The ball finally bounced in Florida’s favor on Wednesday night as the Gators broke through and snapped a three-game losing skid that has put their NCAA Tournament hopes in peril. Certainly, one can give the team mulligans for the road losses against the Alabama Crimson Tide and Kentucky Wildcats, but the home loss to the Vanderbilt Commodores last Saturday was inexcusable.
Fortunately, [autotag]Todd Golden[/autotag]’s gang came out shooting on Wednesday night and cruised to a 79-64 home win despite losing [autotag]Colin Castleton[/autotag] to a hand injury early in the second half. The victory did not make many waves in the objective rankings but it would be much worse if it had been a loss.
The Orange and Blue entered the game ranked No. 42 in ESPN’s Basketball Power Index and moved up to No. 40 following the win. The Gators’ strength of schedule is ranked No. 22 while the strength of record sits at No. 70.
Next up for Florida are the Arkansas Razorbacks, who visit the Gators inside the O’Connell Center on Saturday, Feb. 18. The ‘Backs are currently ranked No. 18 in the BPI. Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. EST and can be watched on ESPN2 or heard on the Gator Sports Network.
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