This time, it was the other team that made the comeback. Not an all-the-way back comeback, but close enough to make things antsy for the orange-and-blue clads Wednesday night at Exactech Arena.
Florida led by 16 with less than seven minutes to go in the first half. Georgia cut that lead in half by halftime, but still trailed by 14 with less than eight minutes to go in the game.
Five minutes later, the UF lead was just three. Three minutes later, the Gators closed out a 72-63 victory over the Bulldogs to claim a fourth straight win, as well as a seventh in their last nine. In this one, UF (16-8, 6-5) never trailed, unlike each of the previous three when the Gators erased 13-, nine- and nine-point deficits against Oklahoma State, at Missouri and against Ole Miss, respectively. UGA (6-18, 1-10), losers of four straight, didn't go away; didn't let the home team put the hammer down.
"Obviously, there's an intensity drop. Are we watching the scoreboard? Are you just hoping it ends? Are you mentally fatigued? Are you down about your last missed shot? [It's] a mental toughness that we've been talking about all year," Florida coach Mike White said. "I thought at times, we played with a lot of edge. I thought we started with a lot of edge with the right mental approach. We've got to be better finishing, of course. We're fortunate, man."
They were fortunate senior guard Myreon Jones had the hottest hand of his brief time with Florida. Jones scored 23 points, his high-mark since transferring last spring from Penn State, including a career-high seven 3-pointers on 11 attempts. He had four 3s in the first half to open the big lead and three in the second to help sustain it, plus two assists, a steal, two blocked shots and a drawn charge.
After the game, White revealed that Jones had been playing since Dec. 18 with a fractured index finger he suffered in a win over South Florida. A career 37.6-percent shooter from 3 as a Nittany Lion, Jones was sitting at 29.2 percent for the season just a week ago. He's up to 34.5 now.
Coincidentally, his finger feels better, too.
"It felt great," Jones said of a shooting touch that has allowed him to average 16.7 points over the last three games and make a rip-roaring 14 of 23 from the arc (61 percent) along the way. "It felt even better that my teammates were actually just looking for me, telling me, 'Run here, run there, I'll look for you." I think that's the best feeling a shooter can have."
Senior forward Colin Castleton had 13 points, nine rebounds and four blocks, despite having to leave the game early in the second half after aggravating the shoulder injury that kept him sidelined for six games before returning to action last weekend. He returned and played well. Fifth-year senior point guard Tyree Appleby had 11 points, with a clutch 3-pointer to help stave off the late Bulldogs charge, plus a couple free throws with 26.5 seconds for an eight point lead.
"They just made a couple more shots," UGA coach Tom Crean said.
A couple more plays, also.
The Gators led 35-19 just ahead of the five-minute mark of the first half when the Bulldogs went on an 11-3 run to end the period, including the last seven points. UF's lone field goal along the way? A Jones 3, of course.
Florida started quickly in the second half, with the first five points to go up 13. Back came Georgia to get within six. A run of 13-5, with 3s from Jones and Appleby, had the Gators up by 14 — at 61-47 — with 7:48 to play. The margin was still 13 inside six minutes after Jones' seventh and final 3, but that's when the last Bulldogs, who play one at the one of the fastest paces in the SEC, blitz came. And it came in a flash.
How 'bout a 10-0 spree, keyed by guard Kario Oquendo (22 points, 8 rebounds, 4 steals, 2 blocks), over a span of just 2:35?
The Gators, meanwhile, were on a spell of four straight missed shots, and seven of eight over the previous three-plus minutes.
"I just thought we looked tired defensively," White said. "And I thought that had a lot to do with Georgia's offense."
Out of timeout, and with the shot clock ticking down, Florida settled for an open elbow look from Castleton. Not exactly his strength. Not ideal. But Castleton hit it for a five-point cushion with 2:31 to go.
After misses at both ends, the lead was still five when Georgia point guard Aaron Cook, with a minute to go, drove and tried to skip a pass along the baseline that was intercepted by UF grad wing Phlandrous Fleming Jr., who had a box score-stuffing line of eight points, six rebounds, two assists and four steals. The Gators took the possession, ran clock, then Appleby bombed his dagger 3 with 38 seconds to go to go up eight again.
The Bulldogs got a layup from forward Braelen Bridges (12 points, 4 rebounds) seven seconds later, but Appleby canceled them out with his two free throws six seconds after that.
It could have been so much easier, but what fun would that have been, right?
Wrong.
"We've got a lot of cleaning up to do," Jones said. "We know that."
