The Florida Gators won their fifth-straight game and eighth in their last nine contests with a 81-75 overtime victory against the Tennessee Volunteers at Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, TN, Tuesday evening.

The Gators (13-3, 2-0 SEC), who had all five starters score in double figures and only four points from their bench, held off rally after rally from the Volunteers (10-6, 0-2 SEC) on the way to winning their first overtime game in two tries this season.

Senior forward Alex Tyus, who scored a team-high 18 points on 8-of-12 shooting, grabbed seven rebounds and blocked three shots in his best performance of the season. Classmate F Chandler Parsons was equally efficient for Florida, hitting 4-of-5 attempts from downtown and 5-of-7 overall for 16 points.

Down five early, UF used a 10-1 run to take a 19-15 lead thanks to two stellar dimes from freshman point guard Scottie Wilbekin. Tennessee responded with a 14-2 run to take a game-high eight-point lead (29-21) with over five minutes remaining in the half.

Back-to-back threes from Parsons fueled an 11-0 run for the Gators, who held the Volunteers to one basket in the final 5:46 of the half and took a 32-31 lead at the break.

Florida jumped ahead to their own game-high eight-point lead on Parsons’ third trey, though a 7-2 run by Tennessee tied the game at 64 with less than four minutes to go.

Tyus, stepping up to the line for a one-and-one with 42 seconds remaining, missed his free throw and the chance to put UF ahead late in the game. He redeemed himself with a game-saving block on the next possession.

Junior PG Erving Walker received an inbounds pass from Parsons with five seconds left but air-balled a fadeaway three with time running out to send the game into overtime.

The Gators put their foot on the pedal in the extra period, scoring six-straight points to open overtime and using a 9-2 run fueled by a pair of three-pointers by sophomore guard Kenny Boynton to take a 77-70 lead with 45 seconds left. Florida missed three free throws during the stretch but held off five quick points by Tennessee to prevail.

Parsons added six rebounds to his point total, while redshirt senior center Vernon Macklin contributed 11 points and five rebounds as the team’s third frontcourt starter. Boynton and Walker finished with 17 and 15 points, respectively.

UF’s starters scored 77 of the team’s 81 points on Tuesday, but freshman C Patric Young posted a stellar performance with seven rebounds including four off the offensive glass and all four of the Gators’ bench points. Wilbekin added three dimes and three steals, played stellar defense and did not turn the ball over once.

Volunteers Gs Cameron Tatum and Scotty Hopson combined for 41 points on 50 percent shooting with eight total rebounds. Tatum turned the ball over a game-high five times but also handed out four assists. Tennessee also benefited from a strong presence inside the paint as F Tobias Harris accounted for a double-double with 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting to go along with 10 rebounds.

UT was without head coach Bruce Pearl, who was suspended from participating in the first eight Southeastern Conference games of the season after being caught committing numerous recruiting violations.

Florida’s fifth-straight victory set a season-long streak and was their first in Knoxville since 2005. The Gators have scored 71 points or more in each of their last four games after failing to do so in their seven prior contests.

Photo Credit: Wade Payne/Associated Press

Tags: Alex Tyus, Bruce Pearl, Cameron Tatum, Chandler Parsons, Erving Walker, Kenny Boynton, Patric Young, Scottie Wilbekin, Scotty Hopson, SEC, Tennessee Volunteers, Thompson-Boling Arena, Tobias Harris, Vernon Macklin

Florida Gators head basketball coach Billy Donovan likes to talk – and we like to listen – which is why we have compiled some of the most important news, notes and quotes following his press availability on Monday.

“AWARENESS AND UNDERSTANDING” KEYS TO RECENT TURNAROUND

After failing to score at least 70 points in seven games, Florida has done so in each of its past three contests (71, 84, 77) and has had what some would consider an offensive resurgence since Dec. 31. Donovan attributes the improvement to the team’s overall understanding and execution of the game plan.

