Location: Bridgestone Arena – Nashville, TN [Capacity: 18,160]
Time: 1:00 p.m. EST

TV: ABC/ABCHD (Brad Nessler, Jimmy Dykes, Shannon Spake)
SiriusXM: 126/199 | Radio: Gator Radio Network [Affiliates]
Online Video: None | Mobile Video: None
Live Updates: @OnlyGators on Twitter and SportsYapper app

Odds: Florida -11.5 | O/U 117

ANOTHER INJURY; TOUGH PRACTICES

After Friday’s victory, Donovan explained that senior forward Erik Murphy suffered a knee contusion during practice on Wednesday and was limited for the rest of the week. Murphy wound up having a career game on Friday, registering career-highs of 27 points and 12 rebounds despite wearing a brace on his knee during the contest.

“I just was feeling a little pain in it in practice and wanted to be cautious coming into the tournament and just pretty much treated it, iced it and went a little sleep. But it’s fine,” Murphy said after the game.

Donovan, however, was worried that Murphy may not even be available to play.

“I was concerned because the trainer was concerned. He didn’t practice. It was really bizarre,” he explained. “We had just finished a stretch, and we were doing just some going through like pick-and-roll coverage. It wasn’t even a contact drill, more of a teaching drill. He kind of planted his foot and went to turn. He felt something, had kind of a sharp pain in his knee. Didn’t know what it was. They pulled him out. He went back in the training room and then came back out and it was still bothering him. And the trainer felt like it was in his knee joint and really didn’t know what it was.

“Nothing showed up on the MRI. It was negative. That night he started to feel progressively better. There was no swelling. There was nothing on the MRI. So, more than anything else, we felt like everything was fine. At the time they were concerned. Not being a doctor, I don’t know, I just go by what they tell me. They were concerned. I think when the MRI came back later that night and it was clean, I think we felt like he was going to be able to play, wouldn’t be a problem.”

Donovan was quite pleased with how Murphy and the rest of the Gators performed on Friday coming off of the first significant amount of practice time the team has had with a full complement of players.

Read the rest of the Florida-Alabama gameday preview…after the break!
Continue Reading » SEC Tournament – Gameday: Florida vs. Alabama

Tags: Alabama Crimson Tide, Anthony Grant, Billy Donovan, Bridgestone Arena, Erik Murphy, Kenny Boynton, Patric Young, Scottie Wilbekin, SEC, SEC Tournament, Trevor Releford

Location: Stephen C. O’Connell Center – Gainesville, FL [Capacity: 11,548]
Time: 12:00 p.m. EST

TV: ESPN/ESPNHD (Mark Jones, Jimmy Dykes)
SiriusXM: 85 | Radio: Gator Radio Network [Affiliates]
Online Video: WatchESPN.com | Mobile Video: WatchESPN app
Live Updates: @OnlyGators on Twitter and SportsYapper app

Odds: Florida -16 | O/U 120

HISTORY / STREAKS / STATS

» Alabama leads the all-time series against Florida 73-60, but the Gators are 17-5 against the Crimson Tide under Donovan. UF is 38-19 all-time against UA in Gainesville including 8-0 since Donovan took over.
» Donovan is 4-0 against Grant, his former assistant coach.
» Florida is undefeated at home this season and has started 13-0 in the O’Dome for the sixth time under Donovan (second in the last three seasons).
» Four Gators starters are averaging double figures in scoring. The Tigers have three players that score in double digits on average.
» Florida is 47-5 since the beginning of the 2011-12 season when holding opponents under 71 points in a game (21-4 in 2012-13).
» Alabama has won five of its last six games, an impressive feat considering the Crimson Tide lost six of eight over a five-week span from Dec. 1, 2002 to Jan. 8, 2013. UA’s lone loss in its last six games was in a triple-overtime thriller at LSU.
» The Gators are 4-1 against top-25 opponents this season after going 3-5 against ranked adversaries last season with all five losses coming to top-three teams.
» Florida is 0-4 this season in single-digit decisions; Alabama is 8-2 in similar contests.
» The Gators are second nationally in scoring margin (+29.6), third in scoring defense (53.5), seventh in field goal defense (.375), eighth in field goal percentage (.489), ninth in three-point shooting (8.7 per game) and assist-turnover ratio (1.40), 20th in turnover margin (3.4), 21st in assists (15.8), and 24th in three-point percentage (.384) and three-point defense (.300).
» Florida is also seventh nationally in fouling, committing 14.1 per game.
» The Crimson Tide is 16th nationally in steals (9.0) and 20th in scoring defense (58.2).

