Location: RBC Center – Raleigh, NC [Capacity: 19,722]
Time: 3:00 p.m. (EST)

TV: FSN/SUN
Online: GatorVision
XM: 199

Odds: EVEN, O/U “OFF”

KEEP AN EYE ON…
- Players scoring in double-figures…four Gators starters and one bench player are all averaging double-digit points. Freshman guard Kenny Boynton averages 14.2 ppg while junior forwards Alex Tyus and Chandler Parsons, redshrit junior center Vernon Macklin and sophomore point guard Erving Walker all average 11.9-10.3 ppg.
- Tyus…who is averaging 16.8 points and 8.5 rebounds over the last four games.
- Assists…Boynton and Walker have 109 assists to just 49 turnovers this season.
- N.C. State forward Tracy Smith…who leads his team in scoring and rebounding with averages of 17.2 points and 9.1 rebounds per game.
- Three-point line…in Florida’s 10 wins, the Gators are holding teams to 24.5 percent shooting and 4.2 makes from behind the arc; in their three losses, the opposition is shooting 39.5 percent from three (5.7 makes per game).

STREAKS:
- Florida trails the all-time series against N.C. State 6-3; however, the Gators have won the last two meetings including a 68-66 victory last year in Gainesville, FL.
- Under head coach Billy Donovan, Florida is 16-9 against the ACC, 3-0 in last three.
- The Gators are 5-0 this season when nabbing double-digit steals.
- Florida is 29-5 in the month of January since 2005 and has not dropped its first game of the New Year since 2005. The Gators went 7-2 in January 2009.

Read OGGOA’s Florida Gators vs. N.C. State Wolfpack preview after the jump!
Continue Reading » Gameday: Florida Gators vs. N.C. State Wolfpack

Tags: ACC, Alex Tyus, Billy Donovan, Chandler Parsons, Erving Walker, Kenny Boynton, Kenny Kadji, N.C. State Wolfpack, Ray Shipman, RBC Center, SEC, Sidney Lowe, Tracy Smith, Vernon Macklin

Still trying to recover from three straight losses after climbing to No. 10/11 in the AP Top 25 and USA Today/ESPN Top 25 polls three weeks ago, Florida Gators basketball (10-3) rolled the Presbyterian Blue Hose (2-12) 79-38 on Wednesday night in the Stephen C. O’Connell Center. Junior forward Chandler Parsons led Florida with 21 points including two three-pointers and three dunks.

Fellow forwards juniorAlex Tyus and freshman Erik Murphy posted double-doubles in the Gators’ victory, scoring 16 points each; Tyus collected 13 rebounds while Murphy grabbed 11 boards. Florida shot 30 percent from downtown with freshman guard Kenny Boynton going 3-for-8 from beyond the arc, leading the team in makes and attempts while finishing with 14 points. Freshman point guard Rod Tishman saw seven minutes of limited action, earning two points, rebounds and assists.

Gators sophomores G/F Ray Shipman (knee) and center Kenny Kadji (back) both sat out the contest; starting redshirt junior transfer C Vernon Macklin only played 14 minutes. F Jake Trovli led the Blue House with 14 points. Florida will next face the North Carolina State Wolfpack in Raleigh, NC, on Sunday, Jan. 3, 2010, at 3 p.m.

Also on Wednesday, the women’s basketball team (7-6) defeated the Jacksonville Dolphins (1-9) for head coach Amanda Butler’s 50th win at the school. The Gators shot 54.5 percent from the floor while limiting Jacksonville to only 26.5 percent shooting. Sophomore G Trumae Lucas and freshman F Jennifer George led the team with 15 points each while senior F Sharielle Smith turned in the sixth double-double of her career with 11 points and 13 rebounds.

Tags: Alex Tyus, Amanda Butler, Chandler Parsons, Erik Murphy, Jacksonville Dolphins, Jake Trovli, Jennifer George, Kenny Boynton, Kenny Kadji, O'Connell Center, Presbyterian Blue Hose, Ray Shipman, Rod Tishman, Sharielle Smith, Trumae Lucas, Vernon Macklin, women's basketball

Starting the season 8-0, the No. 18 Florida Gators (8-3) lost consecutive games to the No. 5 Syracuse Orange and Richmond Spiders – both at neutral sites. Returning to their home court in the Stephen C. O’Connell Center for the first time in two weeks, the Gators hoped to right the ship against the Sun Belt Conference’s South Alabama Jaguars. Instead, South Alabama (9-5) had Florida on its heels all night and eventually landed a last-second layup to pick off the Gators 67-66 on their home court.

