1. Wisconsin grabbed 9 defensive boards. Florida grabbed 9 offensive boards. When a team shoots and misses and it's a coinflip as to who gets the ball, then that's the recipe for a loss. Florida was a hot-shooting team for most of the night, and on the occasions they did miss, they often just got the ball right back.
2. The Badgers made just 7-24 3-point attempts (29.2%). Trying to comeback from a large deficit, threes are often the key. Wisconsin couldn't make theirs. In Wisconsin's past 13 losses, they've shot below 30% from deep 9 times (69%).
3. It was the Erik Murphy show. The 6-10 senior would have had a perfect (statistical) game were it not for the one turnover he committed. He made 8-8 twos, 2-2 threes, and 2-2 from the line. He had eight boards, four of them on the offensive end, a block, and a steal. He also gave the short handed Gators 33 minutes, something he'd previously only done twice in 101 career games.
4. The main concern for the Gators was 20 turnovers. Despite the announcers repeated amazement at how the the Gators were "speeding up" Wisconsin, this was just a 63 possession game. There were 32 possessions in the first half, and 31 in the second. The announcers were confusing guys running around all over the court with tempo. That's just how Florida plays. The Gators were 236th nationally in tempo last season. And they were also 17th at taking care of the ball. But against Wisconsin they turned it over on 31.7% of their trips. Last year the Gators turned the ball over that much in just one game.
5. The final score was 74-56. This was a 63 possession game. Last year Wisconsin had the 5th most efficient defense in the nation, and they only gave up more points per possession in one game – their season ending one-point loss to Syracuse.
