up shooting 48% from the floor and an uncharacteristically elite 50% from three. Florida actually had some good moments offensively but turned the ball over far too much, 20 times in total. Scottie Lewis and Tyree Appleby hugely contributed with 5 turnovers each, but plenty of Gators struggled to make plays with the ball against a tremendous Florida State defense.
Realistically, there isn’t much that could be taken from this game. The Gators played great until the unfortunate incident that brought them to tears and after that moment they were emotionally and physically exhausted. Despite playing with heavy hearts and without their best player they still scratched and clawed and kept the game respectable against a Florida State team that played to the best of their ability.
Updates on Keyontae Johnson’s condition will be released as they come.