“Our guys are always willing to make the extra pass. When things happen inside of a game and plays happen very, very quickly and you have to react, I felt like earlier in the year we were not taking advantage of each other’s strengths and talents,” he said. “Nothing more than probably a lack of awareness or understanding of what’s open, what’s available and what they should be looking at.

“As time has gone on, they have gotten better at seeing some of those things. We needed to do a better job taking advantage of each other’s skill set. Hopefully we can continue to get better because as you start to play, teams are going to take away different things and you’re going to have to adjust and adapt to counters and different things preparation-wise.”

Just because the Gators are improved does not mean the team has taken their game to another level. “When the ball goes in the basket, it gives the appearance that you’re playing better,” Donovan added. “There’s no question that when the ball goes into the basket for any team – that helps. It can’t get to a point where, if we’re not shooting the ball well, it bleeds into and affects the other things that they’re doing on the floor. We can’t be a team that, when the ball is not going into the basket, it affects those minutes we’re not shooting the ball.”

UNHERALDED CONTRIBUTIONS KEEP TEAMS IN GAMES

“On ESPN they don’t show great block outs or a guy stepping up and taking a charge. They show high-flying dunks, a guy who scored 40. Instinctively, people will say, ‘How did you do? How many points did you score?’ And a lot of times it has nothing to do with that,” said Donovan when discussing some of the other priorities he trying to instill.

“If we don’t shoot the ball well and we don’t do the other things I’m talking about, we have no shot at winning. I don’t think any team has a shot at winning. So what you really try to do as a coach is control the things you have control over as a team. And then what you try to do is unselfishness, extra pass, high assist total, guys taking shots that they have a chance and an opportunity to make. If you don’t shoot the ball well, you still want to give yourself a chance to win in a grind-out game. We got to offset some of that stuff because not every team every game is going to shoot great. For our team sometimes we have more off nights shooting it than we do [on nights].”

That message has gotten through to the team, especially freshman center Patric Young. “Basketball’s way more than just scoring on the offensive side,” he said. “You have to block out and play defense. What are [coach's] favorite words? Block out. Step up. Take a charge. Move the ball.”

Read more from Donovan and the centers…after the break!
Continue Reading » 1/10: Donovan discucess team’s highs and lows

Tags: Anthony Grant, Billy Donovan, Bruce Pearl, Chandler Parsons, John Pelphrey, Patric Young, Vernon Macklin

The Florida Gators have struggled coming off major wins this season, losing to Central Florida and Jacksonville after hard-fought victories against Florida State and then-No. 6 Kansas State. Snapping Xavier’s 30-game home winning streak Saturday, Florida (11-3) kept their momentum going Monday by thrashing the Rhode Island Rams (9-5) 84-59 at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center in Gainesville, FL.

Senior forward Chandler Parsons, marred in a slump most of the season, led the way for the Gators with the ninth double-double of his career. He scored 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting (3-for-4 from downtown) and added 12 rebounds (seven offensive) to go along with five assists for his best performance of the season.

Up 13-12 over URI with 11:48 left in the first half, UF took off on a 22-2 run and only allowed the Rams one basket in more than seven minutes. Rhode Island counted with a 7-0 run to cut Florida’s lead to 14 at the half.

The Gators’ lead teetered back-and-forth in the second half, but the Rams never trailed by less than 15 points after the break.

With the game coming to a close, head coach Billy Donovan inserted walk-on guard Kyle McClanahan into the contest. He missed his first two free throws but hustled back down for a layup on the next possession to give Florida a game-high 26-point lead.

Monday’s game turned out to be a dunk-fest for the Gators with Parsons, redshirt senior center Vernon Macklin, senior F Alex Tyus and freshman G/F Casey Prather all throwing it down on their opponents.

Junior point guard Erving Walker was Florida’s second-leading scorer with 14 points on 50 percent shooting from both the field and downtown. Tyus and sophomore G Kenny Boynton each finished with 10 points though Boynton continued to struggle shooting the ball going 3-for-12 from the field and 2-of-7 from beyond the arc.

Macklin finished with six points in limited minutes, and freshmen Prather and C Patric Young both scored eight points without missing a single shot between them.