INJURY REPORT

FLORIDA
» Active: Freshman Michael Frazier II (back), junior Casey Prather (facial laceration)
» Questionable: Junior Will Yeguete (knee)

Read the rest of the Florida-Alabama preview with much more after the break!
Continue Reading » Gameday: No. 6/8 Florida Gators vs. Alabama

Tags: Alabama Crimson Tide, Anthony Grant, Billy Donovan, Casey Prather, Kenny Boynton, Michael Frazier, Mike Rosario, Scottie Wilbekin, SEC, Stephen C. O'Connell Center, Trevor Releford, Will Yeguete

1 » Despite well-documented problems off the field (marijuana arrests) and a number of questions about his maturity (four children under the age of four supposedly by three different women), former Florida Gators cornerback Janoris Jenkins continues to be a hot name for teams looking for secondary talent in the first round of the 2012 NFL Draft. The Detroit Lions have recently emerged as a team in serious contention for Jenkins’s services with the No. 23 overall pick. However, the team and its front office are undoubtedly doing their due diligence on Jenkins. According to the Detroit Free Press, the Lions met with Jenkins at the 2012 Under Armour Senior Bowl and “are expected to host him on a visit” soon. When asked about him in particular, general manager Martin Mayhew played coy: “Wouldn’t you like to know that?” he said. “Like I said, we’ve got a lot of work to do in the process, and we haven’t done it all.”

2 » Florida senior center fielder Michelle Moultrie picked up a second weekly award on Tuesday as she was named the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Week for her dominant performance the prior weekend. Moultrie went 8/11 with two home runs, three doubles, four RBIs, six runs and a stolen base as UF swept Arkansas on the road. She was also named the SEC Player of the Week on Monday for her efforts.

3 » In a question-and-answer session with ESPN, Gators five-star defensive end/Buck linebacker commitment Dante Fowler, Jr. divulged some specifics about his personality and excitement to don the orange and blue sooner than later. Fowler noted not only that he recently got some advice from junior Buck LB Ronald Powell but also that he is “actually like a big teddy bear” instead of a “big, mean person” that some think he is just because he plays football. “People might say that I’m kind of shy because I put my head down when I talk and stuff,” he said. “But I’m a big teddy bear. My favorite TV show is iCarly. I’m going to be a big teddy bear off the field, but on the field I’m all business.”

4 » USA Today has released a compiled list of the salaries of the 68 head coaches participating in the 2012 NCAA Tournament. Florida’s Billy Donovan came in No. 4 on the list in terms of total pay, earning $3.64 million for 2011-12 with a maximum bonus of $454,000. Though Donovan’s salary and bonuses are high, they are very much in-line with what Kansas’ Bill Self ($3.63M, $425K max bonus) and Michigan State’s Tom Izzo ($3.60M, $425K max bonus) bring in annually. The only men above Donovan are Kentucky’s John Calipari ($5.39M, $850K max bonus), Louisville’s Rick Pitino ($4.81M, $575K max bonus) and Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski ($4.70M). Alabama’s Anthony Grant ($1.84M, $415K max bonus) is ranked No. 18 on the list and Virginia Commonwealth’s Shaka Smart ($1.21M, $621K max bonus) checks in at No. 30.

Tags: Anthony Grant, Billy Donovan, Dante Fowler, Detroit Lions, Draft, Janoris Jenkins, John Calipari, Michelle Moultrie, NFL, Player of the Week, Ronald Powell, SEC, Senior Bowl, Shaka Smart, softball, USA Softball

The No. 19/22 Florida Gators squeaked out a 66-63 victory against the Alabama Crimson Tide on Friday in the second round of the 2012 Southeastern Conference Tournament. Before Florida can advance to take on the No. 1 Kentucky Wildcats in the semifinals on Saturday at 1 p.m. on ABC, head coach Billy Donovan and a handful of players met with the media to discuss the hard-earned win.

FLORIDA PUTS FORTH A PRAISEWORTHY EFFORT

After being admonished by Donovan for the way they played in Athens, GA four games ago, Florida received praise from their head coach on Friday for executing well for the third-straight game. He was especially pleased with the way the team practiced during the week but did offer one criticism of the Gators’ game.

“This time of year, you got to find ways to advance and move on and we did,” he said. “I thought we had some opportunities both in the first half and the second half to really extend our lead and we weren’t able to do that. We got it up by 12, and I thought our defense hurt us in terms of let ting them get back into the game and tie it.”

