What you missed: #5 Florida puts on a show, and defends home court defeating Texas 84-60 in dominant fashion.
The participants: Texas Longhorns @ #5 Florida Gators
Box Score: https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/boxscore/_/gameId/401708332
Hardwood MVP: Despite a tough outing for the Horns, I do want to shine light on a really great performance from Ze’Rik Onyema who posted 12 points, 10 rebounds, 2 steals, and going 4/4 from the line. If Texas can get this consistency from the interior offense then I do believe this team can reach 7 or 8 wins in conference play which just might be enough to punch their ticket to go dancing.
Tale of the Tape: Texas traveled to Gainesville looking to shock the nation by upsetting the #5 team in the nation (6th via. KenPom) while picking up another Quad 1 win after defeating the Oklahoma Sooners. Coming into this matchup, Florida ranked 3rd in the nation in offensive rebound percentage according to KenPom, so it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know Texas was going to have their work cutout crashing the glass defensively, and that’s exactly what happened today. The Gators held in 13 offensive rebounds, their second most in conference play. Mix in not communicating well enough defensively and a lack of ball movement and outcomes like today’s are going to happen.
Chomp! Chomp: Simply put Texas was not on their ‘A’ game and that’s being generous, but mainly it’s from the coaching masterclass Todd Golden put on display. Florida will make you work for every possession on both sides of the ball and with the Horns shooting 36.4% from the floor that will tell you everything you need to know. Gators deserve their flowers for consistently sealing Texas’ frontcourt (Gortat screen) to allow driving lanes for their talented guards, Alijah Martin (22 points), and Walter Clayton jr (19 points).
Keeping it a buck: Now from man to man, does a loss against a top 5 team absolutely diminish Texas’ chances of securing a spot come March, absolutely not, but Texas needs to figure it out asap on the offensive end, because as of now, there is almost a script like plan to having Texas struggle to play a complete 40 minutes of ball. Lack of ball movement, not being able to finish off defensive possessions and limit second chance points, and being more disciplined. 8 assists in 40 minutes of a game is easily recognizable as not enough to any level of ball knower, and Texas has the talent to achieve more, just need to emphasize ball movement and more touches on the offensive end.
Texas Report Card vs Florida:
- Ball Movement: D-
- Attacking the rim: C-
- Shot selection: D-
- Perimeter Offense: D+
- Interior Offense: C
- Perimeter Defense: D
- Interior Defense: D+
- Offensive Rebounding: C-
- Defensive Rebounding: C
- Ball security: D
- Overall Performance: D+
