The team that leads the nation in 3-pointers now has concerns from behind the arc.
Florida’s 3-point shooting percentage is way down in Southeastern Conference play, dropping from 41.4 to 35.8. Making matters worse, the eighth-ranked Gators are allowing league opponents to shoot 41 percent from 3-point range -- a trend coach Billy Donovan would like to see turn around Saturday against Tennessee.
“We’ve got to do a better job defending the 3,” Donovan said. “I’m not really worried about our shooting percentage. I think if we shoot between 38 and 43 on a regular basis, that’s pretty good. What I’d like to see is us get our 3-point field goal percentage defense down a lot lower than it is. We’ve given up too high of a percentage in our league right now. That’s one area I’d say we’ve got to get better at.”
The 3-point line, which Donovan calls college basketball’s “great equalizer,” is a big reason Florida (19-5, 7-2 SEC) has won 14 of its last 17 games.
The Gators have more 3-pointers (247) than anyone in the country. They have made 10 or more 3s in 16 games this season, the most in any of Donovan’s 16 seasons in Gainesville.
But the majority of those came early.
Florida drained double digit 3s in 12 of its first 15 games, all against non-conference opponents. And in the three games the Gators failed to hit 10, they made nine twice.
Things have turned since.
Florida has failed to reach double digits from behind the arc -- or shoot higher than 33 percent -- in five of nine league games.
“We should be a lot better, but we can’t control that,” guard Bradley Beal said. “We can only control things that we can control, like defense and rebounding. The ball, we can’t just force the ball in. If we had control over it, we wouldn’t miss a shot. We have to keep fighting through and keep pushing.”
Florida has struggled even more defending the 3.
The Gators allowed non-conference opponents to shoot just 31.7 percent from behind the arc. In league play, though, that number has ballooned to 40.6 percent.
Top-ranked Kentucky really exposed Florida’s perimeter defense in a lopsided loss Tuesday night. The Wildcats made 9 of 15 shots from beyond the arc.
Players believe missed shots on the other end -- Florida was 9-of-27 shooting from 3-point range -- affected them on the other end. It’s been that way all season, too.
Top 25 men
(25) HARVARD 56, PENN 50 -- Corbin Mille and Kyle Casey scored 17 points apiece, and the Crimson remained perfect in the Ivy League with a victory over the Quakers in Philadelphia.
The Crimson (21-2, 7-0) snapped a tie game midway through the second half with an 11-2 run that gave them the needed cushion to hang on for their ninth straight win.
Zack Rosen kept the Quakers (12-11, 4-2) in the game with a 3-pointer well above the top of the arc that cut it to 53-50 with 23.7 seconds left. The Crimson hung on from the free-throw line and beat Penn for the sixth straight time.
