Florida Gators Squander Opportunity to Reset Season; Fall to No. 15 Alabama

The Florida Gators squandered their opportunity to reset their season against No. 15 Alabama Wednesday.

In-season adjustments are crucial to a team's overall success, especially in college basketball. You rarely get to mull over those potential changes for two weeks, but it can prove beneficial.

Following early victories over Florida State, Cal and Ohio State, the Gators were tearing through their opponents en route to a 6-0 record to start their year in November.

Earning the No. 14 ranking in the nation, Florida was viewed as a legitimate dark horse in college basketball. Equipped with high energy and passionate squad, the Gators were winning with a suffocating full-court press defense that turned into offense when forcing opponents into mistakes.

The struggles of the past, which plagued Florida come time for the Big Dance in March, were over. Or so we thought.

In December, the defensive production from what was thought to be the best Mike White-coached Gators team in memory began to crumble. As a result, so has their season as they've regressed to the mean.

Going 3-3 since their undefeated start — which included getting blown out at home by Texas Southern and losing close games to Oklahoma and Maryland — the Gators have quickly found themselves in an unfavorable territory as they enter conference play. 

Seeing what was supposed to be their SEC opener against Ole Miss postponed due to a COVID outbreak in the Florida basketball program, the Gators received extended time to get healthy before their next bout. 

Despite the hiatus, their return to the hardwood against No. 15 Alabama on Wednesday evening had valuable potential to reset their season.

Throughout the first half, Florida looked like they were in their early-season form. Playing with the intensity and swagger that had them tabbed as a team that's floor was a Sweet 16 appearance. UF played smart basketball, attacking the talented bigs of Alabama, halting them from getting into a rhythm.

Crimson Tide forwards Noah Gurley and Charles Bediako got into foul trouble in the first half, which left the door open for Colin Castleton to produce 10 points in the period. Florida entered the locker room at halftime leading 39-36.

However, in the second half, the Gators came out as a different team. Nate Oats' squad did as well. Simply, the Tide flipped.

Beginning the final 20 minutes of play on a 22 to 4 run, Alabama would break the contest open, leading by as many as 15 points deep into the second half. As efficient as the Crimson Tide was scoring the basketball, Florida was equally as inefficient.

Experiencing a dreaded dry spell shooting the basketball, the Gators failed to record a field goal until 11:48 left in the game, a common recipe for failure.

Despite a concerted comeback attempt led by the three-point shooting of Myreon Jones — who knocked down three in the second half to record 11 points — Bama's run to start the second half proved too large a task for the Gators to overcome. Once again, as seen consistently over the years, Florida couldn't play a full 40 minutes.

Plagued by turnovers and dry spells shooting the basketball, the Gators were unable to capitalize on the rare opportunity to reset themselves heading into league play.

Ultimately, they'd go on to lose 83-70.

Going forward, the road doesn't get any easier as they'll look to stay afloat in a historically strong SEC pool. Florida will travel to No. 9 Auburn on Saturday then return home to face No. 21 LSU on Jan. 12.

Without a drastic adjustment, the disappointing loss to Alabama could result in the Gators season unraveling, as a possible 0-3 start in conference play stares them in the face.

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