How Loss in SEC Tournament Provides Opportunities for Gators Entering NCAA Tournament

GAINESVILLE, Fla.-- Todd Golden entered last year's NCAA Tournament with the challenge of carrying momentum from a six-game winning streak and the program's first SEC Tournament title in 11 seasons. While the Florida Gators were a one-seed, they were far from the favorite to win a national championship.

This year, things are different.

Florida enters the NCAA Tournament with a big target on its back as the defending champions. The Gators also enter the tournament fresh off a shocking 91-74 loss to Vanderbilt in the SEC Tournament Semifinal.

Not exactly an under-the-radar contender riding a winning streak like last season.

Still, Golden said this new opportunity as a title-contending team fresh off a loss provides growth opportunities.

"It can help. We’re going to definitely learn from it," he said on Monday. "We're gonna use it to our advantage for sure, but I'm never gonna be like, ‘Oh, man, I'm glad we lost.’”

Golden also doesn't consider Florida's loss to Vanderbilt, during which the Gators trailed by as many as 25 points, struggled from deep and turned the ball over 14 times, a wake-up call. After the game, the fourth-year head coach accurately made his case for Florida to remain a one-seed in the NCAA Tournament despite the loss.

Florida Gators head coach Todd Golden has led the program back to a one-seed in the NCAA Tournament. | Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

That does not mean Florida, by any means, is a perfect team. The loss has provided an opportunity to address the Gators' deficiencies, something that is a little bit more difficult to do when on a winning streak, Golden said.

"I do think when you do lose, you can really drill down on some areas that you need to improve on. And when you're winning, I think that's more difficult," he said. "It's more difficult to teach. It’s more difficult to hold accountable. But now we don't have that issue off a loss and hopefully we respond the same way that we did after we lost to Auburn on January 24.”

Golden specifically pointed to the turnovers as the loudest thing to address from Saturday's loss, while the team's early-season 3-point woes returned in its two games in the SEC Tournament. It was not for a lack of effort, he said, but rather playing too fast offensively, which led to "bad transition turnovers," "screening issues," and "poor decision-making."

It did not help, either, that Vanderbilt took advantage of those opportunities by scoring 24 points off those 14 turnovers, 20 of which came in the first half.

"Hopefully, this week we can kind of get back to how we had been playing over the past two months, where we were very comfortable and playing fast but not in a hurry, and a lot of those kind of uncharacteristic turnovers weren't showing up," Golden said. "It’s not a secret. That was definitely our biggest issue this weekend."

The other issue – the 3-point shooting – is something that Florida saw considerable improvement in as the season progressed. In the SEC Tournament, however, the Gators regressed, shooting a combined 8-for-37 from deep. Golden, however, is not panicking.

"I think in the tournament, it's a challenge. You're playing in different arenas," he said. "I think for every team, teams that can be efficient from 3 will give themselves an advantage. But again, it's always gonna be kind of icing on the cake for this team."

While Golden made it clear both entering the SEC Tournament and after that losing, even if it provides opportunities to learn ahead of the single-elimination NCAA Tournament, is unacceptable, there is one consolation from the loss: Florida's recent response to losses.

In the last two seasons, the Gators have typically played much better after losing a big game. Last season, Florida's loss to Georgia on Feb. 24, which cost the program a share of an SEC regular-season title, sparked a 12-game winning streak that ended in a national title.

Todd Golden — The Florida Gators won their last 12 games, including a national championship, after losing to Georgia. | Kyle Lander / Gators Illustrated

This season, a 5-4 start to the season, with two losses to one-seeds in the NCAA Tournament in Arizona and Duke, sparked a 5-1 start in SEC play. Additionally, a humbling loss at home on Jan. 24 to NIT-bound Auburn reset the Gators, which went on to win 12 straight games in impressive fashion. Golden said the loss is an opportunity for the staff to approach practice differently.

"We've been pretty good after wins, too. So, it's not that we're just like 'Oh, we need a loss to get back to what we're capable of', but I do think it allows you to recenter, focus on the areas where we haven't been good enough," he said. "There's certain things even though we have been winning the games where we haven't been as sharp as we needed to be. And so that's kind of what might be masked a little bit during the winning streaks that we can adjust and approach right now."

One thing Florida is not adjusting, however, is its confidence. The Gators enter the tournament as a one-seed for the second straight year, for the first time in program history, and a favorite to make another deep run. Florida begins play on Friday in Tampa, which Golden noted as an advantage, against either Prairie View A&M or Lehigh.

"I don't think we've lost confidence," Golden said. "We got beat. Like, Vanderbilt beat us. They got us, and they did a great job. But I don't think our team's worried that we're not good. I think we're going to be ready to go on Friday."