Rueben Chinyelu: "Winning is beautiful even when it's ugly"

Xaivian Lee scores on a first half layup (Photo by Chris Spears)

NASHVILLE, Tennessee – The three-ring circus that doubled as Florida’s 71-63 win over Kentucky in the Southeastern Conference Tournament quarterfinals was put into philosophical perspective by SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year Rueben Chinyelu.

Asking and answering his own questions, Chinyelu said, “Was it ugly? Yes, of course. Was it beautiful? Winning is always beautiful even when it’s ugly.”

When the Gators are playing well, firing on all cylinders while playing at a breakneck pace, the game can be this blazing fast collage of dunks, layups, rebounds and an occasional 3-point bomb for good measure. To combat the speed and precision the Gators have been playing with during the 12-game winning streak that has them favored to earn a No. 1 seeding when the NCAA announces its field Sunday, Kentucky took a couple of pages out of the Harley Race playbook. The only thing missing was Gordon Solie on play-by-play.

Hacks, slaps, hooks, holds, pushes and shoves are only illegal if you get caught. At least that seemed to be the strategy. Kentucky did get caught quite a few times, enough to send the Gators to the foul line 19 times in the last 11:23 of the game, but it was ever so disruptive. Florida, which spent the game struggling to get into some sort of a shooting rhythm, made only three shots from the field during that stretch, but all three shots were critical.

There was a stickback by Chinyelu with 4:17 left after Alex Condon’s end of the shot clock three clanged off the rim. There was Tommy Haugh’s turnaround 10-footer in the lane with 1:39 to go, this one also a second chance score after Boogie Fland rebounded his own miss. That pushed a six-point Florida lead to 66-58.

And then there was the step-back three from Xaivian Lee with 50 seconds left that answered a three by Kentucky’s Denzel Aberdeen. The 5-point margin that had the largely Kentucky crowd on their feet screaming for an upset let out a collective gasp as the ball settled in the bottom of the net to give the Gators a 69-61 lead.

“He stepped up and hit a dagger” is how Florida coach Todd Golden called it.

“Just something I do,” was Lee’s explanation. “I kind of knew I was going to shoot it because I had been trying to drive the ball through lane the entire half … If I could create a little space, it’s a shot I’ve taken and made before.”

The Vanderbilt game comes to mind. The stepback three in that game was the death blow to the Commodores more than a month ago.  

All the while the Gators were struggling to find some offensive mojo, Kentucky was making just enough shots to cut into what had once seemed an insurmountable Florida lead. Isaiah Brown’s fast break layup after a steal by Lee put the Gators ahead 49-32 with 13:07 left in the game. Two minutes later it was a 16-point margin (54-38) on a pair of Haugh free throws with 11:02 left in the game but that was almost like a signal for the Gators to get complacent.

“Yeah, I’d say we got complacent … I know I did,” Condon said. He had a double-double – 22 points and 10 rebounds to go with two assists and a pair of spectacular blocked shots at the rim. “In the first half and when the second half started, I knew I could get any shot I wanted. It was too easy.”

The same thing happened twice before this season, both times against Kentucky. In the end, what saved the Gators from unmitigated disaster was making just enough free throws (24-33 for the game, 19-26 in the second half) and the fact Kentucky wasn’t exactly burning it up offensively. The Wildcats scored enough to make it close, but never got over the hump.

“I thought once they got behind, the last 10 or so minutes, we were kind of playing not to lose, and they were playing free with no pressure because there was none left at that point,” Golden said.

No pressure on the Wildcats. Plenty of pressure on the Gators, but the pressure release for UF was the defense. Even when the Gators were out of synch offensively, the defense was still very, very good.

The Wildcats managed just 21-59 from the field overall and 5-23 from the 3-point line. Collin Chandler, Kentucky’s purest shooter who lit up the Gators for six threes at the O-Dome back in January, kept getting run off the 3-point line. The one make he had in three attempts was a touch-em-all type that bounced high off the rim before rattling in.

Golden pointed to Florida’s offensive struggles as one of the major reasons the Wildcats got back into the game.

“We're a very good defensive team, we have been all year,” Golden said. “The times where we struggled today defensively were a product of our offense, in my estimation. Obviously we'll go back and watch the film. When we were bad with the ball leading to turnovers, they were able to get out in transition or get us in odd-man advantage where we weren't matched up properly … Anytime we got them operating in the halfcourt against a set defense, it was challenging for them. That's where complementary basketball, take better care of the ball, they're not going to be able to put us in those predicaments.”

