SEC Basketball Final Grades for 2014-15 season

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Feb 18, 2015; Gainesville, FL, USA; Florida Gators head coach Billy Donovan huddles up with the team against the Vanderbilt Commodores during the second half at Stephen C. O

Florida Gators: D

Some college basketball fans would say the SEC had a down year, especially when coach Billy Donovan’s Florida Gators struggled from beginning to end.

Donovan has always had a team competitive in the SEC and built for a long run in March, but this past season was not a special one for the University of Florida.

In 19 seasons, Donovan led Florida to 17 consecutive postseason appearances, but that streak ended when the Gators missed out on the NCAA Tournament for only the second time in Donovan’s time with the program, finishing the season 16-17 overall with an 8-10 record in the SEC. Florida lost all of its 10 conference games by eight points or less. In the 10 conference losses, Donovan’s team was a couple of plays away from home base, but couldn’t execute down the stretch.

Talent wasn’t the main concern for the Gators’ collapse. Instead, it was the suspensions and injuries that killed the team’s chances of having a successful 2014-15 campaign. Florida came into the season ranked No. 7 in the preseason AP Top 25, but quickly fell out of the rankings after the team stumbled to a 3-4 start. Florida would win its next four games against Yale, Texas Southern, Jacksonville, and Wake Forest.

In early February, the team’s leading scorer, Dorian Finney-Smith (13.1 ppg), violated team rules and was suspended for seven games. Without Smith, the Gators went 1-6. Smith returned to the team on Feb. 28 and recorded a double-double (20 points, 10 rebounds) in Florida’s 66-49 home win over Tennessee, the same day Donovan reached his 500th win as a collegiate head coach. Two weeks before Smith’s return, Michael Frazier II, who was second on the team in scoring (12.9 ppg), suffered a high-ankle sprain in the Gator’s 62-61 loss to Ole Miss on Feb. 12. Frazier missed the next six games, but returned to play against a highly-talented Kentucky team in the season finale, losing 67-50.

With Smith and Frazier out of the lineup, guards Kasey Hill and Eli Carter had to carry the team on their backs. Carter was third on the team in scoring (12.1 ppg) and Hill averaged 11.3 points per game, but it wasn’t enough to keep Florida in contention for back-to-back SEC regular season and conference tournament titles. Another disappointment was second year point guard Chris Chiozza. His inconsistencies as the floor general were on display a lot during the season.

Chiozza recorded 41 turnovers and shot 38.9 percent from the field. He averaged only 3.9 points per game. Florida ended its season with a 64-49 loss to the Wildcats in the second round of the SEC Tournament.

Just like Alabama, the Gators couldn’t overcome the injury bug and didn’t have the leadership the team possessed a season ago with Scottie Wilbekin and Patric Young.

Next: Fred Hoiberg: Time for Iowa State to Worry

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