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ATLANTA — Florida’s first-round exit from the SEC tournament left the Gators with a four-game losing streak, shaky NCAA tournament credentials and a gloomy prediction from their coach.
Mykal Riley and Alabama built a big first-half lead and beat the Gators 80-69 on Thursday night to end Florida’s three-year run as SEC tournament champions.
The fall from the top of the SEC seemed to be the least of Florida coach Billy Donovan’s worries. The two-time defending national champion Gators (21-11) may be left out of this year’s NCAA field, and Donovan says changes must come if his young team can return to prominence.
Florida started two freshmen and two sophomores, and three of the team’s top four reserves are freshmen. Donovan didn’t sound encouraged by what normally would be an encouraging sign for the future.
“It’s hard for me to be excited going forward because I don’t see things getting fixed,” Donovan said.
“It’s in front of our guys, what it takes to win. For whatever reason, I haven’t brought it out in them. They’re not committed to it. ... I’m not really excited about seeing this group of guys being sophomores.”
The Crimson Tide (17-15) had a 28-point lead shrink to 6 before recovering to beat Florida.
Riley tied the school record with eight 3-pointers and finished with 26 points. The senior guard snapped Florida’s momentum with back-to-back 3s after the Gators pulled to 57-51 with 9:02 left.
“When he hit one of those 3s to kind of give us some oxygen in the tank, it allowed us to stretch it out more,” said Alabama coach Mark Gottfried. “We had some poise down the stretch.”
Said Riley: “It felt real big to shoot those 3s and make them.”
Alabama will face Western Division top seed Mississippi State in Friday’s quarterfinals.
Richard Hendrix added 22 points for Alabama, while sophomore Marreese Speights led Florida with 15.
Alabama ended Florida’s streak of 18 consecutive postseason victories over two years while giving the Gators their first SEC tournament loss since the 2004 championship game.
“We didn’t come ready to play today,” Florida freshman Chandler Parsons said. “We’re not going to beat anybody playing defense like that.”
That wasn’t exactly what Donovan wanted to hear.
“For Chandler to say the team wasn’t ready to play, I’ve got to take responsibility for that because I think that’s my job,” Donovan said. “It’s disappointing to hear.”
Alabama had 14-0 and 11-0 runs in the first 11 minutes to lead by 25 before Florida reached double figures. The Crimson Tide took their biggest lead, 42-14, with 4 minutes left in the first half, then struggled to put the game away.
The loss leaves Florida with a nervous wait until Sunday, when the NCAA tournament field is announced. Florida has played in nine straight NCAA tournaments.
Florida won at least 20 games for the 10th straight season, but it has four straight losses and a shaky RPI ranking at No. 65.
Florida suffered a dramatic reversal of its domination while winning the last three SEC tournaments. The Gators beat Georgia, Mississippi and Arkansas by an average of almost 20 points on the way to the 2007 championship in Atlanta.
Al Horford, a star of last year’s Florida team, attended the game but all he could do was watch. He’s now a rookie star with the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks.
Florida beat Alabama 90-83 in Tuscaloosa on Jan. 8, but the Crimson Tide opened strong by scoring the first 14 points in the rematch.
Hendrix hit the first basket, and followed with a steal to set the pace. Riley had three 3s in the first five minutes while Hendrix and Alonzo Gee, who had three first-half dunks, led the inside attack.
Alabama didn’t rest on its opening run. After Alex Tyus scored for Florida to make it 19-5, the Tide ripped off 11 straight points to push the lead to 30-5.
Florida managed only two field goals in the first 10:55.
Alabama led 46-23 at halftime and was up 55-30 after a 3-pointer by Riley, but Florida stormed back by scoring 21 of the next 23 points. Chandler Parsons hit two 3s during the run and wound up with 13 pounds.
“There was a stretch in the second half when we were kind of holding on instead of playing basketball,” Gottfried said.
After Riley ended Florida’s comeback with two 3-pointers, the Gators pulled no closer than eight points the rest of the way.
Gee had 13 points for Alabama, which held a 45-29 advantage on the boards but committed 17 turnovers.