 Kentucky scored 18 fast break points, most of them coming after turnovers, but even with Florida’s miscues, the Wildcats were held to 63 points, a full 18 fewer than normal. Haugh drew the defensive assignment of UK’s leading scorer Otega Oweh. He went 5-18 from the field and scored only 10 points. On the interior, Kentucky bigs Malachi Moreno, Adrij Jelavic, Brandon Garrison, all of them 7-footers or close to it, combined for 12 points and just 11 rebounds.

On the perimeter, Fland and Lee made Aberdeen and Chandler work for everything they got.

“They don’t get nearly enough credit for how good we are defensively,” Haugh said. “The way they get after the guys they guard makes it so much easier for me, Alex, Rueben and Micah (Handlogten) to play defense. They make their guys take tough shots and then we get the rebounds.”

Florida outrebounded Kentucky 50-29. Just a week ago at Rupp, the Wildcats were nearly dead even with the Gators on the backboards (41-40 Florida advantage). Kentucky tried to be physical, but couldn’t come close to matching the Gators in that category. Kentucky’s 29 rebounds produced only eight second hand points.

Florida, on the other hand, got 10 rebounds each from Condon and Chinyelu and eight each from Haugh and Handlogten. Chinyelu had a blocked shot and three steals. Haugh had three blocked shots and two steals.

On a day when offensive highlights were few and far between for the Gators, Handlogten contributed the play of the game offensively during a 26-second sequence. It began when Haugh snagged a contested rebound after an Aberdeen missed three. On the break, Klavzar let fly with a three that clanged off the rim. Handlogten made a diving save of the rebound, flipping it to Fland who found Klavzar open for another three. Same result only this time Handlogten came bolting in from the corner, leapt as high as he could, his right hand like a predatory bird’s claw to jam it back in with 4:51 left in the first half.

“I just ran in and jumped as high as I could,” Handlogten said. “Obviously, a cool moment. I got hyped and was just standing there, yelling and the camera guy comes up to me and almost slaps me in the face. I’m like what are we doing here? I kind of had to come back to earth.”

Back to earth is where the Gators need to be tomorrow when they face Vanderbilt in the semifinals. The Commodores advanced with a 75-68 win over Tennessee in the second game of the afternoon.

This was a sloppy game in which the only things missing were a bearded lady, poodles jumping through hoops, some elephants and a couple of clowns.

This was not the game fans expected from the 4^th-ranked team in the country, but the outcome is the only thing of relevance.

Florida won, advanced and remained very much in the hunt for a No. 1 seed. Kentucky went home where it will await the NCAA sending the Wildcats somewhere as a No. 7 or maybe even a No. 8 seed.

“When it was over, it was beautiful,” Chinyelu said. “Winning is beautiful.”

Even when it’s ugly.

Game notes: Xaivian Lee finished the game with 11 points, five rebounds, six assists and three steals ... The Gators scored 21 second chance points, 16 of them after a missed three ... Chinyelu's 10-rebound game was his 20th with 10 or more this season.

Friday's SEC Quarterfinals

No. 1 Florida (26-6) 71, No. 9 Kentucky (21-13) 63

No. 4 Vanderbilt (25-7) 75, No. 5 Tennessee (22-11) 68

No. 15 Ole Miss (15-19) 80, No. 2 Alabama (23-9) 79

No. 3 Arkansas (24-8) 82, No. 13 Oklahoma (19-15) 79

Saturday's SEC Semifinals

No. 4 Vanderbilt (25-7) vs. No. 1 FLORIDA (26-6)

No. 15 Ole Miss (15-19) vs. No. 3 Arkansas (24-8)

SEC in ESPN (Joe Lunardi) bracketology

East: 1. Duke; 2. Iowa State; 3. Illinois; 4. Purdue (SEC: 5. Vanderbilt; 7. Kentucky; 11. Missouri)

South: 1. FLORIDA; 2. Houston; 3. Nebraska; 4. Texas Tech

Midwest: 1. Michigan; 2. UConn; 3. Alabama; 4. Kansas (SEC: 5. Arkansas; 8. Georgia; 10. Texas A&M)

West: 1. Arizona; 2. Michigan State; 3. Gonzaga; 4. Virginia (SEC: 5. Tennessee; 11. Texas)

SEC in CBS bracketology

East: 1. Duke; 2. Michigan State; 3. Nebraska; 4. Kansas (SEC: 7. Kentucky; 11. Texas)

South: 1. FLORIDA; 2. Houston; 3. Purdue; 4. Virginia (SEC: 5. Tennessee; 10. Texas A&M)

Midwest: 1. Michigan; 2. UConn; 3. Iowa State; 4. Vanderbilt (SEC: 8. Georgia; 11. Missouri)

West: 1. Arizona; 2. Illinois; 3. Alabama; 4. Gonzaga (SEC: 5. Arkansas)