West Virginia Rolls Over Florida Gators in Final Game of PK85, 84-55
Florida will fly home from Portland, Ore., after going 1-2 in the Phil Knight Legacy tournament after being rolled over by West Virginia, 84-55.
Mountaineers forward Tre Mitchell elevated the Bob Huggins' West Virginia Mountaineers with 17 points and eight rebounds to give the hall-of-fame coach his first win over the Florida Gators in his illustrious history. The Gators entered the contest as a 1.5-point favorite.
The action started fast with a Will Richard steal on the Mountaineers' right off the tip that resulted in a flush at the other end. He hit a three for a quick five points on the first two possessions but West Virginia answered each to keep pace with the fast-starting Gators team.
The back-and-forth continued into the first TV timeout, but when the two teams returned to the hardwood, the Mountaineers started to pull away.
In just over four minutes of game time, WVU reeled off a 10-0 run while the Gators endured a troublesome stretch from the floor offensively. Florida went 1-for-10 from the field with five turnovers in that time before a tough finish by Riley Kugel off a block by CJ Felder ended the drought.
Unfortunately for Florida, the offensive struggles continued as West Virginia applied considerable pressure to turn the ball over nine times in the first 20 minutes. Ball insecurity paired with a bevy of fouls on the defensive end to put both bigs in foul trouble, Colin Castleton (3) and Jason Jitoboh (4), put Florida behind by as much as 16.
Florida forced seven turnovers of their own but failed to capitalize the way WVU did, with zero points off turnovers compared to the Mountaineers' 14.
However, over the final two minutes, Gators guard Kyle Lofton took matters into his own hands to produce an individual 5-0 run — including an And-1 finish with just over a minute remaining — down the stretch to post 11 first-half points and cut the sizable deficit in half as they entered the halftime break.
That provided Florida hope for the second half but that didn't amount to anything.
The Gators failed to capitalize on the momentum they built with the brief run to close the half as West Virginia surged out of the break to extend the margin to 20 in just under four minutes of play. Active hands on the defensive end continued to prove detrimental for Florida as they turned the ball over 14 times throughout the contest.
WVU guard Eric Stevenson led the charge with three triples to open the second half and an assist to Mohamed Wague in transition. He finished the night with 15 points, on 75% from the field and from three, seven rebounds, one assist and two steals to complement Mitchell as the catalysts for WVU's success.
His all-around effort encompassed the play from West Virginia as they dominated the Gators from start to finish.
Florida's attempt to play catchup failed as it was unable to overcome the poor shooting night at just 34.5% from the floor and 11.8% from beyond the arc and posted just 22 second-half points.
The Gators leading scorer on the season, Castleton, continued his struggles in the Phil Knight Legacy tournament as he posted more fouls (four) than points (three) on the evening.
Lofton finished the contest as Florida's leading scorer with 17 points as he showed heightened intention to attack the bucket relative to his previous contribution this season. He was the lone scorer in double digits for the Gators.
Florida will have an opportunity to rebound on Wednesday as they take on FAMU at 8 p.m. ET inside Exactech Arena.
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