The three-seed Florida Gators (27-7) advanced to the round of 32 in the 2013 NCAA Tournament with a 79-47 take down of the 14-seed Northwestern State Demons (23-9) at the Erwin Center in Austin, TX. After the game, head coach Billy Donovan and seniors guard Kenny Boynton and forward Erik Murphy met with the media to discuss what transpired on Friday evening.

UPCOMING OPPONENT

The 11-seed Minnesota Golden Gophers defeated the six-seed UCLA Bruins in the South Region’s final game of the second round on Friday. UF and Minnesota will go head-to-head on Sunday for the opportunity to advance to the Sweet 16. The Gators are 0-1 all-time against the Golden Gophers (falling 66-74 in the 1993 NIT) and Donovan is 10-14 all-time against head coach Tubby Smith (but holds a 6-0 record against his long-time foe in the last six meetings).

The game is set for 6:10 p.m. (EDT) on TNT. Tim Brando (play-by-play), Mike Gminski (color commentator) and Otis Livingston (sideline reporter) will be on the call.

OPENING STATEMENTS

Donovan, explaining what went right and wrong for Florida on Friday:

“The thing I was disappointed about in the first half was our defense; we did not do a great job. They shot over 50 percent from the field and I think 45 percent from three. And we did a much, much better job [in the second half]. I think some of that is when you’re playing a team for the first time and you haven’t really seen them before, there’s a little bit of an adjustment period, probably. And I thought our guys adjusted pretty well coming out of the half defensively.

“Then I thought we really defended well in the second half. We established inside. I thought Patric Young and Erik gave us really good post presence where we could get the ball and do good things around the basket. And I thought our back court and Kenny did a good job of finding them and getting them the ball. So it was a good win considering the fact that we came out of maybe a little bit of a slow half.”

Continue Reading » 3/22: Florida vs. Northwestern State post-game; Gators set to face Minnesota in round of 32

Tags: Billy Donovan, Kenny Boynton, Minnesota Golden Gophers, NCAA, NCAA Tournament, Northwestern State Demons, Patric Young, SEC, Southland, UCLA Bruins, Will Yeguete

Behind impressive performances from the team’s two biggest players, the three-seed Florida Gators (27-7) outscored the 14-seed Northwestern State Demons (23-9) by 24 points in the second half on the way to a 79-47 victory on Friday evening during the second round of the 2013 NCAA Tournament.

Florida advanced by holding Northwestern State’s offense, ranked No. 1 in the nation at 81.0 points per contest, to just 15 points in the second half and 47 for the game.

The Gators’ third-ranked defense, coupled with 34 points and 17 rebounds combined from senior forward Erik Murphy and junior center Patric Young, pushed UF to a dominant victory at the Erwin Center in Austin, TX.

With the game in a frenetic pace and the score tied at 17 in the early going, Florida opened up its first big lead of the contest with an 11-4 run capped by a three-pointer from senior guard Kenny Boynton that put it ahead 28-21 midway through the first half.

A free throw by Young followed by a trey from redshirt senior G Mike Rosario extended the Gators’ advantage to eight points.

Though UF kept knocking on the door of pushing its lead up to double digits, Northwestern State answered with big shots that kept Florida within its sights.

Continue Reading » Four Gators score in double figures as (3) Florida takes down (14) Northwestern State 79-47

Tags: Billy Donovan, Casey Prather, Erik Murphy, Erwin Center, Kenny Boynton, Mike Rosario, NCAA, NCAA Tournament, Northwestern State Demons, Patric Young, Scottie Wilbekin, SEC, Southland

Location: Frank Erwin Center – Austin, TX [Capacity: 16,292]
Time: 7:27 p.m. EST

TV: truTV (Tim Brando, Mike Gminski, Otis Livingston) [Channel Finder]
SiriusXM: 92/190 | Radio: Gator Radio Network [Affiliates]
Online Video: NCAA.com | Mobile Video: NCAA March Madness Live
Live Updates: @OnlyGators on Twitter and SportsYapper app

Odds: Florida -20.5 | O/U 143

HISTORY / STREAKS / STATS

» Florida is 28-10 in 12 NCAA Tournaments under Donovan and has reached at least the Elite Eight round in four of the last seven seasons (two national titles). UF is 4-0 all-time against Southland teams.
» Northwestern State, as a 14 seed, upset the three seed in its last NCAA Tournament appearance in 2006. The Demons are 2-2 all-time in the NCAA Tournament.
» Friday will be the first-ever meeting between the two teams. Northwestern State is 1-12 against SEC opponents under McConathy with nine-straight losses.
» UF is 51-7 since the beginning of the 2011-12 season when holding opponents under 71 points in a game (25-6 in 2012-13).
» The Gators and Demons each have four starters that average in double figures.
» UF is 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 0-6 this season in single-digit decisions while Northwestern State is 8-4 in similarly close games.
» The Gators are ranked first nationally in scoring margin (+17.9), third in scoring defense (53.7), seventh in field goal defense (.377), 11th in field goal percentage (.481), 15th in three-pointers per game (8.4) and 23rd in assist-turnover ratio (1.33). Florida is also seventh nationally in fouling (14.1) and 213th in free throw percentage (.681).
» The Demons are ranked first nationally in scoring offense (81.0), fourth in steals (9.8), 24th in assists (15.5) and 25th in turnover margin (+3.0). Northwestern State is also considered the country’s fastest team, averaging 75.2 possessions per 40 minutes.

