No. 7 Florida rides wave of success into game at Texas
No. 7 Florida seems to be peaking at the right time as an uber-impressive stretch of wins has led to a big move up the AP Poll ahead of a matchup against a dangerous Texas squad on Wednesday in Austin, Texas.
The Gators (21-6, 12-2 Southeastern Conference) jumped five spots in the rankings this week on the strength of dominating wins at home over South Carolina 76-62 on Feb. 17 and at Ole Miss 94-75 on Saturday. The latter featured 24 points from Alex Condon and 20 from Thomas Haugh.
Florida has won seven straight contests and 12 of its past 13. The Gators hold a two-game lead over No. 17 Alabama, No. 20 Arkansas and No. 22 Tennessee in the SEC standings with four regular-season games remaining.
Urban Klavzar scored 15 points, Xaivian Lee collected 11 points and 10 assists and Boogie Fland added 11 points in the Saturday victory, which was Florida's sixth double-digit victory during its current streak.
The Gators committed an unseemly 19 turnovers in the latest contest, but they more than made up for that by shooting 57.1% from the floor, hitting 50% (11 of 22) of their shots from beyond the arc and forging a 39-24 edge on the glass.
"The ceiling is crazy if we shoot 50% (from 3-point range), especially having these guys under the rim," Klavzar said. "They do an exceptional job every game, but there are going to be times where we're going to have to make some huge shots from three."
Florida, the defending national champion, is back in the top 10 for the first time since late November. However, coach Todd Golden believes his team is still a work in progress.
"We did not take care of the ball very well, and that's (an) area that we can really focus on improving before we go to Texas," Golden said. "But when we did, we did a really good job of sharing it and finding shots for our teammates. We had 26 assists on 32 made baskets, so that was encouraging to see."
The Longhorns (17-10, 8-6) return home after a 91-80 loss at Georgia on Saturday that snapped their season-high five-game winning streak. Matas Vokietaitis led Texas with 22 points, going 8-for-10 from the floor, while Dailyn Swain had 21 points and Jordan Pope scored 17 in the loss.
Texas erased a 14-point second-half deficit to tie the game at 67 with 7:37 left, but Georgia swung back with a 17-6 run over the ensuing 4 1/2 minutes to hold on. The Longhorns shot 57.1% from the floor but faltered on defense, allowing Georgia to record season highs in field-goal percentage (59.6%) and 3-point percentage (55%).
"We've been doing a great job just attacking teams and, in the paint, scoring down low," Texas guard Tramon Mark said. "We've just got to keep doing that and get better on defense. I think we're almost there."
The Longhorns are in an shaky position regarding a potential NCAA Tournament at-large bid. After Florida, Texas plays at archrival Texas A&M on Saturday and then visits Arkansas.
"We respect everybody," Longhorns coach Sean Miller said. "We have to be ready to go, and when our team is not ready to go, we don't have the margin to overcome that."