Florida had their chances against a gritty South Carolina team but an offensive drought that lasted much of the second half allowed the Gamecocks to take the lead they ultimately held on to as the Gators lost 82-76. It looked like things were well under control for the confident Florida team until midway through the second half when South Carolina went to a zone that the Gators simply didn’t have any answers for. Ultimately this won’t be a bad loss on Florida’s resume but they had their chance at a win that could have bumped them up a seed line and they let it slip. With Saturday’s results the Gators fall to 20-9 (10-6 SEC) while the Gamecocks improve to 24-5 (12-4 SEC). Leading the way in scoring for Florida was Walter Clayton who went 6-11 from deep for 20 points, while Meechie Johnson led the game with 25 points for the Gamecocks.
Familiar Problems
Throughout the season the Gators have had a difficult time dealing with zone defenses, and opponents in the SEC are starting to take note. South Carolina is a team that is almost purely man-to-man, as they only played 29 total possessions of zone before Saturday’s game. That number almost doubled as they played zone for much of the second half and the Gators, as has been the case pretty much every time they’ve seen a zone this year, did not have an answer. Not only did South Carolina erase Florida’s lead but they took one of their own before going back to a switching man defense to close out the final minutes. Not only was South Carolina’s zone defense keeping the ball out of their own hoop, but there was a psychological element as well. They were frustrating the Gators so badly that it seemed like every possession ended with one player yelling at another player for doing something wrong, or the bench yelling at players on the floor to do something different. That frustration carried over to the defensive end where the Gators lacked focus and allowed the Gamecocks, an average to below average SEC defense, to score 51 points in the second half. The book is out on how poor the Gators are against zones and they are likely to see them more and more until they figure it out.
Bad Trend
With the loss to South Carolina the Gators now have six losses in SEC play. In four of those losses they had a double digit lead in the second half. On Saturday it was a 56-46 lead with 8 minutes gone in the second half, and at the time it looked like the Gators had things rolling. That was the point South Carolina went to the zone, and everything changed. Blowing double digit leads in the second half is now a trend for the Gators, but it seems like there is more at play than simply a lack of focus or lack of effort that often comes alongside blowing leads. Usually it’s an adjustment the other team makes that the Gators aren’t able to counter, and against the Gamecocks it was the zone. While it seems like previous blown leads have more to do with a schematic change than a mental lapse, you have to wonder if four blown leads is going to start to be in the heads of the team moving forward, especially when a future lead starts to slip.
Bench Contributions
At this point of the season Florida’s rotation has been largely set and it appears there are eight guys that are trusted. Thomas Haugh, Alex Condon, and Riley Kugel were a bright spot in this game coming off the bench to combine for 25 points, something the Gators needed against a defense that was slowing them down. In the first half it was Haugh and Condon who came in and were able to soften up the Gamecock interior and in the second half it was Kugel who was one of the only players able to hit a shot against the zone. Even with only eight players in the rotation the quality of depth is a strength for this Florida team and the Gators will be happy with what these guys brought.
Final Thoughts
When you look at just the end result there is nothing wrong with a loss to South Carolina on the road. However, the way it happened is going to be somewhat of a cause for concern. Two of Florida’s biggest issues this season have been playing against a zone and holding on to a second half lead, and both of those issues were huge storylines in Saturday’s loss. Todd Golden will hope that there can be lessons learned in a game like this where the loss doesn’t hurt them before those issues come up in more consequential games.