Did South Carolina "Punk" the No. 22 Florida Gators...Or Did They Punk Themselves?

The Gators halted a four game win streak with a 72-66 loss to the South Carolina. Photo Credit: Courtney Culbreath

Tre Mann pulled no punches.

"They punked us.”

The Florida Gators basketball guard, on his 20th birthday, led the No. 22 Gators (10-5, 6-4) with 17 points, eight rebounds and three assists. But it wasn’t enough as Florida—who came into Wednesday night on a four-game winning streak including two wins over Top 11 teams—fell 72-66 to the South Carolina Gamecocks (5-6, 3-4). It was the Gamecocks first win on the road.

“They just hit us in mouth. They made plays, plays we didn’t make. Got the offensive rebounds. They made their open shots. They just got whatever they wanted in the late second half,” lamented Mann.

And he’s right. Despite the Gators holding South Carolina hostage at the three-point line—after South Carolina started 3-for-4 from 3-point range, Florida limited the Gamecocks to 1-for-15 from beyond the arc after that—the Gators gave up the paint.

It sounds strange to say that after a night Florida had 12 blocks. But that number is vastly outweighed by the 50 points the Gamecocks picked up there. Of those 50 points, 32 of them alone came in the second half.

“Quite bluntly, we're just an average defensive team and that showed up tonight," White said after the game. "We've got to guard the bounce, 1-on-1 at a higher level and finish rebounds, defensive blockouts, and rebounds better.”

South Carolina's Bryant shoots over a Gator defender for a basket. Photo Credit: Alex dela Osa

“They just hit us in the mouth,” added Tre Mann. “They made winning plays. They had offensive rebounds. They hit open shots. They got whatever they wanted in the second half.”

Florida foght back from a 10-point deficit and carried a 40-35 lead into the locker room at halftime. From there though, Head Coach Mike White says the second half started off sluggish. It ended that way as well. No amount of positive run in the middle would make up for the lackluster bookends of the half.

“I thought we got off to a really tough start defensively in the second half. (We) didn’t respond to what we collectively talked about at half in terms of sharpening up defensively and maintaining offensively, and they got into a good rhythm early second half.

“Then I thought mid-second half, we collected some stops, we got some scores, I don’t know what we were up- five, six, seven, and it felt like we were gaining control of the game, and we made some really tough decisions with the basketball that led to pick-sixes. Anxious to go watch it, some uncharacteristic stuff.”

For Tre Mann, the second half can be summed up even more succinctly.

“It played a lot to our focus, I don’t think we were focused. We were missing a lot of layups, a lot of open shots and then they were making everything that we were missing. They’re going to win if they make more shots than us, so that’s what happened.”

Florida, for better or for worse, has been in this situation before. Last season, the Gators debuted as No. 6 in the preseason poll and was a pick to make the Final Four. While the global pandemic COVID-19 halted the postseason, the Gators had already fallen to 19-12, 11-7.

This season, there was no high preseason ranking, no sexy Final Four pick and after losing star forward Keyontae Johnson (more on that below), the Gators chances to be something seemed, well, low.

Four games were postponed following Johnson’s collapse and the team’s subsequent turmoil. Diving right in to the SEC schedule, the Gators started 3-3. But then came the Tennessee game, in which the Gators throttled the No. 6 Volunteers. A win over No. 11 West Virginia proceeded by wins over Georgia and Vanderbilt meant the Gators were riding the hottest streak in the league and their first top-25 ranking in the AP Poll since 2019.

Tre Mann will look to lead the Gators back from their humbling loss. Photo Credit: Courtney Culbreath

Two cold stretches against a sub .500 team brought about reality quickly.

"Any time we get a little success we tend to play bad and lose focus. I think that's what happened tonight," said Mann.

As mentioned earlier, Mann said of South Carolina, “they punked us.”

To punk someone means to trick them; to lure them in to a false sense of security and then explode. Perhaps it’s not the Gamecocks who punked the Gators though. Perhaps, they punked themselves.

“We’ve hammered these guys after any success that we have had,” promised White.

“Whether it’s individual success, SEC Player of the Week, you win at West Virginia, our attention to detail and our intensity level for practices and film sessions increases because you’re fearful of what can happen. The human condition is to get comfortable and to get casual after experiencing success.”

The Gators have proven that even without Johnson, they have the pieces and the talent to be a special team. They can still be a special team. Some nights are just off. But some nights are indicative of a larger problem that must be not only acknowledged but overcome. Some nights are a reminder that even special teams are mortal and believing otherwise is fatal.