I expect the Gators to show they won't forget the display made by the Georgia Bulldogs. Never again can the Gators let a team get in their heads like that.
Oh wait, this is a basketball game. My bad.
Anyway, Florida (19-5, 6-3) has to look at this game with an eye towards their last road games at LSU and Mississippi State. Florida is 3-4 in road games this season and teams below .500 on the road have greater problems than just making free throws. It's a lack of focus away from Gainesville. Look at the South Carolina, Tennessee and Kentucky games. While it looked like UF was sleep walking in Knoxville, the other two games were marked with defensive collapses. At South Carolina, it was blowing a 7 point lead with 1:36 left. At Kentucky, it was a 14-5 run by the Cats that killed UF in the last 4:09.
Georgia (9-15, 0-9) is not a team up to the calibur of Florida's three SEC road losses. But, it you can't hold your focus for two of your biggest divisional rivals, how can you do it for someone you should crush?
I think Florida can get over this road funk by trying to get Calathes open looks. If Erving Walker runs the point, you can free Calathes to just worry about points. This also means the other three guys on the floor know their role and support. Not keep chucking threes when they clearly are lacking their stroke. Plus, we saw what happened against Kentucky when Calathes has to do the work to get himself open; he's dead tired at the end. Calathes got 15 of his 33 points in the second half at Lexington, but his last bucket was with 4:34 left. That was the last non-free throw points UF had.
Also, to be random for a moment, the game at Georgia always reminds me of Christian Drejer. Before the Georgia game in 2004, Drejer quit Florida and signed a contract with a Spanish team. Drejer is now out of basketball. Karma's a bitch.