An 89-73 loss to Kentucky and an injury that leaves Matt Walsh on crutches take bloom off Gators' resurgence.
By ANTONYA ENGLISH
Published March 15, 2004
ATLANTA - Florida forward David Lee said Saturday afternoon that no matter what happened in Sunday's SEC tournament championship game, the Gators would take tremendous pride in having made it to the title game.
That will have to be their only consolation.
One week after being blown out by 20 against Kentucky at Rupp Arena, the Gators were trounced again. Led by Chuck Hayes' 23 points and 18 each from Gerald Fitch and Kelenna Azubuike, Kentucky defeated Florida 89-73 in front of 22,024 at the Georgia Dome to earn the championship.
It is Kentucky's 10th title in the past 13 years, 25th overall, more than the other SEC schools combined. No. 8 Kentucky has won nine straight, its longest streak of the season.
For Florida, the tournament was both rewarding and costly. The Gators picked up positive national exposure and confidence by making it to the title game for just the fourth time but came out of it with injuries. Forward Matt Walsh tore a callous off his right foot and freshman Mohamed Abukar has serious back spasms.
"The first play of the second half on defense, I just made a cut and I felt something tear in my foot," Walsh said.
The severity of the injury is unknown. He had 17 points and seven rebounds before limping off late in the game. He received a cortisone injection before the game and left the locker room on crutches.
"I've never seen anything like that in my entire life," Florida coach Billy Donovan said. "The guy comes to the bench with 16 minutes to go limping, and I said, "Matt, are you all right?' and he said, "I don't know if I can go.' I said, "Why?' And he said, "Because I know the whole bottom of my foot is no longer there.' He said, "Coach, let me play.' ... When we got inside four minutes, I said this is crazy and I took him out of the game.
"He actually has no sole on the ball of his foot. It's amazing the guy even played, but he gave me everything he had, that's why I'm so proud of him."
Walsh had his foot taped in the locker room after the game and said he'll play this week no matter what. His teammates don't doubt it.
"Matt is a warrior," said guard Anthony Roberson, a member of the all-tournament team. "I look at it like this: This is going to be the last go-around for us. These games are going to be last three or four or six games in a row that Matt is going to play his sophomore year, so he is going to rise out of it. There's no reason to worry about Matt."
Donovan was more concerned. "I really don't know what kind of productivity he can give us," he said.
After winning a tight overtime game Friday night, then beating Vanderbilt handily Saturday, Florida had hoped to stay close with Kentucky early. But that wouldn't be the case.
Six seconds in, Kentucky had a 3-0 lead; it was 20-7 after five minutes. After Ravi Moss hit a 3-pointer with 2:34 left in the first half to give Kentucky a 43-31 lead, Florida never got within single digits.
Kentucky outscored Florida 38-16 in the paint and had 16 offensive rebounds to Florida's six. Adrian Moss had 12 points and five rebounds UF; Lee added 10.
"Give Florida credit," said Fitch, the tournament MVP, "they came out and played hard, but we wanted it more and it showed on the court."