Jaguars guard Tim Williams was the star of the evening, scoring a game-high 21 points on 8-of-19 shooting while going 3-for-4 from beyond the arc. He also added seven rebounds. For Florida, junior forward Alex Tyus led the way with 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting, freshman guard Kenny Boynton was 3-for-10 (2-of-7 from three) with 14 points and junior transfer center Vernon Macklin added 13 points in the paint. Tyus and Macklin each brought down seven rebounds while junior F Chandler Parsons, senior F Dan Werner and sophomore point guard Erving Walker each recorded six.

“For them to come in to our own building and beat us like that, it wasn’t the last play that lost us the game,” Parsons said. “It was just the whole mindset.” Boynton agreed. “We just have to get back hungry,” he said. “Early in the season we played with a chip on our shoulder and somehow we got complacent. The rankings got to our heads.”

Prior to playing the Spiders on Saturday, the Gators led the nation in three-point defense. They have since allowed seven threes each to consecutive opponents. Worst of all, Florida was only 3-for-22 from three-point range on Tuesday, a measly 13.6 percent compared to South Alabama’s 63.6 percent (7-for-11). OGGOA was only able to research back to the 1998-99 season, but the Gators have not suffered a regular season upset of this caliber at least in that period of time.

With only three more games to play before beginning Southeastern Conference action in 2010, Florida is set to take on the American Eagles (2-10) on Monday, Dec. 28 at 7 p.m. in Gainesville, FL. Expect the Gators to be bumped from all polls next week.

UPDATE: Head coach Billy Donovan‘s post-game comments.

“I was actually shocked that we were even in the game coming down the stretch with just our shooting numbers. Shooting 23 percent (from the field in the second half) and 10 percent (from the 3-point line in the second half), I’ve never been around numbers like that before. I’m imploring them to just be resilient, but when it’s shot after shot after shot after shot doesn’t go in, and you’re having to play defense for 30 seconds…not that we need to shoot 50 percent from the 3-point line. We shoot 33 percent from the 3-point line and we shoot 40 percent from the field, that’s all you’re going to do. The 3-point line beat us against Richmond and it beat us again tonight. At a point, guys got to deliver. When you’re a junior and senior in college, you’ve got to deliver a little bit. Dan goes 1-for-6 and Chandler goes 2-for-8. It’s hard to overcome that. They’re playing hard.”

Tags: Alex Tyus, Billy Donovan, Chandler Parsons, Dan Werner, Erving Walker, Kenny Boynton, O'Connell Center, SEC, South Alabama Jaguars, Sun Belt, Tim Williams, upset, Vernon Macklin

1 » One day after advancing to the finals of the Gator Holiday Classic with a dominating 62-35 win over the Southern Jaguars, Florida Gators women’s basketball (5-6) fell to the High Point Panthers (5-6) 75-68 at home in the Stephen C. O’Connell Center. Senior forward Sharielle Smith led the Gators with a team-high 11 points for the fifth double-double of her career (11 rebounds).

2 » Though they lost head coach Brian Kelly to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and their interim coach, Jeff Quinn, accepted the head job with the Buffalo Bulls, the Cincinnati Bearcats are playing better than ever, according to quarterback Tony Pike. “I think this has been our best week of practice this season,” Pike said. “It’s been a relief to get back on the field. The success we’ve had this season had been overshadowed by the other stuff.” The Bearcats and Gators will both descend on New Orleans, LA, on Saturday to begin practice for the 2010 Sugar Bowl.

3 » A five-star recruit coming out of high school, Florida freshman guard Kenny Boynton has already delighted fans with his exciting play and aggressive style. His shot selection, however, leaves much to be desired. Kevin Brockway of the Gainesville Sun took a closer look at Boynton’s struggles – the freshman sensation is shooting only 37 percent from the floor and a measly 21.9 percent from beyond the arc. In the Gators’ loss last Saturday against the Richmond Spiders, Boynton was 0-6 from three-point range, some of which were simply bad shots. “Kenny may have taken some bad shots, but I think the same thing can be said of the rest of our team,” head coach Billy Donovan said. “Guys are going to have ups and downs. He’s got to have the freedom to take good shots, to take unchallenged shots.” While his shot selection may be questionable, one key to Boynton’s success in the backcourt is his penchant to hold onto the ball; he has a sterling 2.25 assist-to-turnover ratio.

4 » Though Donovan and his players are certainly not making excuses, one of the reason’s for Florida’s recent struggles on the court (aside from the high quality of opponents faced) are their injuries. Only six of the team’s 11 scholarship players are healthy, with the frontcourt being especially banged up. Junior forward Chandler Parsons (torn leg muscle), redshirt junior transfer center Vernon Macklin (pulled gluteus muscle) and sophomore C Kenny Kadji (back) will all likely be good-to-go Tuesday. Freshman F Erik Murphy (shoulder), on the other hand, may sit and rest. “Those kind of injuries that we have right now are similar to a lot of teams and what they go through,” Donovan said. “But there’s no question [that other teams] have a lot more depth than we do right now.”

