1 » Washington Wizards rookie guard Bradley Beal, whose attendance at the 2013 NBA Draft Lottery on Tuesday earned his team the No. 3 overall pick in this year’s draft, faces a long journey before he returns to the court. Beal suffered numerous injuries during the 2013 season and was forced to miss the final nine games of the campaign (as well as 20 of the last 25) after it was revealed that he had a stress injury (fracture) to his fibula. He was originally given a six-week timetable for recovery but is past that at this point. Beal told Comcast SportsNet on Tuesday that he has not “done any basketball-related activities” since the end of the season and will be “going to get another X-ray” in the next few weeks. He should be fine for the start of next season but must heal the stress fracture completely before he returns to the court.

2 » Florida Gators guard Michael Frazier II has accepted an invitation to try out for USA Basketball’s under-19 team, which will be coached by Florida head coach Billy Donovan through the 2013 U19 FIBA World Championship. Frazier, who is entering his sophomore season, will be one of 24 invitees competing for 12 roster spots. Training camp lasts for six days from June 14-19 in Colorado Springs, CO, but the roster will be finalized on June 16. Should he make the team, Frazier will join Donovan in Prague, Czech Republic from June 27-July 7 as Donovan looks to win a second FIBA gold medal. “It’s an honor to have this opportunity with USA Basketball,” Frazier said in a school release. “I’m really looking forward to competing with some of the best players in the country and trying to earn a place on the team.”

Read two more Florida Gators basketball news BITS…after the break!
Continue Reading » FOUR BITS: Beal, Frazier, Larson, Prather

Tags: Billy Donovan, Bradley Beal, Cody Larson, FIBA, FIBA World Championship, Michael Frazier, NBA, South Dakota State Jackrabbits, Washington Wizards

The third time was certainly not a charm for the three-seed Florida Gators, which trailed from wire-to-wire and watched the more athletic and determined four-seed Michigan Wolverines dominate their Elite Eight showdown on Sunday afternoon at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, TX.

Florida (29-8), which became the first team in NCAA Tournament history to lose in the Elite Eight in three-straight seasons since the field expanded to 64 teams, was taken down 79-59 by Michigan (30-7), which moved on to its first Final Four since 1994.

The Gators put together one of their worst offensive performances of the season, entering Sunday’s game with a game plan that simply did not work against a longer and stronger Wolverines team. UF also played lackluster defense most of the contest, allowing its opponent to do basically whatever it wanted in both halves.

In fact, two of Florida’s starters – senior forward Erik Murphy and junior point guard Scottie Wilbekin – combined to go 1-for-17 from the field and 0-for-2 from downtown with seven combined turnovers. The Gators simply never had a chance to blow its third-straight second-half lead in the round because they never had a lead to begin with.

Continue Reading » (4) Wolverines overwhelm (3) Gators 79-59 as Florida drops third-straight Elite Eight

Tags: Big Ten, Cowboys Stadium, Elite Eight, Erik Murphy, Final Four, Kenny Boynton, Michael Frazier, Michigan Wolverines, Mike Rosario, Mitch McGary, NCAA, NCAA Tournament, Nick Stauskas, Scottie Wilbekin, SEC, Trey Burke, Will Yeguete

The three-seed Florida Gators (29-7) advanced to the Elite Eight for the third-straight year and seventh time in team history with a 62-50 take down of the 15-seed Florida Gulf Coast Eagles (26-11) in 2013 NCAA Tournament action at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, TX. After the game, head coach Billy Donovan and a number of his players met with the media to discuss what transpired on Friday in the Sweet 16.

UPCOMING OPPONENT

The four-seed Michigan Wolverines (29-7) stunned one-seed Kansas in the first game from Arlington on Friday and advanced to the Elite Eight for the first time since 1994. The Wolverines came from behind to force overtime and eventually took down their foes 87-85 behind 23 points from Trey Burke (all of which came in the second half and overtime). Florida holds a 1-1 record all-time against Michigan, pulling off a 79-63 win in a neutral site game on Dec. 27, 1998. (The teams met previously on March 19, 1988 – a game UF lost 108-85 at a neutral site – but the victory was vacated by the NCAA.)