© 2008, The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
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Posted by jclowers on March 14, 2008 at 2:29 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I don't think it is very good to hear your coach say he is not looking forward to you getting better and older. It sounds like he is basically saying he does not want these guys on his team. NIck Calathes looks like the real deal and Jai Lucas has looked good. I would be willing to bet a lot of money that you would not hear Bruce Pearl say something like that after a loss. You lose your top 6 scorers (off their NC team) and you are not expected to be very good. Way to be classy Donovan...I bet he wished he stayed in Orlando!!
Posted by pdhuff on March 14, 2008 at 7:24 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Not really too bad to hear Donovan's statement. Anything that roils Fla brings a smile to my mug. He needs to learn to stay the course.
Billy D is not happy. Look out 1st round opponent in the NIT, if they miss the big dance.
Posted by cdonsbach on March 14, 2008 at 8:29 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Hilarious.
I'd love to hear what Gatornation has to say about this!
Calathes looks like Vanilla Ice and Screech had a baby together and that baby needs some braces, pronto.
Florida sucks!
Posted by nicksjuzunk on March 14, 2008 at 8:35 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Whole E crap!! That's pretty harsh. I'm sure that will look good next time he goes out recruiting.
Posted by ads on March 14, 2008 at 8:44 a.m. (Suggest removal)
It may actually help recruiting. Kids can come in and play right away. It was classless to insult the kids that way, but Billy Don hasn't exactly put in a Naismith Award worthy coaching job this year either. Two national championships and a chance to win an NIT championship. A dose of humble pie ... maybe; still a chance for the team to play a few more games ... of course.
Posted by johnnyboy on March 14, 2008 at 8:45 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Maybe he needs to go to Indiana or some other school since he's not looking forward to coaching the players he has.
Posted by slsmithsr on March 14, 2008 at 9:02 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Didn't that kid that hit all those 3's for Ole Miss leave Florida?
There seems to be some untold internal problems that brought out these comments. Billy D was correct when he responded to Parson's statement though. Anytime a team is not ready it falls on the coaching staff. Maybe Billy is having second thoughts about turning down the Orlando Magic's job.
Posted by jsbrown on March 14, 2008 at 9:03 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Classless little wimp. I am starting to wonder if Gatornation is actually Donovan, posting here late at night after a loss and a few good bites of Jack Daniels. They both exhibit the same class and maturity. Who wants to play for a coach who goes after his players in the media like that?
Posted by bowerst on March 14, 2008 at 9:41 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Hush, guys. Pearl absolutely owns Donovan. Billy couldn't beat UT with the best talent he will ever have. What chance does he have as Bruce builds our program into a national player in recruiting? Let us hope Billy D. stays at Florida for years to come.
Posted by wewhite on March 14, 2008 at 9:47 a.m. (Suggest removal)
What a class act... NOT. What are they feeding their coaches down there at UF?
Posted by nicksjuzunk on March 14, 2008 at 10:02 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I heard John Adams is writing his speeches.
Posted by jcvet on March 14, 2008 at 10:35 a.m. (Suggest removal)
A Fulmer like coach. Can only win with vastly superior talent and never takes the blame himself when they lose.
Posted by Volchaz on March 14, 2008 at 10:41 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Sorry Billy, you can't win it EVERY YEAR. He's really fortunate his players stuck around for that second title run, if not, they would have been one and done, much like this year.
Posted by Silent_Fulmer on March 14, 2008 at 10:52 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Nick Calathes is a projected lottery pick by ESPN's Chad Ford, bye bye.
Posted by 99gator on March 14, 2008 at 10:54 a.m. (Suggest removal)
donovan classless?
donovan can't coach?
pass what some of y'all are smokin down this way.
he is trying to motivate his team for next season, but i guess no one has done that before. does anyone really think that donovan thought they would another championship this year?
Posted by Chainsaw on March 14, 2008 at 10:59 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I appreciate what Billy D. is trying to do, and I think his comments will have the intended results next season. But I can't resist taking a shot at Gatornation with this special appearance from Dickey V:
Hey Gatornation, you're going to the N-I-T baaa-beee!
Hahahahahahahaha!
Go Vols!
