How do you shoot 56% from the floor, hold a team to 38% shooting, and out-rebound a team by 12 and still lose? Simple, just turn the ball over 20 times and shoot 10 of 23 from the free-throw stripe.

Yes, a bizarre box score highlights an ugly conference road loss in Columbia tonight. The Gators led throughout most of the game, however South Carolina dominated the final eight minutes to finish out the 77-71 game. South Carolina G Brandis Raley-Ross heated up down the stretch and buried four huge 3-pointers to motivate the Gamecock faithful towards the conclusion. To top it off, Florida was downright embarrassing at free throws.

The box score becomes even more bizarre when you look at individual players. First, and most notably, the notoriously dangerous Devan Downey was held to only(?) 24 points and one 3-pointer. Alex Tyus gobbled up a career high 15 rebounds. Coming off a break-out performance against Miss St., Vernon Macklin scored only 5 points and was quiet all night. He played only 23 minutes, so naturally you would assume he was in foul trouble, but strangely he finished with zero fouls. Kyle McClanahan played six meaningful minutes and made a layup. Erving Walker, Chandler Parsons, Tyus and Kenny Boynton each had four turnovers and as the quick South Carolina guards swindled the ball from every angle.

One bright spot tonight was Parsons' scoring abilities in the first half, as he put back a few amazing dunks on missed shots and showed confidence driving to the basket. However, as can be the case with Chandler, he disappeared during the critical minutes towards the end.

And now a separate paragraph just for Dan Werner. Or should I call him ''Airball'' as the USC student section so affectionately labeled him. We'll get to that. I read an article in today's Alligator detailing Dan's recent performance. He averages 29 minutes a game, but only 5 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 assists per game. If you are keeping score at home, he is out-rebounding 5'8'' Erving Walker by only an average of 0.7 rebounds a game. Now I know he makes ''hustle plays'' and ''does the little things'', but after reading these season averages, it seems more like he ''does little''. The worst part is, these averages are down from the last two years despite the uptick in minutes. The article went on to blame Florida's lack of depth and recent departures for Billy Donovan's reliance on the senior forward, but the stats don't lie. How did old Dan fair tonight?

As I alluded, his first half 3-point airball drove the Gamecock fans mental, but Dan outmatched that airball with a desperation heave from just inside the key at an important juncture in the waning minutes of the game. That shot all but sealed the game for the 'Cocks, and a quick look at his stat line tonight really nails the nail in the coffin (or however that cliche goes). Zero (0) points, zero (0) rebounds and five (5) fouls in 21 minutes. Anyone with two legs may be able to post a better line than that in 21 minutes if you just ran around a bunch. Sorry Dan, I'm not trying to be a hater, but seriously, WE NEED YOU TO STEP IT UP A BIT to make a serious run for the NCAA tournament.

So what's a coach to do? A slumping senior means more minutes for the rookies? That is not as easy as it sounds as both sophomore Ray Shipman and freshman Erik Murphy have not exactly proved they can hang in conference play. Add in a lack of fundamentals tonight (ball-handling, FT shooting) and Billy D has another meltdown on his hands.

UF has a decent chance to add to the tournament resume this weekend as they host perennial bracket-buster Xavier this Saturday at 6pm. Xavier is 16-7 and has popped in and out of the top 25 this year, but had a nasty loss over the weekend by 25 at Dayton. The Musketeers will come to Gainesville after having a week to stew about the Dayton debacle, so expect swords and candy bars all over the place in the O'Dome.