Some observations following UF’s 68-61 win at Auburn:
– Florida has won nine straight, but still is prone to lulls from time-t0-time during the course of games. On Saturday, it was a 14-0 Auburn run late in the first half that Florida coach Billy Donovan found alarm. What sparked the run was sophomore guard Michael Frazier II missing a defensive assignment on an in-bounds play, which led to a wide-open corner 3-pointer by Auburn junior guard KT Harrell. That cut Florida’s lead to 27-19 and gave Auburn life. From there, Auburn rattled off nine more straight points to take a brief 28-27 lead.
– Frazier also needs to adjust to being a marked man on the perimeter. Auburn aggressively face-guarded Frazier throughout the game. As a result, Frazier finished with no points on 0-2 from 3-point range, including an uncharacteristic air-ball 3-point attempt. The poor shooting day clearly affected Frazier, who had two turnovers, two first-half fouls and several missed defensive assignments.
– With Frazier MIA, Florida got another nice effort from freshman point guard Kasey Hill. In 25 minutes against Auburn, Hill scored all 7 of his points from the free-throw line, going 7-8 from the charity stripe. Hill also had 3 assists, 3 steals and 2 turnovers. Hill and Wilbekin appear to have created some positive chemistry, and Hill’s ability to run the point during some stretches has allowed Wilbekin to play off the ball and create his own offense. Wilbekin overcame a five-turnover day by scoring 16 points, going 4 of 7 from the floor and 2-of-2 from 3-point range.
