Gators Can't Afford to Take Georgia Lightly at the SEC Tournament

Photo Credit Chris Spears

There is reason for the Florida Gators to be wary of Georgia (17-15), who they face tonight (9:30 p.m.) in the second round of the Southeastern Conference Tournament at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. The Gators (21-10) know that if they lose, they’ll still be playing next week in the NCAA Tournament. For Georgia, a loss will end the season unless the NIT throws the Bulldogs a lifeline. The Bulldogs have incentive to spring an upset.

The Gators are 2-0 against Georgia this season but one win was in overtime in Gainesville when the Gators blew a 21-point lead in the second half. In the rematch in Athens, the Gators won by six. The closeness of the last two games should tell the Gators that Georgia is not going to be intimidated. If anything, the Bulldogs probably believe they’re every bit as good as UF.

The problem for the Gators is the difficulty of beating the same team three times in one season. There is a real measure of familiarity that both teams will have to deal with. Todd Golden needs to be preaching that the Gators can’t afford to come into this game feeling even the slightest bit overconfident. Just because the Gators have beaten Georgia twice this year and 10 straight times dating back to a 61-55 O-Dome loss to the Bulldogs on March 2, 2019, doesn’t mean the Gators can step onto the court with anything less than a sense of urgency.

Just a week ago in Nashville when the Gators dropped a 79-78 decision to SEC bottom feeder Vanderbilt, there was a lesson in overconfidence and complacency on full display. That made for a rather unpleasant flight back to Gainesville according to All-SEC point guard Zyon Pullin.

“I mean, we were definitely sick,” Pullin said. “But I think it's one you’ve got to keep learning from. It brings you back to reality. It shows you that you could beat Alabama and one of the top teams and then you can lose to one of the bottom teams. I think that we’ve really got to lock in and understand that we’ve got to show up every single game and do the little things, the little things matter.”

When the Gators are good, they’re really, really good and capable of playing with anyone in the country. Of Florida’s 10 losses, only three (Wake Forest, Tennessee and Ole Miss) were by more than six points. The other seven were lost by a combined 19 points. Five of Florida’s wins were by six or fewer so the Gators know what it’s like to grind out close call wins.

In the one-and-done world of March Tournament basketball at the conference tournament level, the Gators could be in for four games on four consecutive days if they win and advance starting with tonight’s Georgia game. Golden isn’t concerned that the Gators might run out of gas.

“I think we have really competitive dudes in our program,” Golden said. “I think they’re going to be really excited for the opportunity to compete. So we’re going to ride it out. We’re going to do everything we can to win Thursday night. If we’re fortunate to win Thursday, we’ll do everything we can to win Friday night. If we’re fortunate enough to win Friday … I’m not worried about fatigue, is the best way to answer that. If we run out of steam, we run out of steam. But this group has been good that way all year.”

Anticipated starting lineups

FLORIDA (21-10): 6-10 Tyrese Samuel (13.2 points, 7.5 rebounds); 7-1 Micah Handlogten (5.9 points, 7.3 rebounds; 6-4 Will Richard (11.2 points, 3.4 rebounds); 6-2 Walter Clayton Jr. (17.0 points, 3.6 rebounds); 6-4 Zyon Pullin (15.7 points, 3.8 rebounds, 5.0 assists)

GEORGIA (17-15): 6-9 Dylan James (3.9 points, 2.4 rebounds); 7-0 Russell Tchewa (7.9 points, 6.8 rebounds); 6-5 Silas Demary (9.7 points, 3.7 rebounds); 6-5 Blue Cain (7.0 points, 2.2 rebounds);  6-4 Noah Thomasson (12.8 points, 2.7 rebounds)

SEC Tournament

Wednesday’s games Game one: No. 12 Arkansas (16-16) 90, No. 13 Vanderbilt (9-23) 85, OTGame two: No. 11 Georgia (17-15) 64, No. 12 Missouri (8-24) 59