Tags: Billy Donovan, Brian Kelly, Buffalo Bulls, Chandler Parsons, Cincinnati Bearcats, Erik Murphy, Florida Gators, Gator Holiday Classic, High Point Panthers, Jeff Quinn, Kenny Boynton, Kenny Kadji, Notre Dame Fighting Irish, O'Connell Center, Richmond Spiders, Sharielle Smith, Southern Jaguars, Sugar Bowl, Tony Pike, Vernon Macklin, women's basketball

Losing their first game of the season to the No. 5 Syracuse Orange eight days ago, the No. 13 Florida Gators (8-2) were hoping to rebound Saturday evening against the Richmond Spiders (8-3) in the 2009 Orange Bowl Basketball Classic. Instead, Florida fell 56-53 to their Atlantic 10 opponent, losing their second straight neutral site game, this time in Sunrise, FL, at the BankAtlantic Center. Up eight points at the end of the first half, the Gators allowed the Spiders to mount an 11-0 run in the first 2:02 of the second half to take a 33-32 lead.

Florida shot 7-for-27 in the second half (26 percent) including 1-of-9 from beyond the arc. At one point, they came back to take a 49-48 lead, but relinquished it quickly and never recovered. Richmond guard David Gonzalvez led Richmond shooting 50 percent from the field and 4-for-9 from three-point range to accumulate 16 points on the evening. Star G Kevin Anderson contributed 14 points of his own, going 5-of-7 from the free throw line including four in the last 5.4 seconds of the game.

Junior forward Alex Tyus led the Gators with 15 points on 7-of-10 shooting, and redshirt junior transfer center Vernon Macklin contributed a team-high 11 rebounds though he only shot 2-for-8 from the floor. Hometown stars freshman G Kenny Boynton and sophomore G/F Ray Shipman were held silent on the evening, contributing six points (3-for-12 shooting, 0-for-6 from three) and zero points, respectively. Senior F Dan Werner, junior F Chandler Parsons and sophomore point guard Erving Walker each scored nine points. The Gators were wholly ineffective, shooting 36.2 percent from the field and 18.8 percent from three-point range.

Florida returns to action Tuesday, hosing the South Alabama Jaguars (8-4) at 7 p.m. in the Stephen C. O’Connell Center in Gainesville, FL.

Tags: Alex Tyus, BankAtlantic Center, Chandler Parsons, Dan Werner, David Gonzalvez, Erving Walker, Kenny Boynton, Kevin Anderson, Orange Bowl Basketball Classic, Ray Shipman, Richmond Spiders, Vernon Macklin

Event: Orange Bowl Basketball Classic
Location: BankAtlantic Center – Sunrise, FL [Capacity: 20,737]
Time: 6:30 p.m. (EST)

TV: Sun Sports
Online: GatorVision
Sirius: 211; XM: 199

Odds: Florida -6.5, O/U 129

KEEP AN EYE ON…
- Five-star freshman guard Kenny Boynton…has 22 assists with just one turnover in the last three games.
- Senior F Chandler Parsons…who comes off the bench as Florida’s sixth man and is averaging 12.0 points per game and 6.1 rebounds per game (team-high). Playing a career-high in minutes, Parsons is UF’s first double-figures scorer off the bench since point guard Anthony Roberson in 2002-03.
- Richmond PG Kevin Anderson…who was named Preseason All-Atlantic 10 first-team and leads his team with 16.8 points per game.

STREAKS:
- Florida is 7-1 when participating in the Orange Bowl Basketball Classic, with their last loss coming to the UAB Blazers in 1997. The Gators are on a 3-0 streak since returning to the game in 2006.
- The Gators are 1-1 all-time against the Spiders, winning the last meeting 66-52 on March, 19, 1992.
- Florida is 10-11 all-time against the Atlantic 10, 4-2 under Donovan.
- The Gators have shot over 50 percent from beyond the arc in three of their last four games, hitting 12 three-pointers in each of its last two outings.
- Florida leads the nation in three-point field goal defense at 21.5 percent. The team also leads the SEC in points per game allowed.
- Since 2005, the Gators are 24-4 in the month of December.
- In the last six games, Florida has recovered 53 total steals, reaching double-digits in steals three times in that stretch.

