The sky isn't falling for Florida Basketball after losing to Georgia 88-83 to move to 24-4 on the season, but there are some hints of clouds in the distance if the goal for the Gators is to make the Final Four. While Todd Golden and crew still have all the pieces needed to win a national title, Tuesday's loss is a reminder of how quickly it can go south in March.
So, with that in mind, here are three glaring flaws for the Gators if the goal is to cut down the nets in San Antonio.
1st Half Starts
Florida fell behind by 26 points in the first half against Georgia before nearly pulling off the comeback. Likewise, the Gators had a terrible stretch against LSU to enter halftime trailing.
Florida had similar 1st half stretches against South Carolina and Kentucky on the road.
So while the Gators are 4th in the country in overall scoring margin and 9th in the country in 1st half scoring margin, Florida is 52nd in the country in 1st half scoring margins when on the road.
While the NCAA Tournament will be held at "neutral sites," there are not many great local Gators options to wind up at in this year's tournament.
Free Throw Shooting
This was on full display against Georgia and for all the questionable stuff that went on from the refs combined with some unlucky plays, the Gators ultimately lost due to free throw shooting.
With a rate of 71.3%, the Gators are 212th in the country at free throw shooting.
As we know, games in March have a way to extend with free throw shooting, and unless the Gators want to be on the wrong end of One Shining Moment, they need to find a way to make these with better consistency.
Defensive Rebounding
As good as the Gators are at getting second-chance points of their own, they have a tendency to leak out second-chance points for their opponents.
Florida collects defensive rebounds at a rate of 74.2%. That is just 90th in the country.