Posted by Phowell23 on March 14, 2008 at 11:01 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Hey Billy, make they get new haircuts too. Nick's haircut went out of style in the 80's. Good luck in the NIT.
Posted by shopsports on March 14, 2008 at 11:03 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I think Billy is just desparate to get their attention and he should be. They will be back, unfortunately. For today, CELEBRATE with me all you Vols in the south swamp area!! OH HAPPY DAY. Now let's hope AL runs out of gas soon.
I couldn't be sicker of hearing from always so pompus Gaturds....NOT this month!!
Posted by auttat on March 14, 2008 at 11:31 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Read Mark (if you can't already tell, I'm a Georgia alum) Schlabach's article about this on the ESPN website and then read the first comment showing at the bottom. Quite interesting, but nonetheless, very sad. While I hated Mr. Pennington's tone in is lambasting of UT fans, he is right in one thing. Fans are idiots. Just read what this guy had to say.
"I have been a Gator my whole life and when Billy Donovan came to Gainesville, he ignited Gator Nation and got them excited for basketball like no one before him had ever done. I thank him for that. BUT, I noticed about two or three years into his career that his teams seemed inconsistent. The Gators are inconsistent and have been since Donovan has been the coach. Sometimes we look like UCLA of the '70s and sometimes we look like corpses. The last couple of years Donovan lucked out by basically having NBA players play for him. I think I could have coached them to two National Championships. I still love Donovan but I just wish he could eliminate whatever is causing such drastic inconsistency."
I would never trade Pearl for anybody, but if I were forced to trade him, Donovan would be listed twice in my top 2. If you can't be satisfied with back-to-back NC, you will never be happy.
Posted by DoWhatNow on March 14, 2008 at 11:41 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Look, I'm a guy that thought Donnovan was a terrible coach (I had a good basis for that argument during the Buzz/Jerry years). The guy can coach and he's not classless. I have to give him credit for what he did with his previous two teams (making a team with that much talent is no easy task, see: UT Football 1999).
I think Billy was just fed up with putting up with several players that refused to work to get any better. With the exception of Calthes and maybe Jai Lucas half the time, that team looked like it couldn't have cared less as the season went on. Werner, Parsons, even Walter Hodge, etc were a joke in several games this year. Sounds like he's tired of putting up with it.
Posted by utvolz on March 14, 2008 at 11:58 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Eddie Munster = classless! What else would you expect from Gainesville?
Frank in Miami
Posted by TommyJack on March 14, 2008 at noon (Suggest removal)
Tuff freakin noogies
Posted by BigMikeUT on March 14, 2008 at 12:02 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I understand what Donovan was trying to do with this statement. He was trying to light a fire under his players in an attempt to make them work to get better to prove him wrong. I think he may have taken it a little too far though. To call out an entire class of players in the national media for having a lack of heart and desire is a little strong. Remember these are 18 and 19 year old kids who have now been embarassed in front of the world by the man that is supposed to be on their side. I'm sure Coach Donovan knows his players better than any of us do, and maybe he knows that this will motivate them to get better, but it seems to me that he could have had the same effect without essentially saying that he's not looking forward to coaching them next year cause he doesn't think they'll get any better. That's pretty rough.
Posted by cdonsbach on March 14, 2008 at 12:20 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Gatornation can dish it out but must not be able to take it in turn.
Posted by volsfan92 on March 14, 2008 at 12:22 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Donovan cracked under pressure a bit there....he knows he has to head out on the road and recruit now and one and done in the conference tourny wasn't how he planned to start. Calathes is talented and gave good effort this year but he's gone....CBP is doing a great job recruiting already....GO VOLS!
Posted by IBleedOrange444 on March 14, 2008 at 12:30 p.m. (Suggest removal)
BigMikeUT - I think you're right in that he was trying to light a fire under those boys. They all have talent, but they don't play with much intensity, and they don't play defense worth a crap. If those kids are competitiors (and they are or they wouldn't be there), they'll use Donovan's words as motivation to prove their coach wrong in the coming season.
But until then, good luck in the Not Important Tournament Gay-ters! I hope someone elbows Werner in the mouth before they get knocked out of that one.
