This Florida Gators senior has revealed a harsh, honest truth before the team's first NCAA Tournament game.
The Florida Gators earned the No. 1 seed of the South Region in the NCAA Tournament, and they will be facing No. 16 Prairie View A&M on Friday night.
While Florida had been playing tremendous basketball heading into the SEC Tournament, it was certainly slapped with a big wakeup call against Vanderbilt, falling 91-74 in a jarring blowout defeat.
The Gators had won 12 straight games prior, winning their contests by an average of 20.5 points. So the defeat to the Commodores was definitely a shock to the system.
However, senior Florida center Micah Handlogten feels that it may have been the best thing that could have happened to the reigning NCAA champions.
"It was definitely humbling," Handlogten said. "None of those games were really close, but then we went out and just got punched. It brings you down to earth really quickly. That's why … to be honest, maybe we needed it."
While head coach Todd Golden quickly said "no" when asked if he was happy the Gators lost to Vanderbilt, he did qualify his statement by saying that Florida would learn from it.
Florida Gators center Micah Handlogten. Credit: Alan Youngblood/Gainesville Sun / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images.Not that you expect anyone to be happy with a loss, but the message seems pretty clear: this isn't going to be a cakewalk.
For example, we saw top overall seed Duke struggle against Siena on Thursday. Michigan — the No. 1 seed in the Midwest region — led Howard by just four at halftime before ultimately pulling away.
The Gators absolutely should handle Prairie View A&M on Friday. I don't think anyone other than students at Prairie View A&M has Florida losing that game. Not even the most staunch Florida haters.
However, things will become more challenging for the Gators after the opening round, and guess what? They could very well see the Commodores again in the Sweet 16.
Based on Handlogten's comments, you can bet that Florida will absolutely be more than ready for a potential rematch.
Handlogten has primarily come off the bench this season, averaging 4.1 points and 5.9 rebounds over 14.9 minutes per game in an important reserve role. He is also shooting 63.8 percent from the floor.
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