Florida coach Todd Golden likely will place a heavy emphasis on protecting the basketball when the 10th-ranked Gators face Providence on Friday afternoon in the Rady Children’s Invitational consolation game in San Diego.
TCU forced 19 turnovers and scored 22 points off those takeaways en route to an 84-80 victory over Florida in a semifinal on Thursday. Wisconsin beat Providence 104-83 in the other semifinal.
“I thought we did a horrendous job taking care of the basketball,” Golden said.
Four of Florida’s five starters had at least three turnovers in the loss. Forward Thomas Haugh collected 20 points and five rebounds but turned the ball over five times.
“They have a defense that we do not see a lot,” said Florida guard Urban Klavzar, who came off the bench to score 20 points. “We had not seen it this year, so it’s a little different. I thought we prepared well for the game, but you have to be tough with the ball, the way they’re in the passing lanes.
“I feel like we just weren’t focused enough, especially in the second half. Those turnovers lead into transition, and they’re a really good transition team.”
Florida (4-2), the defending national champion, owned a 53-43 lead five minutes into the second half, but TCU shot 57.7% from the field in the half.
“We played well enough at points to get ourselves a 10-point lead with 15 minutes to go, even without playing that well, to be honest,” Golden said. “But we were valuing the ball and making good decisions. The last 15 minutes of the game, we did a terrible job that way, and I thought our defense was really poor.
“We’ve got to understand that for us to be our best, we’ve got to be a gritty, hard-nosed, tough team. It’s got to be who we are, and if we’re unwilling to execute those things, it’s going to be a tough year. It’s going to be up and down, depending on how we shoot the ball, and that so far has obviously been an issue for us.”
Defense was the main issue for Providence (4-3) in its loss to Wisconsin, which scored more than 50 points in each half. It was the first time the Friars have allowed 100 points in regulation since 2009.
The Friars entered the contest averaging 93.2 points per game, but Jason Edwards (20 points) was the only Providence player who scored more than 11 points in the loss.
“Really poor job in a lot of ways,” Providence coach Kim English said. “Our effort, our defense, our hustle, our focus, our selflessness were all really bad. A step in the wrong direction, but we have to have amnesia and get ready to play the national champions.”
Providence trailed 27-24 at the 7:14 mark of the first half, but Wisconsin used a 12-2 run to go up by 13. The Friars trailed 51-32 at halftime and 70-42 with 13:31 remaining. Wisconsin had a 19-1 advantage in fast-break points in the first half and a 32-14 edge in that category for the game.
“I’ve said this a million times: Your offense and defense are married,” English said. “A bad shot or a turnover are the first passes to your opponent’s fast break.”
