There is, of course, another way to look at things.
“Everything starts over now,” senior point guard Erving Walker said.
Next up for the Gators (22-9) is a quarterfinal date in the Southeastern Conference Tournament Friday at 3:30 p.m. against the winner of Thursday’s first-round game between fifth-seeded Alabama (20-1) and 12th-seeded South Carolina (10-20). Florida has a bye into the second round by virtue of a 10-6 record and fourth-place finish in the league standings.
UF combined to go 3-0 against the Gamecocks (two wins) and Crimson Tide, including a pair of road victories against each, but if the opponent is Alabama, this time the Gators will face 6-foot-8 forward JaMychal Green, who missed the first meeting after being suspended for violating team rules.
The Gators, on the heels of Sunday’s 74-59 home loss, headed back to work Monday focusing more on themselves than either of their potential foes.
“We've got some time to try to get better as a team the next few days,” Coach Billy Donovan said.
That means working more on the types of fundamental concepts -- focus, energy and attention to detail -- Donovan and his staff have been emphasizing the better part of the season with regards to preparation. Those very intangible elements became even more critical the last two weeks as the team has tried to remake itself following the season-ending injury to forward Will Yeguete, the squad’s best low-post defender and leading rebounder.
Yeguete broke his left foot Feb. 21 in the second half of a win against Auburn. The Gators haven’t won since.
“Everybody on the team hates losing,” said freshman guard Bradley Beal, who struggled in going 1-for-10 from the floor against Kentucky. “At the same time, it’s a learning experience for us. We’re going to build from our losses and try to improve on the things we weren’t so good at during the game.”
The Wildcats, who capped a perfect 16-0 mark in SEC, don’t allow anyone to do much of anything positive. The Gators need to build on the energy they displayed for most of the game -- and leaned on in a tough road loss at Vanderbilt four days earlier -- but the next few days will be about honing an offense that has shot just 39.8 percent from the floor over the three-game skid, including a mere 27.5 from the 3-point line.
Along the way, Florida’s coaches will roll out some Alabama and South Carolina stuff.
“Just to make sure that our guys have been refreshed a little bit on both teams,” Donovan said. “We try to just get to the meat and potatoes of what they’re going to do. They are two totally different styles of plays, two totally different teams.”
But the stakes involved in the game, no matter who they play, will be exactly the same.
“Everybody is going to play hard because it’s one and done,” said Beal, who is about to get his first taste of college basketball in March. “Everybody is trying to make it to the NCAA Tournament. I’m really looking forward to it.”
The Gators have almost certainly done enough for an NCAA at-large berth -- on Monday, their RPI was 26th, with a strength of schedule ranked 39th.
Florida just as soon not send their NCAA application in with a four-game skid.
“We’re playing for pride, playing for respect,” junior guard Kenny Boynton said. “We let a few get away from us. As a team, you should come out every game and be ready to play, no matter who you’re playing. I think we definitely can use this [SEC] tournament as a focus and a practice for the NCAA Tournament.”
More importantly, they could use a good week of work amongst themselves to get ready for both.
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