Read OGGOA’s Florida Gators vs. Richmond Spiders preview after the jump!
Continue Reading » OBBC: No. 13 Florida Gators vs. Richmond Spiders

Tags: Anthony Roberson, Atlantic 10, BankAtlantic Center, Billy Donovan, Chandler Parsons, Chris Mooney, Kenny Boynton, Kevin Anderson, Orange Bowl Basketball Classic, Ray Shipman, Richmond Spiders, SEC

1 » The University of Florida is considered one of the best football traveling schools in the country. However, you would never know that if you looked at the ticket sales for the upcoming 2010 Sugar Bowl against the No. 4 Cincinnati Bearcats. Out of the No. 5 Florida Gators’ 17,500 allotted tickets, the team still has almost 5,000 remaining. In fact, the University Athletic Association usually only allows boosters and students to order tickets, but they opened it up to alumni and regular fans via Ticketmaster almost two weeks ago. Should fans wish to attend, they can choose to sit in the Gators section.

2 » Getting ready for a trip to Sunrise, FL, for the 2009 Orange Bowl Basketball Classic, the No. 13/13 Florida basketball team (8-1) is dealing with a rash of injuries. Junior forward Chandler Parsons (torn leg muscle), sophomore F/C Kenny Kadji (back spasms) and freshman F Erik Murphy (shoulder) are all missing practice while sophomore guard Ray Shipman (foot) just recently returned to action. “We’re about at a point where we’re playing 3-on-3 in practice,” head coach Billy Donovan said. “You’ve got 10 guys and you’re down to six right now, so that makes it challenging, especially with exams going on.”

3 » The Gators football team keeps racking up honors as six players were named to the Sporting News All-SEC Team on Thursday. On offense, senior quarterback Tim Tebow, junior tight end Aaron Hernandez and junior center Maurkice Pouncey all received the nominations; senior middle linebacker Brandon Spikes, junior cornerback Joe Haden and junior defensive end Carlos Dunlap represented the defense. Haden was also named the 2009 Defensive MVP by the publication.

4 » Speaking of honors, soccer’s Erika Tymrak was named to the 2009 Soccer America All-Freshman team as a second team selection. She has already been listed on the NSCAA All-South Region second team and SEC All-Freshman team.

Tags: Aaron Hernandez, All-SEC, Billy Donovan, Brandon Spikes, Carlos Dunlap, Chandler Parsons, Cincinnati Bearcats, Erik Murphy, Erika Tymrak, Joe Haden, Kenny Kadji, Maurkice Pouncey, Orange Bowl Basketball Classic, Ray Shipman, soccer, Sugar Bowl, Tim Tebow, UAA, University of Florida

Though the No. 10 Florida Gators took down the then-No. 2 Michigan State Spartans just a few weeks ago, their toughest test of the young 2009 season came Thursday night against the No. 7 Syracuse Orange. Florida (8-1) lost their first game of the season 85-73 to Syracuse (9-0) at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa, FL, as part of the SEC/Big East Invitational in a match that was much closer than the score indicates.

Down six at the end of the first half, the Gators came back to take the lead with 10:31 remaining in the game; however, they held it for less than a minute as the Orange would grab it back and pull away over the final few minutes of the contest.

Freshman guard Kenny Boynton led Florida in minutes (36), points (20) and assists (7), though he only shot 7-for-17 from the field, 5-for-14 from three-point range and 1-for-4 from the free throw line. Coming off the bench, senior forward Chandler Parsons was the most efficient Gator on Thursday, playing 35 minutes and recording 19 points on 6-of-9 shooting (3-of-5 from three). Sophomore point guard Erving Walker added 14 points and was 4-for-9 from beyond the arc. Junior power forward Alex Tyus led the Gators with 10 rebounds, though he missed a number of shots in the waning minutes of the game to finish 4-for-11.

Three Syracuse forwards achieved double-doubles against Florida, including Rick Jackson (19 points, 11 rebounds), Wesley Johnson (17 points, 10 rebounds) and Kris Joseph (12 points, 10 rebounds). As a team, they out-shot the Gators 52.5 percent to 43.5 percent from the field, though Florida won the three-point battle 40 percent to 23.1 percent. The Gators were +4 in turnover margin, but they committed eight more fouls and allowed the Orange to get into the bonus early. Syracuse won the battle on the glass 39-28, out-stole Florida 13-4 and finished the game on a 12-4 run.

The Gators will play their third consecutive road game next Saturday, Dec. 19 in the Orange Bowl Basketball Classic against the Richmond Spiders in Sunrise, FL, at the BankAtlantic Center. The game will be aired live on Sun Sports at 6:30 p.m.

Tags: Alex Tyus, Big East, Chandler Parsons, Erving Walker, Kenny Boynton, Kris Joseph, Rick Jackson, SEC, SEC/Big East Invitational, St. Pete Times Forum, Syracuse Orange, Wesley Johnson