Another big time win squeaks past the Rebels as the No.2 Florida Gators came into the Tad Smith Coliseum and fought to get a win against the Rebels, whose backs were against the wall. The Rebels (16-11, 7-7 SEC) have now lost four consecutive conference matchups and at this point in the season are looking to simply win another game. Coach Andy Kennedy is still looking for an answer for the rebounding woes the team is facing.
“I need to find somebody to get hard rebounds,” said Kennedy. “Maybe when those freshman become sophomores, they can go get them and those juniors who will become veterans can go get them, I don’t know. We know what the problem is, we just have to keep working on fixing it.”
While the Rebels rebounding issues seem to be the reason they don’t get second chance opportunities, they were only outrebounded by the Gators by two.
The first half, the Rebels came out the gate with great effort; senior sharpshooter Marshall Henderson had 22 first-half points to lead the Rebels into halftime tied with the Gators 42-42. Second half, the defense of the Gators clamped down on Henderson as he saw multiple defenders when pulling up for a shot. Junior guard Jarvis Summers started the second half on fire as he knocked down multiple big shots to finish with 20 points.
Sophomore guard Martavious Newby felt that Florida didn’t do anything that the Rebels were not prepared for.
“We just didn’t make shots and execute the game plan,” Newby said.
Coach Kennedy is simply looking towards the next game and trying to end this current skid the Rebels are on.
“It has been two weeks since we have won a game,” Kennedy said. “I want this loss to hurt, I don’t want anyone on my team to be a good loser, but if you hang your head, four turns into five, five turns into six, six turns into seven. We need learn from what we have done and make the necessary adjustments against Alabama Wednesday.”
Tip off Wednesday night is at 7 P.M. here in the Tad Smith Coliseum against the Crimson Tide.
–Tyler Carter
