Coming off three consecutive losses, the Florida Gators were looking to strengthen their case for a berth in the 2010 NCAA Tournament Thursday night against the Auburn Tigers in the opening round of the 2010 Southeastern Conference Tournament at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, TN.

Junior forward Alex Tyus helped them do just that, scoring a team-high 24 points on 11-of-16 shooting to propel the Gators (21-11, 9-7 SEC) to a 78-69 win over the Tigers (15-17, 6-10 SEC) and a berth in the tournament’s quarterfinals.

Florida, looking to avenge a loss to Auburn in the quarterfinals of the 2009 SEC Tournament, was carried by Tyus, junior F Chandler Parsons and redshirt junior center Vernon Macklin in the first half. The trio combined to go 13-for-19 from the field while scoring 33 of the Gators’ 40 first-half points. Tyus continued his excellent play in the second half and was joined by freshman guard Kenny Boynton, who nailed three consecutive three-pointers and finished with nine points.

Read the rest of OGGOA’s Florida vs. Auburn SEC Tournament game story…
Continue Reading » Gators strengthen NCAA bid with win over Tigers

Tags: Alex Tyus, Auburn Tigers, Billy Donovan, Bridgestone Arena, Chandler Parsons, Dan Werner, DeWayne Reed, Erving Walker, Frankie Sullivan, Kenny Boynton, Lucas Hargrove, NCAA Tournament, SEC, SEC Tournament, Tay Walker, Vernon Macklin

Location: Bridgestone Arena – Nashville, TN [Capacity: 19,395]
Time: 7:30 p.m. (EST)

TV: SEC Network
Online Video: ESPN360.com
Live Updates: OGGOA on Twitter

Odds: Florida -5.5; O/U 143.5

KEEP AN EYE ON…
» Junior forward Chandler Parsons…who has scored in double figures in seven of his last nine games and has two double-doubles in those contests. He has also helped run the point and scored 17 points with six rebounds and four assists in Florida’s first meeting with Auburn.
» Double-digit scoring by Vernon Macklin…the Gators are 13-4 when the redshirt junior transfer center finishes in double figures. Macklin has achieved this mark in five of the last seven games.
» Bench production by freshman F Erik Murphy and sophomore guard Ray Shipman…who combined for 18 points in limited time against No. 3 Kentucky.
» Auburn F Lucas Hargrove…who leads his team with 6.9 rebounds per game while also averaging 12.9 points.
» Tigers’ guards DeWayne Reed and Tay Walker…who combine for 30 of the team’s 75.9 points each game. Walker also shoots 42 percent from downtown.

STREAKS:
» Auburn leads the all-time series against Florida 87-69; however, the Gators have won 11 of the last 12 meetings including a 78-70 victory last month in Gainesville.
» The Tigers’ only win in that stretch was a 61-58 win in the 2009 SEC Tournament quarterfinals, which knocked UF out of contention for the NCAA Tournament.
» Florida went 6-0 against the SEC West this season.
» The Gators have won three prior SEC Tournament titles (2005-2007). They won the 2006 title at the site of this year’s tourney and are 5-2 all-time in Bridgestone Arena.
» Though they lost their last two games to the SEC’s top two teams, Florida out-rebounded both opponents and remain 13-4 when out-rebounding the opposition.
» Parsons needs only six points to reach 1,000 for his career.
» The Gators have made a three-pointer in a school-record 609 consecutive games beginning Jan. 11, 1992.
» Florida is 233-40 when forcing more turnovers than its opponents under Donovan.
» The Gators are 241-34 under Donovan when holding opponents to 70 points or less.
» Opponents are shooting just 32.2 percent from three-point range against Florida.
» Auburn is 2-9 away from home this season.
» The Tigers score 4.4 points more than the Gators on average but also give up 9.0 more points per game than Florida.
» Auburn has faced only three ranked opponents all season and have lost those games by an average of 13.7 points.