Today’s games Game three: No. 9 Mississippi State (19-12) vs. No. 8 LSU (17-14)Game four: No. 12 Arkansas (16-16) vs. No. 5 South Carolina (25-6)Game five: No. 10 Ole Miss (20-11) vs. No. 7 Texas A&M (18-13)Game six: No. 11 Georgia (17-15) vs. No. 6 FLORIDA (21-10)

Friday’s gamesGame 7: Winner game 3 vs. No. 1 Tennessee (24-7)Game 8: Winner game 4 vs. No. 4 Auburn (24-7)Game 9: Winner game 5 vs. No. 2 Kentucky (23-8)Game 10: Winner game 6 vs. No. 3 Alabama (21-10)

UF SOFTBALL: Gators run-rule Stetson, 11-2

Forgive Tim Walton if he seems a little bit giddy these days, but the experience his roster that includes 11 newbies gains every single game is going to pay dividends long term. Playing at home Wednesday night for the first time since February 25, the Gators improved to 22-4 with an 11-2 run-rule win over Stetson.

Holdover veterans Skylar Wallace (3-3), Reagan Walsh (2 homers) and Katie Kistler (double, homer, 5 RBI) did their part, but transfers and freshmen did their part as well. Louisville transfer Korbe Otis had a double and two walks; Oklahoma transfer catcher Jocelyn Erickson had an RBI single and a pickoff; freshman pitcher Ava Brown got her 10th win giving up three hits in four innings, freshman pitcher Keagan Rothrock pitched a shutout fifth, and freshman Cassidy McClellan had a base hit and scored twice.

“Today was the oldest starting lineup that I went with all season,” Walton said. “So this is with the two freshmen in the lineup as opposed to five on Monday [against Alabama].”

The freshmen are under plenty of scrutiny. This recruiting class is considered by many softball experts to be a generational collection of talent led by Brown and Rothrock, both former Gatorade National Players of the Year. Throw in the transfers --  “You’ve got two potential All-Americans in Korbe Otis and Jocelyn Erickson,” Walton said – and it’s the most talent Walton has had on hand in awhile. In many ways it reminds him of 2008 when his freshman class included future All-Americans Aja Paculba, Kelsey Bruder, Megan Bush and Stephanie Brombacher.

“There's 11 new kids on this roster, but I think they're very similar to be honest with you,” Walton said. “I don't think there's a big difference between the business approach of the 2008 squad that came in and this squad.”

The 2008 recruits were part of Florida teams that won 238 games, made it to the Women’s College World Series four times and finished runner-up twice.

The kids and the transfers came to Florida to win national championships. That is the high profile that this program has achieved in the Walton Era at Florida, where he is 948-227. Championships are the lure that brings great players to UF, but the focus now is simply getting better and improving every time out.

“We have an opportunity to get to the College World Series and compete for a championship,” Walton said. “But I don't think that we're worried about the national championship right now. I think the goal right now is become a really good elite team and get to the College World Series and I think that's the that's the main goal, main message. That's what's coming out of our mouths all the time as we just got to keep getting better.”

In Wednesday’s win, Florida’s 18th by run-rule which leads the Southeastern Conference, the Gators pounded out 11 hits while scoring at least once in every inning. The Gators, who rank second nationally in fielding and have committed only eight errors all season, were once again flawless with their gloves.

With her 3-3 night, Wallace raised her team-leading batting average to .479. Erickson’s RBI single raised her SEC-leading total to 36. The two homers by Walsh were her seventh and eighth of the season. She had eight in 60 games a year ago. Kistler’s homer was her second of the year. She had two in her career prior to this season. Florida has five hitters hitting .400 or better – Wallace (.479), Erickson. (.466), Kendra Falby (.444), Otis (.429) and Kistler (.400).

The Gators will be home Friday to face Mercer. Indiana of the Big Ten will be in for single games on Saturday and Sunday.

