Todd Golden’s ref comments sound a lot like what Florida fans said after Duke loss

Tuesday night was a tough loss to take for the Florida Gators against Duke. Florida fell behind by double digits at halftime and looked like they were going to be outclassed on the night before a furious rally had the Gators in position to win with one more defensive stop.

Instead, an ill-timed double team led to a wide-open three that gave Duke the 67-66 win over Florida.

One of the backdrops to the game was some questionable decisions from the refs, and Todd Golden alluded to as muchafter the game.

Florida loses to Duke

It is true that in the second half, Duke wasn't even in the bonus with under five seconds to play, and that the total fouls in the game were even enough to (16 to 14).

But there were some really questionable and outright missed calls that screamed home cooking for Duke.

There was the comical, flagrant foul on Thomas Haugh. Xaivian Lee got hacked on the arm, and instead Duke tried to challenge for out-of-bounds possession. There were several ticky-tack fouls on Florida's bigs that didn't seem to apply to Duke's big men.

But the most egregious was the botched goaltending call that resulted in a fast break the other way. A four-point swing in a one-point game feels significant.

After the game, Golden alluded to the refs:

"I told our guys, to win in a place like Cameron, you've got to outplay Duke by 10 points because you're not going to get any 50-50 calls. Things aren't going to go your way, and we certainly had a little bit of that tonight. Again, overall, I thought we played a good game."

Florida had its chances

Don't get it twisted, Florida will watch the film and feel like they let one get away with or without the refs. Once again, the Gators were just 7-28 from three and just 25-67 overall.

Ball movement felt stuck at times, and the lack of a playmaking guard continues to haunt Florida. Much like in their loss to TCU, a back-breaking turnover on its final possession after Duke took the lead sealed Florida's fate.

The only thing that kept Florida in this game was its rebounding, as the Gators had 20 offensive rebounds to Duke's 11.

If one is looking for a "moral victory," the Gators got that on Tuesday. But the concern is that next Tuesday's contest against UConn is going to be the last chance in the non-conference for a Q1 real victory. 

After UConn, the Gators will close out the non-conference with four mid to low major programs before opening SEC play against Missouri on January 3.