Frontcourt leads Florida over Kent State 65-52

By Adam Silverstein
December 9, 2010

Head coach Billy Donovan demanded unselfish play from the No. 24 Florida Gators (7-2) after last week’s stunning upset, and that is exactly what he got Thursday night as they handily defeated the Kent State Golden Flashes (7-3) 65-52 at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center in Gainesville, FL.

Florida’s frontcourt dominated the contest. Senior forward Alex Tyus bounced back from a rough start to finish 10-of-15 from the field for a game-high and season-high 20 points, and redshirt senior center Vernon Macklin dominated his second-straight game going 9-of-12 from the paint for 19 points.

Read the rest of OGGOA’s Florida vs. Kent State game story…after the break!

Macklin started the first half hot while sophomore guard Kenny Boynton missed his first four shots making him 0-for-13 dating back to last week’s game. He would wind up making a few layups and a three pointer later in the contest but still finished 3-of-12 (1-of-8 from downtown) with seven points.

Down 27-23 to Kent State with four minutes left in the first half, Boynton hit his three, assisted on a fastbreak layup to senior F Chandler Parsons, made his own layup and saw Macklin push one in as the Gators took off on a blink-of-the-eye 9-0 run to end the half with a 32-27 lead.

Florida’s onslaught would continue out of the locker room. UF extended their run to 25-4 through the break to take a then-game-high 17-point lead with 13:19 remaining in the contest. The Golden Flashes responded with an 8-0 run but were answered immediately by the Gators who extended their lead back to 17 with 8:07 to go.

UF would end up taking a game-high 18 point lead on a layup from sophomore F Erik Murphy with 5:46 remaining but took their foot off the gas from that point forward.

F Justin Greene and G Carlton Guyton led Kent State with 14 points apiece. Guyton was 4-of-6 from downtown and kept KSU in the game early in the first half. After opening the game shooting 52 percent from the field (11-for-21), the Golden Flashes fell off and only hit 23.5 percent of their shots the rest of the way (8-for-34).

Tyus scored 12 of his 20 points in the second half and also notched five boards. Macklin led Florida with eight rebounds and three blocks, while Parsons was an efficient 3-for-6 for six points as the third frontcourt member.

Joining Boynton struggling from the backcourt was junior point guard Erving Walker, who went 1-of-5 for three points. Both players dished out three assists.

The Gators now get eight days off before participating in the 2010 Orange Bowl Basketball Classic at the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, FL. They will face No. 5/5 Kansas State in the second game of the event.

4 Comments

  1. Gatorbuc15 says:

    I believe that this was the most fundamentally sound game the Gators have played so far this season. They actually looked like teammates tonight.
    Note to Tyus: Thank you for finally showing the hell up.

  2. 335 says:

    Their most fundamentally sound game and they still didn’t beat the point spread.

  3. umlaut says:

    Their most fundamentally sound game and they still didn’t cover the point spread.

  4. Gatorbuc15 says:

    Are you all worried about the point spread that much?

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