Sunday’s showdown will commence at 2:20 p.m. (EDT) and air live on CBS. Marv Albert (play-by-play), Steve Kerr (color commentator) and Craig Sager (sideline reporter) will be on the call for the contest.

DIGGING IN AND OUT OF AN EARLY HOLE

Florida opened Friday’s game as cold as a team could be shooting-wise, hitting just four of its first 20 shots while watching FGCU explode out to an early 15-4 lead mostly due to a pair of wide-open three pointers. The Gators not only missed open jumpers but also saw layups roll around the rim without going into the net, an incredibly frustrating situation considering UF was executing its game plan in the early going.

“I felt like we really got a lot of good looks. Obviously the focus was to go down inside to [Erik] Murphy and Patric Young. Those guys had really good looks inside. I thought from the perimeter, I think Mike [Rosario] started off 0-for-5. He had pretty good looks. We couldn’t get anything to fall for us,” Donovan said.

There was no panic from Florida, however. Donovan called a timeout, the Gators composed themselves and got right back in the game in a nick of time.

“I don’t think we panicked at all as a team. We’ve been there before. The main thing with us was starting to get defensive stops. We put together a couple defensive stops. Offense, it wasn’t our best day, but it came along,” senior guard Kenny Boynton said.

Added junior point guard Scottie Wilbekin: “We had a game to win. We had everybody encouraging each other, keeping each other’s head in the right place. When you have that, you’re not going to get that frustrated.”

“We were too determined to win this game so we just fought through, stayed together and picked it up as a whole,” Young concurred. “We had to fight through human nature in the sense of feeling sorry for ourselves that we were down. We really had to fight through. It’s easy to lay down and give up, but we were able to fight as a whole through adversity and stay together.”

Read the rest of the Florida-FGCU post-game (including videos)…
Continue Reading » 3/29: Florida vs. FGCU post-game; Gators set to face Michigan in Elite Eight + videos

Tags: Brett Comer, Casey Prather, Elite Eight, Erik Murphy, Florida Gulf Coast Eagles, Kenny Boynton, Michael Frazier, Michigan Wolverines, Mike Rosario, NCAA, NCAA Tournament, Patric Young, Scottie Wilbekin, Sweet 16, Will Yeguete

Despite struggling in the early going and trailing by 11 points late in the first half, the three-seed Florida Gators (29-7) triumphed in a game that was lasted until early Saturday morning and advanced to the Elite Eight for a school-record third-straight season with a 62-50 victory over the 15-seed Florida Gulf Coast Eagles (26-11) at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, TX.

Florida has now been victorious in its last six appearances in the Sweet 16 and faces a short turnaround as it is set to take on the four-seed Michigan Wolverines in the finals of the South Region of the 2013 NCAA Tournament at 2:20 p.m. on Sunday afternoon.

The Gators used a 16-2 half-ending run to turn an 11-point deficit into a four-point halftime lead and never trailed again. Redshirt senior guard Mike Rosario led the way with a game-high 15 points, team-high five rebounds and three steals and was supported by stellar play from some of UF’s reserves.

FGCU opened up the contest red hot, jumping ahead 15-4 after an 11-0 run as Florida started 2-for-10 from the field and 0-for-5 from downtown.

The Gators’ cold shooting and tight play continued deep into the first half as the Eagles maintained their double-digit lead. Through the first 12:47 of the game, Florida trailed 19-9 while going 4-for-20 from the floor, 0-for-5 from beyond the arc and just 1-for-4 from the free throw line.

Suddenly, the Gators found their shooting stroke and hit three-straight triples including two from freshman guard Michael Frazier II as part of a 16-2 half-ending run that gave them a 30-26 lead at the break. Energy and suffocating defense from junior forwards Casey Prather and Will Yeguete helped UF hold FGCU scoreless for nearly five full minutes and played a big part in its resurgence.

