Rutgers shocks No. 10 Florida 85-83 in double OT

Thursday’s contest against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights was supposed to be just another game for the No. 10 Florida Gators but instead of an easy win, Florida (10-3) was forced to play hard for 50 minutes and fell 85-83 to Rutgers (8-5) in double overtime at the Rutgers Athletic Center in Piscataway, NJ.

Scarlet Knights guard Eli Carter led all scorers with 31 points and was supported by a superb performance off the bench by G Myles Mack, who scored 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting, was 3-for-5 from downtown and hit a number of clutch shots down the stretch.

The Gators shot a paltry 45.2 percent from the field and 33.3 percent from beyond the arc as junior G Kenny Boynton led the team with 26 points.

Florida junior forward Erik Murphy had a hot hand early, hitting the Gators’ first three shots (two from downtown) to provide his team with an 8-2 advantage that helped them jump ahead 14-5. Rutgers answered with a 7-0 run to cut UF’s lead to two and added a 9-2 scoring stretch to tie the contest at 21 with 8:06 remaining in the first half.

The Scarlet Knights played solid defense on the Gators for the remainder of the half, holding Florida to just two field goals in the final 10:31 of the period. The Gators scored nine of their 13 points over the final eight minutes from the line and took just only a four-point lead into the locker rooms at the break.

[EXPAND Click to expand and read the remainder of the Florida-Rutgers game story.]UF began the second half on a 7-2 run and had a 46-38 advantage after a three-pointer by Boynton, but RU quickly responded with a 15-6 stretch to take their first lead.

Rutgers only led for 52 seconds, however, as Boynton answered with five-straight points including a bomb from downtown to put Florida back ahead four with 4:32 left.

The Gators had a seven-point lead with 2:49 to play and once again with 2:06 left, but a trey by Mack brought the score within four. Consecutive Florida turnovers by Boynton and senior point guard Erving Walker gave the Scarlet Knights two additional opportunities to score, and Rutgers added four more points to complete a 7-0 run and tie the game with 44 seconds remaining.

Walker missed a layup on the ensuing possession, and Mack shanked a jumper at the buzzer to send the game into overtime.

The extra period started back-and-forth but sophomore center Patric Young put the Gators ahead one after muscling in a layup and adding a free throw. A scoop layup by Scarlet Knights G Jerome Seagears gave Rutgers the lead back, but Young put UF ahead one point again by converting a layup with less than a minute to play.

After a miss on the other end, RU purposely fouled Young to send him to the line for the one-and-one. He hit both free throws and gave the Gators a 76-73 lead with 31.8 seconds left, but Carter negated that advantage immediately with a big three to tie the game once again and send the contest into double overtime.

Rutgers outplayed Florida from that point on, taking a four-point lead with 1:46 to go before trading threes and regaining that advantage with 58 seconds left. Walker hit a floater to cut UF’s deficit to two but missed an off-balance shot at the buzzer to allow RU to escape with the upset victory.

The Scarlet Knights only turned the ball over 11 times compared to 18 by the Gators; Rutgers also held even with Florida on the boards with each team grabbing 32 rebounds. RU outshot UF from the floor and downtown, registering 18 assists on 35 made baskets.

The Gators, however, were an efficient 18-for-19 from the free throw line, the team’s best work from the charity stripe all season long.

Florida freshman G Bradley Beal was second on the team with 15 points but hit just 4-of-12 shots from the field and 1-for-6 from beyond the arc. He also grabbed seven rebounds but turned the ball over a game-high seven times.

Murphy finished with 14 points and a game-high eight boards, Young added 11 points and six rebounds, and Walker registered nine points with six boards and six dimes but had four turnovers and was also inefficient from the floor (4-of-11, 1-for-5 from three).

UF’s prior two losses this year had been to the now-No. 1 (Syracuse) and No. 2 (Ohio State) teams in the country; both came on the road by an average of 5.5 points. The Gators’ defeat by the Scarlet Knights Thursday was their first regular season loss by an unranked team since Jan. 29, 2010 (Mississippi State).

Florida will look to regroup and end 2011 on a positive note when they host Yale in Gainesville, FL on Saturday at 2 p.m. The game will air live nationally on ESPNU.[/EXPAND]