Noon games have started to become a problem for Florida. Like they did against Georgia, though, the Gators found a way to overcome it today.
Justin Leon led the way with 18 points, Canyon Barry added 12 of his own- including his school record 38th and 39th straight made free throws- and John Egbunu picked up a double-double in a 71-62 win over a marginally talented but gritty Texas A&M squad. Florida now sits at 20-5 overall, including 10-2 in the surprisingly strong SEC.
Florida struggled early before building a 25-14 lead. Texas A&M certainly helped out with that, committing 8 turnovers in the span of 13 possessions at one point. And so Florida didn’t really do anything special other than take advantage of those turnovers and score in transition, just as they’ve done all season.
But then Texas A&M stopped giving the ball away, and the game really got interesting. The Gators went dead offensively for the rest of the first half, and allowed the Aggies to creep back into the game. On two separate occasions, Florida had second and third chances on one possession and failed to get any points out of them.
Part of the problem was that the Aggies went with a 2-3 zone defensively, which invited the Gators to try to hit threes to make them take it off. And the Gators accepted the invitation with disastrous results, missing seven of the first eight threes they attempted in the second half. Once the Aggies stopped turning it over, the zone became extremely effective in holding the Gators in the low 30’s while they came back and took the lead off of some Florida turnovers.
But then the Gators finally found Egbunu inside for a layup right through the soft spot of the zone to put Florida back in front. A&M took the lead right back on their ensuing possession, but Leon gave the Gators the lead for keeps with a three at the other end to make it 44-42 with just under ten minutes to go. That started a quick 7-0 spurt that knocked the Aggies down for the count.
Leon also stuck the dagger a few minutes later. A&M had crawled back to within 59-52 with four minutes to go, but Chris Chiozza hit a three to push the lead back up to ten. Leon then followed up with a backbreaking three on the next possession.
But the story of the game has to be the 20 turnovers Texas A&M was responsible for. It’s always nice to talk about how Florida responded to being threatened and tested, but the simple fact is that they probably don’t win this game if not for so many self inflicted wounds by their opponent. The Gators were having one of those bad shooting nights many of us feared we’d see eventually, as that’s just a fact of life with a team as streaky as Florida, and they got bailed out by the other team giving them the chance to score some points in transition.
The flip side, though, is what people will remember. Florida won this game, even if they did so in a less than impressive fashion. And as the sport nears its postseason phase, that’s all that ultimately matters.