Continue Reading » FG-CU Later: Florida Gators roll into third-straight Elite Eight with 62-50 victory over Eagles

Tags: Brett Comer, Casey Prather, Cowboys Stadium, Elite Eight, Florida Gulf Coast Eagles, Kenny Boynton, Michael Frazier, Michigan Wolverines, Mike Rosario, NCAA, NCAA Tournament, Patric Young, Scottie Wilbekin, Sweet 16, Will Yeguete

Sunday was not the first time the No. 11/13 Florida Gators dropped a single-digit decision this season. In fact, Florida (26-7) fell to 0-6 on the 2012-13 campaign in games decided by fewer than 10 points after it fell 66-63 in the 2013 SEC Tournament Championship to the Ole Miss Rebels (26-8).

The Gators, which were looking to sweep the SEC titles for the first time since 2006-07, led by 12 at halftime but were outscored 40-25 by the Rebels in the second half, a dominant performance by the underdogs.

Forward Murphy Holloway led Ole Miss with a fantastic performance as he scored a game-high 23 points on 11-of-14 shooting to go along with eight rebounds. Nearly equaling his impact was Rebels guard Marshall Henderson, who scored 21 points on 3-of-8 shooting from downtown and played a big part in his team’s second-half comeback from an emotional standpoint.

Unlike its semifinal game, Florida started Sunday’s final with a hot hand, hitting four of its first five shots and running its lead up to 18-6 midway through the first half on the back of four three-pointers including three from freshman G Michael Frazier II.

A 5-0 run for Ole Miss cut its deficit in half temporarily. Gators senior G Kenny Boynton responded with 11 points – including three triples – over a five-minute stretch to push UF’s lead to 14 points with less than two minutes to play in the first half.

Florida led by 12 at the break after hitting 7-of-14 three-pointers and 5-of-6 free throws.

Continue Reading » Florida collapses in second half, drops SEC Tournament finale to Ole Miss 66-63

Tags: Billy Donovan, Erik Murphy, Kenny Boynton, Marshall Henderson, Michael Frazier, Mike Rosario, Murphy Holloway, NCAA, NCAA Tournament, Ole Miss Rebels, Patric Young, Scottie Wilbekin, SEC, SEC Championship, SEC Tournament

It may have taken a few minutes for the one-seed to get going on Friday, but a lights-out performance by senior forward Erik Murphy helped the No. 11/13 Florida Gators make quick work of the nine-seed LSU Tigers in the quarterfinals of the 2013 SEC Tournament at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, TN.

Murphy’s dominant performance – including career-highs in points (27), rebounds (12) and made three-pointers (five) – fueled Florida (25-6) to an 80-58 victory over LSU (19-12). The Gators advanced to the semifinals of the SEC Tournament and will face either four-seed Alabama or five-seed Tennessee on Saturday at 1 p.m.

“Shots were falling today. I felt good,” he said. “Whether the ball goes in the basket or not is out of your control. Coach has actually been saying just give good reps this week. Every rep in a good rep, whether it’s in game or practice. I try to do that.”

After tweaking his right knee in practice during the week, Murphy started Friday’s game wearing a thin brace but showed few ill effects, dominating the first half for Florida. Murphy scored 10 points and registered seven rebounds in the first 10 minutes of the contest, but LSU countered by hitting four of its first six attempts from downtown and trailed UF by just a single point midway through the period.

Continue Reading » Murphy’s career game helps Florida blow out LSU

Tags: Billy Donovan, Bridgestone Arena, Erik Murphy, Kenny Boynton, LSU Tigers, Michael Frazier, Patric Young, Scottie Wilbekin, SEC, SEC Tournament

It took 15 seasons with the Florida Gators for head coach Billy Donovan to earn his first conference coaching honor despite winning two national championships, coaching in three title games and leading his team to three-straight SEC Tournament victories. Coming off his fifth league regular season title (third outright), Donovan learned Tuesday that he has won his second conference coaching award in the last three seasons as he was chosen as the 2013 SEC Coach of the Year by his peers.

