The Florida Gators pick up the pieces of Tuesday’s blown chance and now are desperate to finish the regular season with three straight wins.
In a must-win Southeastern Conference contest Saturday, Florida (17-11, 7-8) travels to Athens, Ga., for a matinee matchup against rival Georgia (6-22, 1-14).
On Feb. 9 in their first meeting with the Bulldogs, the Gators won 72-63 on their home court behind 23 points from Myreon Jones, who made 7 of 11 from 3-point range.
But for Florida — 2-8 against Quad 1 competition — this week so far has all been about what might have been, after letting a second-half lead get away in a chance to beat a ranked team, which would have boosted the club’s chances of reaching the NCAA Tournament.
At home Tuesday night, the Gators held a six-point lead over No. 18 Arkansas but were outscored by 14 points in the final seven minutes of a deflating 82-74 defeat.
“We just gave up 82 at home,” Gators coach Mike White said. “You can’t win big games like that. … We have a smaller margin for error than that.”
In Friday’s 2022 NCAA Tournament Bracketology, ESPN’s Joe Lunardi had Florida at the bottom of the Next Four Out category — speculating that the Gators are in dire straits for an at-large berth.
Florida will be trying to beat Georgia for the sixth time in a row, and then its best chance to impress the selection committee will be a season-ending home matchup against No. 6 Kentucky next Saturday.
Georgia heads into the game on an eight-game losing streak, but the Bulldogs’ recent struggles have not been because of Kario Oquendo.
The Titusville, Fla., native is averaging 23 points in his last six outings, including a career-high 33 points in Tuesday’s 91-77 loss at Texas A&M.
“We shot the ball extremely well,” said Bulldogs coach Tom Crean. “The turnovers … we didn’t get to the foul line enough, and they got some straight line drives on us. We just didn’t have a complete game.”
Georgia has not won since Jan. 25, recording its only SEC victory with an 82-76 showing at home against Alabama. Oquendo scored 22 in the 72-63 Feb. 9 loss at Florida.
–Field Level Media