Tags: Auburn Tigers, Billy Donovan, Chandler Parsons, DeWayne Reed, Erik Murphy, Jeff Lebo, Lucas Hargrove, Ray Shipman, SEC, SEC Tournament, Tay Walker, Vernon Macklin

Led by a strong all-around effort from junior forward Chandler Parsons, the Florida Gators (18-8, 7-4 SEC) held on for a 78-70 victory over the Auburn Tigers (12-14, 3-8 SEC) Thursday evening at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center in Gainesville, FL.

In a must-win game for the Gators, their frontcourt players stepped up from the get-go, scoring 42 of the team’s 78 points and amassing 23 of Florida’s 28 rebounds. Parsons, who led the Gators with a team-high 17 points on 6-of-11 shooting with five rebounds and four assists, had plenty of support from starting juniors F Alex Tyus (12 points, seven rebounds) and center Vernon Macklin (seven points, four rebounds). Surprisingly, it was Florida’s bench that truly made the difference as senior F Dan Werner went 3-for-5 for nine points and four boards and freshman F Erik Murphy contributed seven points on 3-of-3 shooting with three rebounds.

Read the rest of OGGOA’s Florida vs. Auburn game story after the jump!
Continue Reading » Frontcourt leads Florida over Auburn in O’Dome

Tags: Alex Tyus, Andre Malone, Auburn Tigers, Chandler Parsons, Dan Werner, DeWayne Reed, Erik Murphy, Erving Walker, Kenny Boynton, Lucas Hargrove, O'Connell Center, Tay Walker, Vernon Macklin

1 » Florida Gators (17-8, 6-4) vs. Auburn TIgers (12-13, 3-7) Pre-Game:
Location: Stephen C. O’Connell Center – Gainesville, FL [Capacity: 12,000]
Time: 7:00 p.m. (EST) | TV: ESPN | Online: ESPN360 | Odds: Florida -9, O/U 145

- Auburn leads the all-time series against Florida 87-68, though the Gators won 10 straight before falling to the Tigers in the 2009 SEC Tournament. Under head coach Billy Donovan, Florida is 13-4 against Auburn and 6-0 in the O’Dome.
- The Gators are 5-3 in games decided by five points or less compared to 4-6 in such games last season. Florida is 4-1 in the last five contests that were that close.
- UF is now 6-1 in conference play and 12-2 overall when out-rebounding an opponent.
- The Gators have been holding opponents to 58.8 points per game in their 17 wins while allowing the number to jump to 75.8 points per game in its eight losses.
- The Tigers are scoring 75.7 points per game with fourstarters averaging 13+ points.
- The dynamic backcourt of sophomore point guard Erving Walker and freshman guard Kenny Boynton is averaging 31.2 points and 7.5 assists in SEC play this season.
- Speaking of Walker and Boynton, they have hit 51 of the Gators’ 64 treys in SEC play. Walker has gone for 20+ points in five of 10 SEC games.
- Junior forward Alex Tyus is dominant the front court, scoring double figures in 14 of 16 games and 15+ in eight of those. Tyus had a career-high 15 rebounds last Wednesday.
- Junior F Chandler Parsons nearly completed three straight double-doubles and is averaging 15.3 points and 10.3 rebounds per game over his last three contests.
- Double-digit scoring by redshirt junior center Vernon Macklin usually results in a victory. The Gators are 11-2 when he finishes in double figures. He had his first career double-double with 12 points and 10 boards against Xavier.
- Auburn guard DeWayne Reeds is fifth in the SEC in assists (4.3 per game).
- Tigers forward Lucas Hargrove averages 7.4 boards, sixth in the conference.

Florida must shoot better from the FT line and downtown while not looking ahead…
Continue Reading » FOUR BITS: …on the Florida vs. Auburn game

Tags: Alex Tyus, Auburn Tigers, Billy Donovan, Chandler Parsons, DeWayne Reeds, Erving Walker, Kenny Boynton, Lucas Hargrove, SEC, Vernon Macklin