Men’s Basketball Falls to Defending National Champion #10 Florida

GAINESVILLE, Fla.  – Following the Merrimack Men’s Basketball team’s (2–3) home-opener Wednesday night in which they got their second win of the season over Maine, Head Coach Joe Gallo was crystal clear about his team’s attitude heading into Friday night’s contest vs. the defending national champion Florida Gators (3–1).

“Those games are ‘house money’,” said Gallo. “We’ve got absolutely nothing to lose… just go out there, start swinging, and hope for the best.”

1st HALF

Merrimack struggled on offense early. At the 16-minute media timeout, the Warriors were 0–4 from the field and had already turned the ball over three times while committing four fouls.

Florida scored the first 11 points of the game before KC Ugwuakazi got Merrimack on the board five minutes in off of a Tye Dorset pick-and-roll feed.

A minute later, Dorset scored the Warriors’ second basket with a tough drive and physical finish.

However, Merrimack displayed some nerves in the opening minutes.

While Kevair Kennedy continued a positive trend by being ultra-aggressive on offense out of the gate, the freshman turned the ball over four times in the first nine minutes of the game.

Both Kennedy and Malik Edmead missed wide open layups that would have gone down against other mid-majors. KC Ugwuakazi had one as well.

Ernest Shelton was also unable to find his shot despite getting a couple of solid looks.

After Merrimack dug four points into Florida’s 11–0 open, the Gators erupted for a 19-0 run. All of a sudden, the Warriors found themselves in a 30–4 hole, which prompted Joe Gallo to call timeout with 8:39 to play in the half. Out of the break, Florida would score again before Todd Brogna knocked down a three to end the UF flurry at 21. Merrimack was even able to net consecutive baskets, as Kevair Kennedy found Andres Marrero for the Warriors’ second triple of the night.

Florida would answer with a Boogie Fland three, but Kevair Kennedy kept his foot on the gas, slashing to the basket past Alex Condon for his first points of the night. And Kennedy would stay in attack mode, as he spun and blew by Rueben Chinyelu for another lay at the cup.

Florida would score on the other end, but not without an answer, as Todd Brogna found Tye Dorset on a cut for a successful and-1 basket.

While Florida closed out the period with a pair of unanswered baskets and the Warriors entered halftime down 27 (44–17), Merrimack was able to outscore the Gators 13–12 in the final 7:53 of the opening period.

2nd HALF

Alex Condon opened the second half scoring for Florida, but MC also scored in the first minute, as Todd Brogna pulled down an offensive rebound and for the second time found a cutting Tye Dorset who scored a physical basket at the rim.

With just less than 17 minutes to play, Kevair Kennedy made a nifty move to undress a Florida defender and convert another highlight driving layup. Merrimack turned Florida over on the next possession, which led to a Tye Dorset long-ball. Dorset was the first Warrior to enter double-digits.

KC Ugwuakazi made it three straight possessions with points for the Warriors, as he got to the line and knocked down both free throws. Florida would hit a trey of their own, but Ugwuakazi came right back with an aggressive drive and finish.

The next time down, Kevair Kennedy made it four straight trips with points, as he again got into the paint and this time drew a foul for a tally at the line.

The scoring streak ended at four series, but that didn’t stop Kennedy from staying aggressive, scoring once again as a result of getting to the charity stripe.

With 11:44 to go, Andres Marrero took it off the dribble and scored a spinning layup, earning praise from the ESPN broadcaster as someone “who really stood out” despite not scoring a high volume of points. Marrero would make another jumper just a minute later.

Dylan Veillette also stood out in limited minutes, as he scored in the pick-and-roll assisted by Jaylen Stinson, before finding Ernest Shelton for his first shot of the night, and forcing multiple Gator misses down low.

Down the stretch, Kennedy would make a few more trips to the free throw line, and join Tye Dorset as the lone double-digit scorers for the Warriors, but ultimately, Florida prevailed by a score of 80–45.

TAKEAWAYS

While the Warriors suffered their second loss of 35 or more this season (Auburn), Coach Gallo was firm ahead of this one that the challenge is the point: “Super cool that these are the teams that will say yes now.” As mentioned earlier, Gallo added that the Warriors entered Gainesville “with nothing to lose.”

Furthermore, Gallo could not be less concerned about Merrimack’s record (2–4). “I always forget how tough the non-conference schedule is because we end up reeling off a bunch of conference wins and we always end on a high note,” said the 10th-year head coach.” I was watching our Troy game last year to prepare for Tarleton… but I looked at the bottom and it said Merrimack (1–6), and you don’t even remember that, right? You don’t even remember that because you’re just going through the grind and you end up being prepared for conference, you end up with your 18-20 wins, and you kinda forget… I’m used to this… I don’t even click on our schedule early in the year because I don’t want to see what our overall record is.”

As for the actual game, while you never want to lose, especially by as many as they did, Merrimack had several bright spots. Kevair Kennedy and Tye Dorset both scored double-digit point totals, while adding multiple finishes to their individual highlight reels. KC Ugwuakazi, Andres Marrero, and Dylan Veillette also impressed in the effort.

While Florida dominated the beginning of the game (32–4 in the first 12:06), Merrimack won the rest of the first half, and lost the remainder of the game by a much slimmer score of 48–38.

WHAT’S NEXT

The Warriors are back in action after Thanksgiving, next Friday at Penn for the first game of the Cathedral Classic. They’ll then face Hofstra on Saturday, and end the weekend against La Salle on Sunday. After that, MC will return home to begin conference play in the MAAC at Lawler, Dec. 4 vs. Rider.