Rhode Island was led by F Delroy James, who posted 23 points and six rebounds.

With their out-of-conference slate now complete, the Gators are set to begin Southeastern Conference competition on Saturday at home against Ole Miss. The game will air live at 8 p.m. on Comcast Sports South.

Tags: Alex Tyus, Billy Donovan, Casey Prather, Chandler Parsons, Delroy James, Erving Walker, Kenny Boynton, Kyle McClanahan, O'Connell Center, Patric Young, Rhode Island Rams, Vernon Macklin

Saturday was a day of redemption for the No. 24 Florida Gators. Down 20-8 to the No. 6 Kansas State Wildcats late in the first half, head coach Billy Donovan’s team came back from their deficit with solid defense and efficient shooting to prevail 57-44 at the 2010 Orange Bowl Basketball Classic at the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, FL.

Florida (8-2), which improved to 8-2 all-time in the event, held Kansas State (9-2) to 27.3 percent team shooting and outscored them 37-21 in the second half for their most impressive victory of the season.

Things started off slow for both teams but especially for the Gators, who did not score until junior point guard Erving Walker drained a jumper eight minutes into the game. The Wildcats jumped ahead 20-8 on a three-pointer by guard Jacob Pullen with 9:05 remaining in the first half but went on a significant drought from that point forward.

Down 12 after Pullen’s trey, Florida went on a 12-3 run to end the half and added an 8-0 run coming out of the locker rooms to take a 28-23 lead. The Wildcats would reduce their deficit to three, but the Gators kept inching further and further ahead eventually going up a game-high 18 on two free throws by Walker with 2:38 left in the game.

Sophomore G Kenny Boynton, who played the first game of his college career near his hometown in Broward County, was named the contest’s Most Valuable Player after posting a team-high 15 points on 6-of-12 shooting (2-for-4 from downtown). He rebounded significantly from his last two games, in which he combined to go 3-of-21 from the field and 1-for-14 from beyond the arc.

Boynton started 0-2 and also missed two consecutive free throws.

Walker had his most impressive game of the season with 13 points on 4-of-9 shooting while dishing three assists and only turning the ball over once. Redshirt senior center Vernon Macklin was his consistent self with seven rebounds to go along with 10 points.

Playing major minutes off the bench were freshman point guard Scottie Wilbekin, freshman C Patric Young and sophomore forward Erik Murphy Young grabbed two big rebounds and swatted the ball away twice, while Murphy scored seven points on 3-of-4 shooting while notching four boards.

Florida’s senior Fs, Chandler Parsons and Alex Tyus had juxtaposed performances. Parsons grabbed four rebounds, blocked three shots and scored seven points in 31 minutes, while Tyus played only 19 minutes and made one basket.

Pullen was Kansas State’s only effective scorer, but even he went 6-of-17 (1-for-17 from three) for a game-high 19 points. No other Wildcats player posted double-digit points and only two others (non-starters) made more than one basket.

UF out-shot KSU 53.5-27.3 percent and blocked five more shots but turned the ball over nine more times (17-8) and was out-rebounded 26-28.

Kansas State’s point total was their lowest in five seasons under head coach Frank Martin, and Florida played the best defense it has all season, holding a ranked opponent to under 50 points for the first time since 1968.

The Gators return to Gainesville, FL, to face Jacksonville on Monday at 1 p.m. The game will air live on Sun Sports (check your local listings).

Photo Credit: Jeffrey M. Boan/Associated Press

Tags: Alex Tyus, BankAtlantic Center, Billy Donovan, Chandler Parsons, Erik Murphy, Erving Walker, Jacob Pullen, Kansas State Wildcats, Kenny Boynton, MVP, Orange Bowl Basketball Classic, Patric Young, Scottie Wilbekin, Vernon Macklin

By Malik Grady – OGGOA Correspondent

After nine games, the Florida Gators men’s basketball team is a hard-to-gauge 7-2 with losses to a top-five Ohio State team in Gainesville, FL, and an embarrassing loss to a possible NCAA Tournament team in Central Florida in Orlando, FL. Is this team closer to the top-10 ranked one that led Ohio State at the 12-minute mark of the second half or more akin to the one that only beat Morehead State by six and lost to UCF?