Read the rest of the Florida-Northwestern State gameday preview…
Continue Reading » NCAA Tournament Gameday: (3) Florida Gators vs. (14) Northwestern State Demons

Tags: Billy Donovan, Erik Murphy, Erwin Center, James Hublin, Kenny Boynton, Mike McConathy, NCAA, NCAA Tournament, Northwestern State Demons, SEC, Southland

(3) Florida Gators basketball (26-7) will be practicing all week in preparation for the 2013 NCAA Tournament, which begins for the Gators on Friday at 7:27 p.m. against the (14) Northwestern State Demons (23-8) of the Southland Conference. Head coach Billy Donovan met with the media on Monday to go in-depth about both teams heading into opening-round action in Austin, TX.

CLEARING UP (AND CLEANING UP) THE LATE-GAME ISSUES

Florida fell to 0-6 in single-digit decisions as Ole Miss came back from a 12-point halftime deficit to win the 2013 SEC Tournament. Yet while the Gators have not put away a team in such a situation this season, Donovan said Monday that he is not worried about his team’s confidence in close games.

“I look at things totally differently, I do. Maybe it’s just me doing it for as long as I’ve done it. I was much, much more alarmed…it had nothing to do with the close game,” he said. “Our guys played really hard the last six minutes. It was a 14-minute period there, up 12 in the second half… I do think it was a combination of several things.”

Specifically, Donovan was perturbed by the officiating during a crucial stretch early in the second half.

“I thought there were some calls in the game that were huge momentum-swinging plays,” he said. “There was a goaltend that clearly was a goaltend that wasn’t called that led to a three-point shot. And then I’m not so sure the six free throws that [Marshall] Henderson got on fouls were actually legitimate. Then I thought Rosario got up to the basket and got hit and there was no foul. And I thought Murphy taking charge, no call on Henderson. There were just some plays like that. I’m sure Ole Miss can look at the same thing and they can say, ‘These calls didn’t go our way.’ But I thought some of the calls were huge momentum swings in the game.

“That being said, I thought we got the shots we wanted, got to the free throw line whereas maybe earlier in the year I wasn’t totally happy with the shot selection. I was more disappointed in our defense. That’s what I was more disappointed in during the game was our defense in the second half.”

Continue Reading » 3/18: Donovan on close games, officiating, NCAA

Tags: Billy Donovan, Erik Murphy, Kenny Boynton, Mike Rosario, NCAA, NCAA Tournament, Northwestern State Demons, Patric Young, Southland, Will Yeguete

No. 12/14 Florida Gators basketball (26-7) has earned a berth to the 2013 NCAA Tournament after completing a hard-fought regular season that included winning the outright 2013 SEC Championship for the regular season, posting an undefeated 15-0 record at home and going 4-1 against the RPI top 50.

As announced during the NCAA Selection Show on Sunday, Florida was awarded a No. 3 seed and will face the No. 14-seed Northwestern State Demons (23-8) of the Southland Conference in Austin, TX on Friday, March 22.

The game will tip-off at 7:27 p.m. (ET) and air live on truTV [channel finder] with Tim Brando, Mike Gminski and Otis Livingston on the call.

The Gators’ third-ranked scoring defense nationally, which allows just 53.2 points per game on average, will go up against a Demons squad that boasts the country’s top scoring offense at 82.4 points per game.

Northwestern State faced (and lost to) three Southeastern Conference teams in the first two months of the season, falling at LSU on Nov. 20 (102-95), at Texas A&M on Nov. 26 (78-65) and at Arkansas on Dec. 29 (79-61).

Florida, placed in the South Region (North Texas), could advance to face No. 6 UCLA (25-9) or No. 11 Minnesota (20-12) in the third round on Sunday. UF could also potentially face No. 2 Georgetown (25-6) in the Sweet 16, a showdown that would be a rematch of the season opener between the two teams aboard the USS Bataan in the Navy-Marine Corps Classic that was never completed.

The final editions of the 2012-13 USA Today and Associated Press Top 25 Polls were released on Monday with Gonzaga remaining the No. 1 team in the nation after receiving 75-of-96 combined first-place votes.

Florida, which won two games before falling in the final of the SEC Tournament, fell one spots each to No. 12 in the USA Today poll and No. 14 in the AP rankings. Florida lost 52 voting points in the USA Today poll and was deducted 70 points in the AP top 25.

The Gators are the only Southeastern Conference team listed in the top 25 rankings.

Check out the full top 25 polls and where Florida ranked…after the break!
Continue Reading » Florida gets No. 3 seed in 2013 NCAA Tournament

Tags: NCAA, NCAA Tournament, Northwestern State Demons, SEC, SEC Championship, Southland