Posted by pearlific on March 14, 2008 at 12:39 p.m. (Suggest removal)
hey Billy D.....I hear the Orlando Magic need a coach.....wait that was last year.
Posted by givehim6 on March 14, 2008 at 12:39 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Ok, let's take a high school Jr. or Sr., very good bball player. He looks at Fl. sees donaven took them twice to N.C., but made a remark like that. Then looks at Pearl and UT. Sees a team on the top, a players coach. Where would you want to be?
Posted by houvol on March 14, 2008 at 12:51 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I hate to say it, but they lost 6 players one of them of course from Maryville and even though they were not that good, Florida is going to be the team to beat as early as next year. They are loaded with talent. I hope our coaches can get some real talent in here like that. We need to enjoy this year in beating them twice. On the hand, I hope they never win a game again in any sport. GO VOLS!
Posted by bowerst on March 14, 2008 at 12:58 p.m. (Suggest removal)
News Flash: If Donovan is such a great coach, how did he manage to lose to UT 3 out of 4 games with 5 NBA players on his team in 2006 and 2007? Pearl swept the gators his first year with far less talent at every position -- except in the coaches' chair. Pearl owns him and the gators. I'm sure he has the title in his pocket, along with the 5 wins in their first 6 head-to-head meetings.
Posted by bowerst on March 14, 2008 at 1:42 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Hey gatornation, we beat you 5 out of 6. It doesn't matter whether the SEC is up or down, we kicked your reptilian butts ever since BP got here and we will keep doing it. What difference does it make if we win any more games or not? We still beat you, same as always.
Our coach is better than yours. Admit it.
And enjoy the NIT.
Posted by 55Vol on March 14, 2008 at 1:43 p.m. (Suggest removal)
gatornation...your team sucks..hahahahaha
your team is composed , according to your great coach, of a bunch of losers....hahahahahaha
you fit right in with them....hahahahahahaha
Tenn will make it to the Elite 8 if not the Final four....hahahahahahahahaha
you come back then and we will feed you gator poop...hahahahahahahahahahahaha
Posted by ktownsmackdown.gary on March 14, 2008 at 2:37 p.m. (Suggest removal)
he is just saying that stuff to motivate his players.
Posted by bowerst on March 14, 2008 at 2:56 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Look, little displaced gators, we know you won two championships. The subject of the story is your little dictator (I mean coach) and the classless comments he made. Then your little idiot friend (displaced gatornation) said Pearl will never win a championship. That remains to be seen.
What we do know is that in 6 head-to-head match-ups with Billy D., coach P. is 5 and 1. With zero McDonald's All-Americans.
You had a great run. Lots of former gators in the NBA. You have lots of rings. But we have the better coach. My I.Q., by the way, is 144. What's yours?
Posted by pdhuff on March 14, 2008 at 3:03 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Well, he is their coach. He did say some things that most coaches never do.
But can we apply the test of truth to his "Quotes"? Is he telling it or not?
Hard to watch thie "death struggle" with SC. Whew.
Posted by bowerst on March 14, 2008 at 3:08 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Nobody's riled up. But can't seem to find a UF fan willing to discuss Donovan's record vs. Pearl, despite fact UF has all the diaper dandies and Mickey D's All-Everythings on their team.
Objective observers might say Pearl owns Donovan. Gator fans won't talk about it.
Posted by pdhuff on March 14, 2008 at 3:31 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Vols had SC all the way. Good win. LOL
Posted by Plasticman on March 14, 2008 at 3:38 p.m. (Suggest removal)
5 out of 6 Pearl vs. Donovan. Enough said. Pearl beats Donovans teams that have twice as much talent as Pearl (before this season). BOth are good coaches but I would take Pearl any day.
Posted by bbrown on March 14, 2008 at 3:41 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Hey mc"dim",
What's better to you in football -- winning the SEC East or beating Tennessee? By your logic (that championships trump head-to-head matchups), Fulmer is a better coach than Meyer. Like to hear you reconcile that.
Posted by Rockytop98 on March 15, 2008 at 1:19 p.m. (Suggest removal)
mcbrim1998 = loser!! Enough said! Get a life! GO VOLS!!
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