Complicating the issue is the curious combination of players struggling offensively and extended minutes for young players who may still improve dramatically in the coming months. It’s much easier to look at the often contradicting facts than to make any certain predictions for this team going forward.

Simply put, the Gators have not been particularly noteworthy on either offense or defense as of yet, except in a few curious instances. Checking their advanced statistics so far reveals a few things about how the team has played up until this point.

Read the rest of Malik’s commentary on Florida basketball…after the jump!
Continue Reading » Jury still out on Florida basketball through nine

Tags: Alex Tyus, Billy Donovan, Casey Prather, Chandler Parsons, Erik Murphy, Erving Walker, Jacob Pullen, Kenny Boynton, NCAA, NCAA Tournament, Nick Calathes, Patric Young, Scottie Wilbekin, Vernon Macklin, Will Yeguete

The No. 16/18 (for now) Florida Gators (5-2) suffered a tough loss Wednesday night, falling 57-54 to the Central Florida Knights (6-0) in Orlando, FL. Though the upset loss is certainly tough for the Gators to stomach, the way they played appeared to make head coach Billy Donovan queasy. He spoke to the media after the game and had plenty to say about his team’s performance at the Amway Center.

EVEN IF FLORIDA WON, THEY LOST

Some teams steal wins and others – like Florida last year – get lucky with some buzzer beaters, but no matter what happened Wednesday in Orlando, Donovan knew that the Gators were not worthy of any positive recognition should the outcome have gone their way. “We didn’t even deserve to be in that position [to tie or win],” he said. “If we would have won the game, it would have been a complete steal. I would have felt bad for Donnie [Jones]. Nevermind how he would have felt, I would have felt awful for him. I would have gave him the win.”

Though Donovan dismissed the notion that he was “irate” after the upset, he did explain that the team’s “issues are bigger than this loss” though they can be corrected with maximum effort. He continued, “The one thing that’s good with our schedule is, when you play games like this and you play Ohio State, you play on the road at Florida State, your issues flour – they get exposed. Every team’s got issues. How you become a good team is how well you deal with your issues inside your team to get better.”

NOT SELFISH BUT CERTAINLY NOT SELFLESS

Donovan treaded carefully after Wednesday’s game to ensure he did not use world “selfish” when describing his team’s performance. However there is no question that word could certainly be used when discussing how Florida played in the contest.

“We have a group of guys – all of our older guys are way, way too wrapped up in their offense,” Donovan said. Erving Walker, Kenny Boynton – you look at their assist-to-turnover ratio last year to this year [and it’s not good].

“You look at, in this game, with the way we were scoring in around the basket, those guys should know just by playing the game [that] the ball needs to go inside. We get wrapped up when we’re not scoring or we’re not getting touches and looks and things like that. We’re not a cohesive team right now, certainly on the offensive end of the floor. The defensive part is easy because they understand if they’re not doing the things they need to do they’re probably going to come out of the game.

“They’re not playing together. They’re not utilizing each other’s individual talents. And the disappointing part is these guys played together last year.”

TEAM LACKS UNDERSTANDING, ISN’T HELPING EACH OTHER

“That’s the part to me that’s a little bit disturbing as a coach,” Donovan said of the team not recognizing that [Vernon] Macklin was on fire and could not be defended. “He got in foul trouble in the first half so he was out with two fouls, but the recognition by your team… I can’t call a play every single time down the floor because there’s transition. When they’re playing they should be seeing the fact that Vernon Macklin is having a big night offensively. The other four guys should be saying, ‘Let’s get Vern the ball.’ But we’re too wrapped up in, ‘I didn’t get a shot now,’ or ‘I missed my last one.’ They’ve got to see those things. Every time I ran a play, I kept running a play at him.

