Texas Southern picks up first men's basketball win by routing No. 16 Florida
No. 16-ranked Floridaâs 69-54 loss to previously winless Texas Southern University came as a shock to the college basketball world Monday.
It marked the first victory for a Southwestern Athletic Conference program over a ranked Southeastern Conference team in the history of the Associated Press rankings, and it snapped an 0-7 start to the 2021-22 season for TSU.
Those privy to UFâs preparation werenât surprised, however.
Florida coach Mike White admitted the Gators experienced their worst practice sessions of the season thus far in the build-up to the contest, resulting in some pre-game concern that ultimately was validated by gameâs end.
âA couple days ago we werenât very good in practice, and yesterday we were really bad, and it was the first time that we had a lengthy meeting after practice about how we perform in practice,â White said. âIt was the first just tough, tough practice, in terms of completely out of character. So obviously as a staff, we had some concern going into this one. That was not who this team was, that was not who this program is. We were thoroughly out-played and out-coached.â
Rather than shy away from their coachâs assessment, the Gators tasked with executing on the court concurred with Whiteâs sentiment that UF was out of sorts in practice prior to taking on the Tigers.
âWe didnât have a good practice yesterday. Thatâs what we just talked about, we let it carry over,â UF forward Colin Castleton said. âWe got a lot of veteran guys, so weâve got to figure something out. We just didnât do what we were supposed to, we didnât have a good practice, so the coaches said that they werenât surprised with the effort we gave, but we just did a terrible job in every aspect.â
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Texas Southern length causes problems
Unlike the loss to Oklahoma, it wasnât missed shots or turnovers that led to Floridaâs downfall.
The Gators were drastically out-rebounded against TSU, 43-26, with Texas Southern winning the battle on both ends en route to scoring 42 points in the paint.
TSU hauled in 14 offensive rebounds to UFâs eight, resulting in 17 second-chance points for the Tigers. The visitors repeatedly found a way to out-position and out-work Florida on the glass, and UFâs man in the middle â Castleton â shouldered the blame, saying the coaching staff stressed the importance of limiting extra opportunities but the Gators just didnât execute.
âEvery single thing we did bad, the coaches told us to focus on, so, thatâs on everybody on the team,â Castleton said. âWhoever played did a terrible job at it, and weâve just got to take this one and move on from it. But it had nothing to do with what the coaches told us â they told us everything that we were supposed to work on and what weâre supposed to do, and we just didnât do what we were supposed to.â
White has stressed the importance of approaching rebounding as a collective responsibility rather than a job that falls on the shoulders of the frontcourt, so guard Brandon McKissic occurred with Castletonâs assessment, saying getting exposed on the boards is ultimately a team-wide failure.
âRebounding was part of the issue, they out-rebounded us by a lot, so it takes a team effort,â McKissic said. âAgain, itâs back to the team, weâve got to get back to being us. So weâll get back to that.â
And that identity is?
Anyone who thought they had Florida figured out through seven games was in for a rude awakening Monday night, but thereâs little doubt when it comes to Floridaâs ideal identity.
Having added two former Defensive Player of the Year award recipients, the re-worked Gators have established an impression in the early going as a defensive-minded team. Though thereâs little doubt thereâs much to work on â namely, having a fleeting memory reminiscent of a goldfish after a missed shot or turnover.
McKissic said the team has shown a tendency to experience a drop-off when it comes to their defensive intensity after an empty possession. Itâs been identified as an area in definite need of correction before conference play begins Dec. 29.
âI think us missing shots correlates with our defense. I feel like when we are not hitting our shots lately, itâs led to defensive mishaps and the burns and the missed defensive rebounds â the things that we talk about that weâre lacking on defense â and the mistakes I feel like they come from us missing shots,â McKissic said. âAnd early in the season, youâve seen us so gritty on defense because we didnât care about that.
âWeâve just got to get back to the gym, get back to being us.â
After one of the most disappointing losses in recent memory, White expects the Gators to be keen on implementing the corrections in the teamâs first practice session following the defeat.
âAll of these games are so important, this game was really important. We needed to win this one, and we needed to grow tonight, and we did neither,â White said. âWhat went into it, âm looking forward to a lengthy conversation with our team as a whole tomorrow.â