Florida had multiple six-point leads and went up a game-high 12 points mid-way through the second half but allowed Alabama to tie it up. Though the Gators shot poorly (38.5 percent from the field) in the contest, Donovan blamed UF’s defense for allowing UA to stop their scoring stretch and tie things up.

“The problem was on the defensive end of the floor. We would get a stop and we wouldn’t come down with the ball, wouldn’t come down with the rebound,” he said. “They came down with it, and it gave them an extra possession in the game. And they didn’t have a lot of offensive rebounds, but I think they had some timely possessions, where they got the ball back. That kind of shut down our run.”

Donovan noted that Florida hitting 10 threes – even though the Gators were not exceptionally proficient from beyond the arc – was easily the difference in the game, calling treys “the greatest equalizer in college basketball.” He continued, “You can sometimes overcome a tough defensive night if you make enough threes and the other team doesn’t, and I think that’s what happened today.”

Crimson Tide head coach Anthony Grant, formerly an assistant under Donovan, took the exact same stance on the outcome of the contest.

“You look at it, probably the difference in the game was the 3-point line,” he said. “Florida was able to make 10 threes. We knew coming into the game that that would be key. But they had some guys that stepped up, made some contested ones, very difficult from a defensive standpoint to be able to contain them. [...] Florida did a good job attacking the paint and just finding open guys and making the extra pass, and that’s what their team do. Erv[ing Walker], he got going and started looking for his teammates and opened things up. They just played to their identity.”

BEAL AND MURPHY LEAD THE WAY FOR THE GATORS
Click to expand and read the remainder of this post.

Tags: Alabama Crimson Tide, Anthony Grant, Billy Donovan, Bradley Beal, Erik Murphy, Erving Walker

Location: New Orleans Arena [Capacity: 18,000]
Time: 3:30 p.m. (ET)

TV: ESPNU/SEC Network
SiriusXM: 220
Online Video: ESPN3.com
Live Updates: @OnlyGators

Odds: Florida -4; O/U 128

HISTORY and STREAKS

» Florida is 35-43 all-time in 46 SEC Tournament appearances but boasts a 20-12 record since Donovan took over the program. The Gators have won three SEC Tournaments (2005-07) and finished as the runner-up five times.
» UF is 59-73 all-time against Alabama and 4-7 against UA in SEC Tournament games. However, Florida holds a 16-5 all-time mark against their opponent while under Donovan’s stewardship and is 3-2 against them in SEC Tournament action
» Donovan is the longest-tenured head coach in the SEC (16 years) and has five former assistants currently serving as head coaches across the country, including Grant.
» All five of the Gators’ normal starters are averaging 10.0 points per game or more.
» Florida has made 10+ three-pointers in 19 of 31 games, a season-high mark under Donovan. UF has also made more treys this season (307) than any other in team history.
» Three Gators shoot better than 40 percent from beyond the arc.
» Florida has made a three in 682 consecutive games dating back to Jan. 1992.
» Alabama’s defense is holding opponents to 27.8 percent shooting from downtown.
» UF led the SEC this season in assists (14.9), assist-to-turnover ratio (1.3) and free throw percentage (.764) in conference play.
» The Gators are 17-1 (loss to Kentucky) this year when posting a positive assist-to-turnover ratio and are just 5-8 when the margin is even or negative.
» Florida is 287-37 since 1988-89 when holding opponents under 70 points and 237-38 since 1998-99 when recording 15 or more assists in a game.
» The Gators have won 20+ games for the 14th consecutive season. That mark is currently the longest active streak in the SEC and fifth-longest nationally.

Tags: Alabama Crimson Tide, Anthony Grant, Billy Donovan, New Orleans Arena, SEC

1 » The four-seed Florida Gators (22-9, 10-6 SEC) learned Thursday that they will take on the five-seed Alabama Crimson Tide (21-10, 10-7 SEC) in the second round of the 2012 Southeastern Conference Tournament on Friday at 3:30 p.m. The game, which will air live nationally on SEC Network, is the second meeting between the two teams this season. Alabama beat South Carolina 63-57 on Thursday, giving head coach Anthony Grant his second opportunity to defeat his former boss – Florida head coach Billy Donovan – this season. Donovan is 3-0 against Grant since the latter coach took over the Crimson Tide program. More information on this game will be available in Friday’s Gameday Preview here on OGGOA.