“We don’t have very good chemistry on offense with this group right now at all. And that’s the disappointing part. These are older guys that are less focused on what they can be doing to help the group get better. You always hear the thing: ‘A great player makes everyone else around them better.’ We have a bunch of guys on the floor that make nobody better. We’re less concerned about how to do that; we’re more concerned about, ‘How am I doing.’”

PARSONS FAILS TO DELIVER IN RETURN TO HOMETOWN

With approximately 70 tickets distributed to family and friends and a lot of eyes on him Wednesday, senior forward Chandler Parsons appeared to crack under pressure. Though he helped distribute and rebound the ball, Parsons simply played awful in his 32 minutes on the court, going 1-for-9 from the field (0-for-3 from downtown) for two points and 0-6 from the charity stripe (including an air ball). He played so bad, in fact, that his lack of production stood out even though fellow senior F Alex Tyus went 0-for-5 and was held scoreless in 21 minutes.

“Chandler and Vernon last year, they were really on edge about really trying to compete and do the things they needed to do. Chandler – with the way he’s shooting free throws right now – that looked like he was his sophomore year,” Donovan said. “[He’s] just not in the right frame of mind. I don’t know if we’ll be a great free throw shooting team or not, but Chandler’s certainly better than 0-6.”

A career 61.5 percent free throw shooter, Parsons was making them at a 66.6 percent clip before Wednesday’s game. Struggling more is Macklin, who shot 58.8 percent from the line in 2009-10; he is currently shooting 23.1 percent from the stripe.

QUOTES (After the break…)
Continue Reading » 12/1: Donovan shares his post-game thoughts

Tags: Amway Center, Billy Donovan, Central Florida Knights, Chandler Parsons, Donnie Jones, Erving Walker, Kenny Boynton, Marcus Jordan, Patric Young, Vernon Macklin

Hoping to save the University of Florida from a disastrous weekend in Tallahassee, FL, No. 14/16 Florida Gators basketball (5-1) survived a late run to take down the Florida State Seminoles (5-1) 55-51 at the Donald L. Tucker Center on Sunday.

Up a game-high 13 points with 14:30 remaining in the second half, Florida allowed Florida State to rattle off a 15-3 run to narrow their lead to a single point. From there the game went back-and-forth until sophomore forward Erik Murphy put in a layup off an airballed three from sophomore guard Kenny Boynton to ice the contest for the Gators.

The Seminoles began the game with a quick 5-0 run including an opening three-pointer and fastbreak dunk. Minutes later, Gators freshman F Casey Prather hit a trey to give his team their first lead of the game; it would never be relinquished after that point.

A 12-2 run helped Florida extend their lead to 17-11, and a subsequent 9-2 run to end the half allowed the Gators to walk into the locker room up 30-21.

Florida started the second half strong with a 6-0 run including a three from junior point guard Erving Walker, free throw from freshman F Will Yeguete and jumper from Boynton that put them up a game-high 13 points.

Florida State went on their 15-3 run at that point, leaving UF scrambling to keep its 44-43 lead over FSU. After plenty of back-and-forth, Seminoles G Michael Snaer nailed a trey off a loose ball to cut the Gators’ lead to 53-51 with 51.4 seconds left.

Murphy’s layup made it a two-shot game, and Florida State conceded the contest after a turnover with only three seconds remaining.

Boynton led the way for the Gators with a team-high 14 points on 4-of-11 shooting (2-of-5 from downtown) with a game-high three steals and five rebounds. Murphy made his presence felt off the bench playing major minutes in place of senior F Alex Tyus. He finished with 10 points on 3-of-3 shooting (1-of-1 from three) with a team-high six rebounds (three offensive).

With Tyus and redshirt senior center Vernon Macklin only seeing 14 and 13 minutes on the court, respectively, Florida’s freshmen frontcourt players stepped up. Center Patric Young played 25 minutes grabbing five rebounds and Yeguete notched 22 minutes with five boards of his own.