Donovan’s Gators (24-6, 14-4 SEC) opened the SEC slate with eight-straight victories and a 27.75-point margin of victory in those games. Though Florida slid a bit and lost four of its final 10 games in-conference, the Gators still won the league title outright and were the only team in the SEC to remain in the top 25 polls all season long.

UF finished 15-0 at home in the Stephen C. O’Connell Center on the season, the second-best home record in school history (18-0 – 2006-07) and fifth time Donovan has led his team to an undefeated record in the O’Dome.

Florida also helped Donovan achieve his 15th-straight 20-win season dating back to 1999. He has the third-longest active streak of 20-win seasons behind Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski (17) and Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim (16) and fifth-longest all-time.

Donovan is now known as the dean of SEC coaches despite being younger than five of his other 13 peers. In his 17th season with the Gators, he is the longest tenured active head coach in the league and has seen 28 coaches come and go through the SEC while he has remained at Florida.

He also this season became the third coach in SEC history to win 400 games and heads into the 2013 SEC Tournament with 410 wins, just 38 behind LSU’s Dale Brown (448) and many more back of Kentucky’s Adolph Rupp (875).

Florida also had a number of its players honored Tuesday by the league’s coaches:

Senior forward Erik Murphy was chosen for the First Team All-SEC with senior guard Kenny Boynton, redshirt senior G Mike Rosario and junior center Patric Young each earning Second Team nods. (Rosario and Young tied in voting; ties are not broken.)

Young, who was named the SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year on Monday, and junior point guard Scottie Wilbekin were named to the SEC All-Defensive Team, and freshman G Michael Frazier II won a spot on the SEC All-Freshman Team.

Other league awards went to Georgia’s Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (SEC Player of the Year), Kentucky’s Nerlens Noel (SEC Freshman of the Year, SEC Defensive Player of the Year) and UK’s Kyle Wiltjer (SEC Sixth Man of the Year).

Photo Credit: Unknown

Tags: All-Defensive, All-Freshman, All-SEC, Billy Donovan, Coach of the Year, Erik Murphy, Kenny Boynton, Michael Frazier, Mike Rosario, Patric Young, Scholar-Athlete of the Year, Scottie Wilbekin, SEC, Stephen C. O'Connell Center

Every athlete recovers from injury differently but as far as Florida Gators freshman guard Michael Frazier II and junior forward Will Yeguete are concerned, the respective processes have been rather quick.

Frazier, who suffered a concussion on Feb. 23 against Arkansas, missed just one contest and struggled in his first contest back with Florida but returned to normal on Wednesday as the Gators clinched the outright regular-season 2013 SEC Championship at home against Vanderbilt.

“I thought he played well. I thought the two days of practice going into the Vanderbilt game really helped him,” head coach Billy Donovan said.

Frazier admitted Thursday that he was much more comfortable Wednesday as evidenced by his 2-for-3 shooting performance from beyond the arc and final line of six points and six rebounds.

“It was my second game back and I felt like I was more in the flow of things,” he said. “My first game back, I kind of felt out of it. Even though I only missed one game, I did not feel like myself. I think [Wednesday] night I played like I usually play.”

Like Frazier, Yeguete rebounded from his injury rather quickly. Dealing with knee issues all season, Yeguete finally decided to undergo arthroscopic surgery on Feb. 8 just three days after leaving Florida’s Feb. 5 contest at Arkansas after playing just one minute. Though he was originally given a timetable of 4-6 weeks, Yeguete recovered in three (missing only five games) and returned to the court on March 3 against Alabama.

Unlike Frazier, Yeguete has yet to return to form and has only totaled four points and five rebounds in 23 combined minutes over the last two games.

Continue Reading » Frazier, Yeguete coming along steadliy for Gators

Tags: Billy Donovan, Michael Frazier, Will Yeguete