2 » Speaking with ESPN’s Mel Kiper, Jr. on Thursday, OGGOA was told by the NFL Draft analyst that he believes Florida Gators running back Chris Rainey raised his stock at the 2012 NFL Combine. Previously projected to be selected in the third or fourth round, Rainey may go a full round higher now, according to Kiper. “Rainey is an all-purpose guy. He’s got the big-play potential; you can utilize him in a lot of different ways,” he said. “I think he could be in that second- or third-round discussion because of the weapon he could be.” Kiper also discussed with OGGOA the future of former Florida cornerback Janoris Jenkins, who was dismissed from the team over the summer and spent the 2012 season with North Alabama.

Click to expand and read the rest of the BITS in this post.

Tags: Alabama Crimson Tide, Anthony Grant, Bill Belichick, Billy Donovan, Chris Rainey, combine, Draft, Janoris Jenkins, NFL

1 » The No. 12/14 Florida Gators pulled off a 61-52 win Tuesday night against the Alabama Crimson Tide mostly due to an explosive start to the second half in which Florida scored 16-straight points. Though the Gators were without two primary reserves in the game, the Crimson Tide had two starters indefinitely suspended, a move that head coach Anthony Grant felt he had to make. As Grant and Florida head coach Billy Donovan communicated both before and after the game, suspending players is a hard decision for a coach to make but usually a smart run because the long-term health if the team is much more important than shot-term gains. The Associated Press’ Jim Litke gave Grant kudos for his decision in this column on Wednesday.

For the price of a ticket Tuesday night in Tuscaloosa, you could see something rare in college sports anymore: a coach putting his foot down. [...] Grant is doing exactly what the NCAA high-handedly promotes as its core mission – holding himself and his players accountable – but the selection committee isn’t about to cut him any slack for doing the right thing. Every loss still counts as a loss, never mind that it occurred because the coach volunteered to tie one hand behind his back. Grant gets that, too. He won’t change a thing because of it.

2 » Former Florida safety Marquand Manuel, an eight-year NFL who spent last year as an intern with the Gators, has been hired as the Seattle Seahawks’ new assistant special teams coach. A two-year starter for Seattle, Manuel also played in the Super Bowl with the Seahawks and is obviously hoping to begin his climb up the coaching ladder with this move.

Click to expand and read two more BITS in this post.

Tags: Alabama Crimson Tide, Aneika Henry, Anthony Grant, Atlanta Dream, Billy Donovan, DeLisha Milton-Jones, Fehoko Fanaika, Los Angeles Sparks, Marquand Manuel, Max Garcia, NFL, Seattle Seahawks, WNBA

Looking to rebound from consecutive losses and fight for a road victory despite being down two primary reserves, the No. 12/14 Florida Gators (20-6, 8-3 SEC) reached 20 wins for the 14th consecutive season with a 61-52 defeat of the Alabama Crimson Tide (16-9, 5-6 SEC) at Coleman Coliseum in Tuscaloosa, AL on Valentine’s Day.

It was a tale of two halves for Florida and Alabama on Tuesday night.

The Gators shot just 30.8 percent from the field and 25 percent (3-of-12) from three in the first half but turned things around in the latter portion of the game, hitting 50 percent of their field goals and 33.3 percent of their treys in the second half. Conversely, the Crimson Tide shot 58.8 percent from the floor and 60 percent from beyond the arc to start but made just 28.6 percent and nine percent (1-of-11) of their attempts, respectively, in the final 20 minutes.

Both teams opened the game playing sloppily with badly missed baskets and an abundance of turnovers. However, Alabama got things under control first and used a 9-0 run (along with a 5:36 scoring drought for Florida) to take a 20-16 lead in the first half. The Gators answered by outscoring the Crimson Tide 10-6 on the way to the halftime buzzer with a three-pointer by junior forward Erik Murphy tying the contest at 26.

Florida came out of the break with an explosive scoring barrage as the Gators netted 16-straight points as part of a 19-0 run dating back to 1:34 remaining in the first half. Alabama scored just two points in the first nine minutes of the second half with the Crimson Tide starting 0-for-10 from the field.

Picking up his fourth foul with 10:18 left in the game, Florida sophomore center Patric Young was forced to take a seat even though he was leading the Gators with 19 points on 9-of-12 shooting at the time. Alabama scored four quick points and got the home crowd energized by attacking the paint, but the Crimson Tide was soon silenced by Murphy’s fourth trey of the contest.

Alabama did not get within double digits of Florida again until the final 30 seconds as the Gators maintained their energy level and gutted out a much-needed road victory.

Click to expand and read the rest of the Florida-Alabama game story.

Tags: Alabama Crimson Tide, Anthony Grant, Billy Donovan, Bradley Beal, Coleman Coliseum, Erik Murphy, Mike Rosario, Patric Young, SEC, Will Yeguete