The Gators were effective in somewhat shutting down Seminoles star F Chris Singleton, who was held to eight points on 2-of-12 shooting while only grabbing five rebounds. Snaer led Florida State with 15 points (5-of-6 from three), and G Derwin Kitchen contributed eight rebounds and four assists.

UF shot better from the field (38.1-33.3%) and the line (68-54.5%) than FSU but not downtown (37.5-41.2%). They grabbed six more rebounds, notched one more block and committed six fewer fouls but turned the ball over three more times (17-14).

Winning their first road game of the season and coming out victorious in Tallahassee for the first time since 2002, Florida will remain on the road for their following two contests – a neutral site contest against Central Florida in Orlando, FL on Dec. 1 and a true road game in Washington, D.C. against American on Dec. 5.

POST-GAME NOTES & QUOTES (After the break…)
Continue Reading » Florida basketball holds on to defeat FSU 55-51

Tags: Alex Tyus, Casey Prather, Chris Singleton, Derwin Kitchen, Donald L. Tucker Center, Erik Murphy, Erving Walker, Florida State Seminoles, Kenny Boynton, Michael Snaer, Patric Young, University of Florida, Vernon Macklin, Will Yeguete

Head coach Billy Donovan has criticized the No. 14/16 Florida Gators (4-1) for the poor way they have performed in the second half of games since the season began. His message will likely be different Tuesday evening considering Florida struggled out of the gate but pulled away in the latter part of the contest to defeat the Florida Atlantic Owls (3-3) 79-66 at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center in Gainesville, FL.

Shooting only 41.4 percent in the first half, Florida took a 34-32 lead in the closing seconds after sophomore guard Kenny Boynton put in a fastbreak layup and freshman center Patric Young contributed a free throw.

Though they out-rebounded Florida Atlantic 22-14 and committed five less fouls in the period, UF allowed FAU to shoot 46.7 percent from the field and provided them with some wide open looks from downtown.

Boynton and senior forward Alex Tyus led the way offensively for the Gators in the first half, scoring 11 and 10 points, respectively. Tyus also grabbed five rebounds in the early portion of the contest.

Florida would keep its lead the entire second half, going on a short 8-1 run including a mid-range jumper and layup off a steal by junior point guard Erving Walker to jump ahead 47-39 with 12:08 to play.

Finally pulling way, Florida used a trey from senior F Chandler Parsons to take a game-high 13 point lead with 2:46 remaining. They would go up-and-down the remainder of the game to win by the same margin.

Boynton (21 points) and Tyus (19 points) stayed hot in the second half, and Walker scored 11 of his 14 points in the latter period to go along with six rebounds, four assists and five clutch steals.

Hobbled with a bad knee, redshirt senior C Vernon Macklin got off to a slow start but scored five points and pulled down 11 rebounds while blocking three shots. Freshman F Will Yeguete made the most of his eight minutes off the bench by grabbing six boards and getting to the line three times while injecting some energy into the team.

Parsons was scoreless in the first half with two turnovers but found his legs late in the contest to finish with eight points and six rebounds without giving the ball up again.

Gainesville native G Greg Gantt was dynamite from downtown for the Owls, going 3-of-5 from beyond the arc and 6-of-12 from the field for a FAU-high 17 points.

Both teams shot 33.3 percent from three and in the low-40s from the field, but Florida earned the rebounding advantage 44-28 and committed five fewer fouls.

The Gators’ sluggish start was somewhat understandable seeing as Tuesday’s contest was their fourth game in eight days, and their resilience coming out of the locker room at halftime was certainly a sight for Donovan’s sore eyes.

Florida will now get four days of rest before traveling to Tallahassee, FL, on Sunday to face Florida State at 7:30 p.m. The game will air live on Fox Sports Florida.

POST-GAME NOTES & QUOTES (After the break…)
Continue Reading » Gators start slow then fly past Owls 79-66

Tags: Alex Tyus, Billy Donovan, Chandler Parsons, Erving Walker, Florida Atlantic Owls, Greg Gantt, Kenny Boynton, O'Connell Center, Patric Young, Vernon Macklin, Will Yeguete