Riding a five game winning streak, the tenth-ranked Florida Gators were upset on the road on Thursday night by the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. Head coach Mike Rice has established a solid footing in Piscataway, and freshman guard Eli Carter looks to be a cornerstone of that foundation. Carter went off for 31 points against the ballyhooed Florida backcourt.
In addition to the fab freshman, the Gators were done in by poor three-point shooting, hitting only nine of 27 attempts from behind the arc. Kenny Boynton led Florida with 26 points while Brad Beal was just one of six from downtown and finished with 15. The Gators had a chance to tie it up with less than eight seconds left but an Erving Walker shot at the buzzer would draw iron and come up short. With less than two seconds to go, it looked like Walker had a chance to dump it to a wide open Erik Murphy under the hoop but instead, rushed by the clock, put up the shot from the top of the key.
Rutgers is a quality and rising program, which is that much tougher to play at home in Jersey. Florida has a much less challenging game this weekend, as they look to bounce back against Yale at home on Saturday afternoon.
For more on the game tonight, keep it locked to this StoryStream. For more on the Rutgers Scarlet Knights you can head over to On The Banks or SB Nation New York. As always, check out Alligator Army for all things Florida basketball. And check out the SB Nation College Basketball hub for more on NCAA hoops.