UF LACROSSE: Gators stop Princeton for 6th straight win

The 13th-ranked Gators never trailed, leading at one time by seven goals before settling for a 16-13 win over No. 21 Princeton Wednesday afternoon at Donald Dizney Stadium. Ashley. Gonzalez with four goals and an assist led the Gators while Danielle Pavinelli had two goals and three assists. Madison Waters and Gianna Monaco each had three goals.

It was the sixth straight win for the Gators (6-2) whose next game is at noon Saturday against Mercer.

COUNTDOWN TO FIRING DAY, BASKETBALL EDITION

Extinct species list

Chris Holtman, Ohio State: Dusty May of Florida Atlantic and Lamont Paris are the two names making the rounds, but Bruce Pearl’s name has been injected into the conversation. He wouldn’t leave Auburn, would he?     

Tony Stubblefield, DePaul: Some folks think Bobby Hurley is a lock.   

Lorenzo Romar, Pepperdine: The beach at Malibu is across the street. Someone who can recruit could do rather well here.

Leonard Perry, Pacific: Bad facilities, bad location, bad pay. Bad, bad, bad, but someone will take the job.

Mike Davis, Detroit Mercy: Whoever gets the job has to convince Detroit kids to stay in the city. That’s a rather depressing recruiting pitch.

Kenny Payne, Louisville: Mick Cronin of UCLA would be the perfect choice except for that $20 million buyout. The Louisville people are said to be hustling to hire Dusty May before Ohio State can get him.

Mike Hopkins, Washington: This is a football school. When they decide to invest in basketball, they might be able to get a coach who can win.

Bryan Mullins, Southern Illinois: It wasn’t all that long ago that this was a good job.

Dana Ford, Missouri State: Someone should be able to win here but nobody has since Cuonzo Martin left for Tennessee years ago.

Long Beach State: It’s been 50 years since he left for UNLV but they’re still looking for their next Jerry Tarkanian.  

On life support

Juwan Howard, Michigan: The Wolverines finished the season 8-24. A mulligan would be a shock, particularly since the buyout is only $2 million.

Jerod Haase, Stanford: The guy they want is Florida’s Todd Golden. If they’re lucky, they’ll get Kyle Smith, who needs to make a move since Wazzoo will be in sports purgatory next year with the demise of the Pac-12.

Wayne Tinkle, Oregon State: A 13-19 finish this year. If he survives it’s because they don’t want to spend the money to fire him and to hire someone else.    

Jerry Stackhouse, Vanderbilt: Will he still be employed when the clock strikes midnight tonight?

Mike Boynton, Oklahoma State: A 12-20 finish at a school whose arena is named for Hank Iba doesn’t cut it in Stillwater.

Endangered species list

Andy Enfield, Southern California: Barring something unforeseen, he’ll get one more year.

Kyle Neptune, Villanova: He dodged a bullet when he avoided losing to Big East bottom feeder DePaul Wednesday night.

ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: Nick Saban was in Washington, DC Wednesday to speak to a Congressional hearing about NIL and what he perceives is a runaway system that lacks direction and rules to guide it. NIL has everything to do with why the greatest college football coach of all time has hung up his whistle. Nick had a lot to say at the hearing that was organized by Texas Senator Ted Cruz, but one thing stands out:

“You’re going to create a caste system where the rich will get richer and the poor get poorer, and eventually the fans will look at it like, ‘I really don’t want to watch the game.’”

Saban is all for players having the right to make money, but the way the NCAA allowed NIL to go off the rails has created a system that is going to be very difficult to reel in. The schools that have the most money are going to buy the most talent. Schools that can’t afford to buy talent but who develop players are already seeing their most talented kids leave for schools that have money to spend.

The NCAA’s solution is a proposal by president Charlie Baker, whose brain functions only to part his ears. If implemented, it will bankrupt a lot of athletic programs while turning the ones with the most money into elites. That’s not the right idea, but so far, no one has come up with something that sounds remotely intelligent.

Somewhere out there is someone who has all this figured out but will that person be discovered before it’s too late? In the immortal words of the late, great Lewis Grizzard, “When my love returns from the ladies’ room will I be too old to care?”