[Westside]

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Could two games be any more diametrically opposite?

When Florida faced South Carolina two and half weeks ago in Gainesville, the Gators were out-played, out-hustled, out-toughed and (this was key) out-shot on all the key possessions down the stretch, with the Gamecocks leaving town with a five-point win.

This time, USC was the home team, but UF was the aggressor. The fighter. The scorer. Florida's 65-41 blowout victory Saturday at Colonial Life Arena was a beginning-to-end domination of a program known nationally for its physicality and effort.

"From the tip, [we were] locked in, in a stance, getting to shooters. We played with as much energy as we've played with all year," Florida coach Mike White said. "Now, that's the standard. That's what we're capable of."

Make that two straight games the Gators (17-8, 8-4) have come to the gym with unbridled passion. Three nights after a selfless, balanced performance in a home defeat of LSU, Florida showed similar numbers across the stat sheet, with senior point guard Chris Chiozza and junior swingman Jalen Hudson pitching in a team-high 12 points a piece, while six other teammates had at least six points, and six at least five rebounds, as all 10 players that took the floor got in the scoring column (in the first half, no less).

It was Florida's defense, however, that made it all possible. The Gators never trailed in the game, doing to the Gamecocks (13-12, 4-8) what the Gamecocks so often do to opponents. UF held USC to just 27.8-percent shooting from the floor, had an overwhelming 46-24 advantage on the glass and — after giving up 11 makes from the 3-point line in the Jan. 24 loss at Exactech Arena — surrendered just two 3-pointers on 13 tries (15.4 percent). The Gators also tied their season high with 10 blocked shots, three by sophomore forward Keith Stone.

"We were focused on the right stuff," White said.

Consider how South Carolina coach Frank Martin saw the events of the day unfold.

"This wasn't an X's and O's problem here. We got beat to everything. Got beat to loose balls, beat with discipline," Martin said after his team's fifth straight loss since the win at the O'Dome. "I've never coached a team that got beat by 20-something on the glass. We had no fight. We showed up to play, but Florida said, 'We're not losing to you again.' They ratcheted up the competitiveness of the game and we looked for the backdoor instead of the fight."

Let the record show that no opposing coach has spoken about the Gators in such a way this season.

UF scored the first five points of the game, with USC answering with the next five. The Gators answered with the next seven and never looked back. They shot nearly 52 percent in the first half, allowed the Gamecocks to convert at just 33 percent, and led 41-20 at the break.

"Last time, they set the tone," said Chiozza, who hit five of his seven field-goal tries, grabbed seven rebounds and dished three assists. "This time, we hit them first."


Backup freshman guard Mike Okauru (0) scored eight points, part of a 23-point production from the UF reserves on the road SAturday.

South Carolina managed just nine field goals through the first 20 minutes. That was three more than the Gamecocks scratched out in the second (on six of 27 shooting) period, as the Gators maintained the defensive pressure and eventually held USC to the fewest points by a conference opponent during White's three seasons. The previous low came in a 57-52 win at Mississippi State last Feb. 17.

"We were definitely more locked in this time," junior center Kevarrius Hayes said.

Sort of like their last game out.

To review, after getting utterly dismantled at home last weekend in a 68-50 loss to Alabama, the Florida coaches and players canceled practice Monday and used the time to talk some things out. For two and a half hours. Two days later, the overall product — and, specifically, the effort and energy level — were elevated from the outset in what turned out to be a 73-64 defeat of LSU.

After that game, both White and his players spoke of it carrying over.

The first-half effort (on the road, no less) was an exellent starting point.

Once the Gators got their first double-digit lead — at 19-7 — they never gave it back. The Gamecocks, once, cut it to 10, at 24-14 with just over six minutes to go before halftime, but Chiozza, seemingly trapped in a corner on the UF offensive end, found backup freshman guard Mike Okauru in the opposite corner on a skip pass past the USC defense. Okauru buried it for a 3-pointer.

Okauru, with eight points, was part of a Gators bench that accounted for 23 points a week after scoring a measly one in the loss to the Crimson Tide. Seldom-used redshirt freshman center Dontay Bassett (4 points, career-high 7 rebounds) helped with the tag-team defensive effort that limited USC's tough-as-nails forward Chris Silva to just 10 points and five rebounds. Freshman guard Deaundrae Ballard, who had not scored a field goal over the past five games, had six points and two rebounds.

This was an all-team deal.

And an all-Florida day.

"We're going to try to do that every game now," said Chiozza, whose team remained alone in third place in the league standings with six games to go. "We've had games where we've done that, but then we'll have times where we don't do it for a full 40 [minutes]. This was the first time. We know we can do it. This is where the bar stands for us. This is the kind of team, the kind fo defense, we can be. We still can improve a lot, but this is the attitude we need to have."


http://floridagators.com/news/2018/2/10/...cocks.aspx

[E's Army]

South Carolina was horrid.