Gator Basketball: December Recap

In their second month of non-conference play, the Florida Gators finished .500 with a 3-3 record. They smashed Richmond and Jacksonville at home while outlasting Oklahoma State in the 2015 Orange Bowl Classic. On the other side of the column, the Gators suffered an 11-point road loss to Miami, a close six-point road loss to top-ranked Michigan State, and a heartbreaking home loss to the rival Florida State Seminoles.

Two games resonate with me as I write this recap: Michigan State and Florida State. Both of these were winnable games (especially FSU) but the Gators could not muster up enough of an effort to pull the upset or win the rivalry game. For me, it is getting hard to watch this team as they put up more bricks than Habitat for Humanity.

What really gets at me from the Florida State game is how after the Seminoles scored the go-ahead basket with four seconds left, Florida decided not to call timeout. Instead, the Gators just pushed the ball up the court and Chris Chiozza threw up a terrible three-point attempt that had no chance of going in.

Despite Gator coach Mike White not calling a timeout for some reason, I can forgive him for the FSU loss because even legendary coach Billy Donovan lost his first game against FSU.

Personal discrepancies aside, here are some notable performance's from this month:

• Zach Hodskins, a walk-on sophomore who has just one hand, scored his first collegiate basket vs Jacksonville on December 22nd.
• Despite a tough loss, true freshman guard KeVaugn Allen still got his vs Florida State as he scored a career-high 32 points.

Now that I've highlighted the month's record and memorable moments, let's take a look at the Gator stat leaders going into 2016:

Offense

Points: Dorian Finney-Smith (164) (Redshirt Senior)


Assists: Kasey Hill (42) (Junior)


Shooting % (100 minutes min.): Kevarrius Hayes (.737) (Freshman)


Three-Pointers (10 attempts min.): Dorian Finney-Smith (24)


Three-Point % (10 attempts min.): Chris Chiozza (.395) (Sophomore)


Free Throws: Dorian Finney-Smith (36)


Free Throw % (10 attempts min.): KeVaughn Allen (.857)


Rebounds: John Egbunu (33) (Redshirt Sophomore)


Defense

Rebounds: Dorian Finney-Smith (62)


Blocks: John Egbugnu (18)


Steals: Chris Chiozza/Kasey Hill (16)


Miscellaneous

Personal Fouls: John Egbugnu (40)


Minutes: Dorian Finney-Smith (352)


Turnovers: Dorian Finney-Smith (24)

Final Takeaway:

With an average at best December, the Gators will now plunge into a January packed with eight SEC games and a home bout against West Virginia to close out the month. I predict they will go 4-5 to start 2016. Hopefully I am wrong, but with this Gator basketball team you never know what to expect.

*All stats accredited to floridagators.com