ATHENS, GA — On paper the Georgia Bulldogs look like the cure for the common basketball hangover. They’re 0-9 in the Southeastern Conference and they haven’t won a game since New Year’s Eve. This has just what the doctor ordered written all over it for the Florida Gators, who need some sort concoction to ensure the effects of Tuesday night’s loss to Kentucky have been erased.
The Gators (19-5, 6-3 SEC East) have won almost as many games (8) as Georgia has lost since the last time the Bulldogs tasted victory against that noted basketball power Kennesaw State. Florida heads into Saturday afternoon’s game at Stegman Coliseum (3:30 p.m., ABC TV) heavily favored to make Georgia (9-15, 0-9 SEC East) their 20th victim, which will give Billy Donovan his 20th win for the 11th consecutive season. Tubby Smith had 12 consecutive 20-win seasons, two at Georgia and 10 at Kentucky, but a win would give Donovan the longest streak of 20-win seasons at the same school in SEC history.
The last thing Donovan will be thinking about Saturday is keeping his streak of 20-win seasons alive. The only streak he’s interested in is the one that started Tuesday night in Lexington. Making sure the Gators aren’t feeling the residual effects of that heartbreaking 68-65 loss in Lexington is job number one for Donovan because a loss to Georgia would be devastating. The Gators are tied with Tennessee, Kentucky and South Carolina at the top of the SEC’s Eastern Division and they have a schedule that is conducive to either a first or second place finish in the regular season, which would give them a first round bye in the Southeastern Conference Tournament.
Even for teams that finish first or second in their division, the SEC Tournament is a real grind that requires three wins in three days to win the championship. Playing four games in four days is a real marathon that can wreck a team physically for the post season.
The Gators can take the first step toward avoiding playing on day one by getting their third road win of the SEC portion of the schedule in Athens against a Georgia team that has lost six of its nine SEC games by 10 or more points. The Bulldogs have lost the last three games by a combined 70 points. The last loss was by 31 to Tennessee on Wednesday night, a game in which the Bulldogs looked like they were simply going through the motions for interim coach Pete Herrmann, who stepped in when Georgia fired Dennis Felton after a 26-point loss to Florida in Gainesville 16 days ago.
If the Bulldogs play the same way they’ve played their last three games, the Gators probably don’t have much to worry about. Even if they are still thinking back to what happened in Lexington, when they let a winnable game slip away in the last two minutes, the Gators won’t have much trouble if Georgia is just trying to get the season over.
However, if Georgia decides enough is enough and comes ready to play, the Gators better not be thinking back to what might have been against Kentucky. The Gators lost a six-point lead in the final three minutes of the game against the Wildcats and they contributed to their own downfall by hitting only 3-9 from the foul line in the final 2:40 with Chandler Parsons contributing 0-2 from the line and Nick Calathes doing a hat trick from the foul line with a chance to tie the game with 0:06. A miracle shot by Jodie Meeks with 4.7 seconds left gave Kentucky its margin of victory.
It was the kind of loss that can linger but based on what he’s seen of the Gators so far this season, Donovan is confident that Kentucky will be in the rear view mirror Saturday. He expects the Gators to come out Saturday with an increased level of focus.
“Any time you go through any level of experience in life that can be somewhat disappointing I think it can do either one of two things — it can discourage you or heighten your awareness and heighten your focus,” said Donovan. “I think in most situations this year when we’ve come off of something that’s happened like that our guys have come back and they’ve worked hard and done a good job. I don’t think this is any different for us mentally coming off of any loss when you want to come back and respond and play well your next game.”
There is precedent for a focused effort after a very tough loss. Back on January 21, the Gators lost to South Carolina on a last second miracle in a game that both Calathes and Parsons could have sealed at the foul line in the last 12 seconds. A few days after the South Carolina loss, the Gators hit the road to face Vanderbilt in Nashville.
Against Vandy, Parsons had the best game of his career, scoring 27 points on 7-8 shooting from the three-point line. The Gators hit 15 of their 25 three-pointers as they blew Vandy’s doors off, 94-69.
Donovan would gladly settle for that kind of focused effort against Georgia, a team that he expects to play well Saturday.
“We’re going to have to play well,” said Donovan. “I don’t think I’ve ever been a part of a game since I’ve been here when we’ve gone on the road and really played poorly and were able to come away with a win. I think our guys understand that the margin for error for our team is so small. It’s so small. We don’t have a lot of room for error so we’re going to have to play well on the road.”
The margin for error is also very small in the SEC. LSU leads the Western Division with an 8-1 record with Mississippi State in second at 6-3. In the Eastern Division four teams are at 6-3 so there is parity and a number of teams battling for a limited amount of NCAA Tournament berths. The difference in playing in the NIT or playing in the NCAA Tournament could come down to a game like the one the Gators will play in Athens.
“I think our guys hopefully understand that there are a lot of teams in our league right now that are 6-3 that are battling,” said Donovan. “You’ve got Tennessee, South Carolina, Kentucky, ourselves and Mississippi State … a lot of people are bunched up there. Right now our main focus is trying to get better at the things we can get better at and then coming in with a mindset that we are on edge and we are concerned. I think our team has done that. That’s kind of been our MO all season long. I’ve never felt like we’ve gone into a game aloof or not ready. I think our guys have worked hard to get better and I think they understand that it’s going to be a great challenge in Athens on Saturday.”
GAME NOTES: The Gators average 18 assists per game in their SEC wins but only 12.3 assists in their three SEC losses. The Gators are averaging 16 turnovers in their three SEC losses … Calathes joined the 1,000-point club against Kentucky with 33 points. He’s the 43rd player in UF history to score at least 1,000 points. Calathes did it in 60 games and only seven players in UF ever made it faster … Calathes has scored at least 15 points in 20 of Florida’s 24 games. He has scored 15 or more points in the last 12 games while raising his scoring average to 18.8 per game … Florida leads the series with Georgia 102-94. The Gators have won the last 11 games with Georgia … Alex Tyus, who scored 18 points against Georgia earlier in the year, is averaging 12.5 points and 6.1 rebounds per game. Parsons is the only other Gator in double figures at 10.0.