The Alabama Comeback: What Florida Hoops Is And Could Be

Florida basketball came back in epic fashion against Alabama on Saturday.

Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

A tale of two halves, and a tale of two teams. 

On Saturday, Jan. 4th, the Florida Gators and Alabama Crimson Tide opened 2020 SEC play in the O’Connell Center in Gainesville. The Gators were losing by 14 at halftime and were down 21 points at one point within the first half, and then clawed all the way to a tie game by the end of regulation. 

Florida finally won the game in double-overtime. It was easily the most thrilling win of UF’s season so far, and perhaps the most telling as well. 

It’s the most telling because the game was symbolic. It represented so well what UF has been all year so far: An unbelievably talented team that for whatever reason falls on its face all too often. 

In the first half, the “fall on its face,” portion of that was in full effect. A half of only 32 points was statistically underwhelming for Florida offensively. 

Freshman, and five-star phenom Scottie Lewis had a grand total of three points on 25 percent shooting. Kerry Blackshear Jr.  led the way with an average seven points by the first half’s end. 

And most surprisingly, the guy who was most disappointing was Keyontae Johnson. Johnson is typically a top contributor in all facets of the game for the Gators. He has to be for UF to be a legitimate threat. He was held scoreless in the first half on zero shot attempts. 

And that is probably the most telling part of the first half in terms of it being indicative of what Florida has been like most of the season up to this point. 

He had two fouls in the first half and that put him behind the curve in terms of getting involved in this game early. As talented as the Gators are, they have always seemed just a little behind for whatever reason this year. Not just on the scoreboard, but in decision making and dictating how a game will be played. 

But the second half, and the two overtime periods showed what this Florida team can be. They showed what the Gators can play like if all that talent comes together and makes sense of each other on the court. 

Johnson dropped eight points in the second half after the goose-egg first half. Point guard Andrew Nembhard had 11 in the second half to make it a career-high in scoring for him at 25. Blackshear Jr. had 11 in the second half to give himself 24 for the game. Lewis’s seven points in the second half along with 6-for-6 free throw shooting completed a 15-point performance for the freshman. 

The second half and overtime periods is what Florida fans have been craving all season. The ball was moving, the shots were falling and the talent was showing. 

This team’s ceiling is astronomically high, but that isn’t news. Florida fans, Florida media and more importantly, Florida knows how good they can be. 

But how good will they be?

Was this stretch against the Crimson Tide just a flash of hot shooting and something that nobody should get used to? Or is it a sign of things to come?