A 27-6 run including three consecutive treys by slumping sophomore point guard Erving Walker led the Florida Gators (20-8, 9-4 SEC) to a 75-62 rout of the No. 19/17 Tennessee Volunteers (20-7, 8-5 SEC) Tuesday night at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center in Gainesville, FL. The Gators, who earned their 12th-straight 20-win season with the victory, snapped a six-game losing streak against the Volunteers by taking their first win in the series since Feb. 3, 2007.

Walker, who was mired in a 5-for-26 (1-for-11 from downtown) slump over the last three games, shot 50 percent on the evening and scored a trifecta of three-pointers in under two minutes in the second half. He and junior forward Chandler Parsons each finished with a team-high 19 points, though Parsons added eight rebounds. Redshirt junior transfer center Vernon Macklin achieved a double-double with 13 points and a game-high 10 boards, while freshman guard Kenny Boynton added 12 points on 4-for-9 shooting.

“We just moved another step closer to where we want to get to,” Walker said. “Definitely a big resume win. They were a ranked team, good RPI, a good team, big conference win, take sole possession of third. We can’t ask for a bigger win right now than this one.”

Read the rest of OGGOA’s Gators vs. Volunteers game story after the jump!
Continue Reading » Gators rout No. 19/17 Volunteers 75-62 in O’Dome

Tags: Alex Tyus, Billy Donovan, Bobby Maze, Cameron Tatum, Chandler Parsons, Erving Walker, Jeff Hathaway, Kenny Boynton, Mike Slive, NCAA, NCAA Tournament, O'Connell Center, Scotty Hopson, SEC, selection committee, University of Connecticut, Vernon Macklin, Wayne Chism

Location: Stephen C. O’Connell Center – Gainesville, FL [Capacity: 12,000]
Time: 9:00 p.m. (EST)

TV: ESPN / ESPNHD
Online Video: ESPN360.com
Live Updates: OGGOA on Twitter

Odds: Florida -2.5, O/U 136.5

KEEP AN EYE ON…
» The (recently less than) dynamic backcourt of…sophomore point guard Erving Walker and freshman guard Kenny Boynton who are averaging 29.3 points and 7.2 assists per game in conference play this season.
» Speaking of Walker and Boynton…they have hit 52 of the Gators’ 67 treys in SEC play. However, the duo has struggled from the field in its last three games, combining to shoot 12-for-54 from the field and 4-for-26 from downtown.
» Junior forward Alex Tyus…who is taking control of the front court, has reached double figures in 15 of 18 games and scored 15+ in eight of those.
» Junior F Chandler Parsons…who has scored in double figures in five straight games also has two double-doubles in those matches. He has been helping dish the ball and run the point while averaging 15.2 points and 9.0 rebounds and shooting 52.9 percent.
» Double-digit scoring by Vernon Macklin…the Gators are 12-2 when the redshirt junior transfer center finishes in double figures. He had a career-high 22 points in a big win against Ole Miss on Saturday.
» Volunteers center Wayne Chism…who leads his team in scoring and rebounding with 13.1 points per game and 7.2 boardseach contest. Chism has also posted a team-high 39 blocked shots this season.

STREAKS:
» Tennessee leads the all-time series against Florida 69-48, holding a six-game winning streak and having been victorious in 11 of the last 14 meetings. The Gators are 12-15 overall against the Volunteers under Billy Donovan.
» Florida is 12-3 at home in 2009-10 and 81-11 in the O’Dome since 2005.
» UF is 6-3 in games decided by five points or less compared to 4-6 in such games last season; they are also 5-1 in the last six contests that were that close.
» The Gators have out-rebounded seven of their last nine conference opponents and is 12-2 overall when out-rebounding an opponent in 2010.
» After shooting just 47.8 percent from the charity stripe (22-of-46) over its previous two games, Florida has gone 57-for-67 (85.1 percent) from the line in two contests since.
» Six of the Gators’ eight losses on the season have come from teams with RPIs currently inside the top 28 (five from teams ranked 19 or higher).
» Defeating the Rebels on Saturday, the Gators swept the SEC West (6-0) for the first time since 2003 and acquired their most road wins since 2006-07.
» A win Tuesday would give UF its 12th consecutive 20-win season, good for the longest active streak in the SEC.
» Tennessee has defeated then-No. 1 Kansas and Memphis so far this season.
» The Volunteers force 17.4 turnovers per game while holding opponents to 29.9 percent from beyond the arc.

Tags: Alex Tyus, Billy Donovan, Bruce Pearl, Chandler Parsons, Erving Walker, Kenny Boynton, SEC, Tennessee Volunteers, Vernon Macklin, Wayne Chism

A missed layup by junior forward Alex Tyus with less than three second remaining resulted in the Florida Gators (15-6, 4-3 SEC) coming just short of upsetting the No. 14 Tennessee Volunteers (16-4, 4-2 SEC) on the road in Knoxville, TN. Tyus, who led the Gators with 18 points and seven rebounds, was hitting shots all game but unable to prevent a 61-60 victory by the Volunteers.

A clutch three-pointer by Florida junior F Chandler Parsons gave the Gators a one-point lead with 30 seconds left in the game. Following a timeout, Tennessee sophomore guard Scotty Hopson hit a long jump shot with 21 seconds remaining to put the Volunteers up by one. It was then that Tyus missed a layup on a pass into the post by sophomore point guard Erving Walker.

Walker and freshman guard Kenny Boynton were limited by Tennessee and shot a combined 5-of-20 from the field and 1-for-11 from downtown. Parsons was the team’s second leading scorer with 14 points; he added eight rebounds (seven of which came in the first half) and was 5-of-6 from the floor.

Read the rest of OGGOA’s No. 14 Tennessee vs. Florida game story after the jump!
Continue Reading » No. 14 Tennessee tops Florida in final seconds

Tags: Alex Tyus, Chandler Parsons, Erving Walker, Kenny Boynton, Scotty Hopson, Tennessee Volunteers, Wayne Chism

Location: Thompson-Boiling Arena – Knoxville, TN [Capacity: 21,000]
Time: 1:00 p.m. (EST)

TV: CBS/CBSHD
Online: CBSSports.com

Odds: Tennessee -8, O/U 141

KEEP AN EYE ON…
-The dynamic backcourt of…sophomore point guard Erving Walker and freshman guard Kenny Boynton who are averaging 37.2 points (almost half of the team’s 75.3 total points) and 8.7 assists per game in SEC play this season.
- Speaking of Walker and Boynton…they have hit 39 of the Gators’ 45 treys in SEC play, and Walker is shooting 62.2 percent (23-of-37) from downtown in conference action.
- Junior forward Alex Tyus…who is dominating the front court, averaging 14.9 points and 7.5 rebounds over the last 11 contests. He has hit double figures in 11 straight games and scored 15+ in six of those ten.
- Double-digit scoring by Vernon Macklin…Florida is 10-1 when the redshirt junior transfer center does so.
- Buzzer-beaters from Chandler Parsons…the junior forward has hit two game-winning three-pointers in January. He is also averaging 10.6 points and 6.5 boards per contest.
- Senior center Wayne Chism…who leads the Volunteers in rebounding (6.9) and blocks (1.4). He also accounts for a solid 11.8 points per game.
- Sophomore guard Scotty Hopson…who is tops on Tennessee in scoring with 13.8 points per game.

STREAKS:
- Tennessee leads the all-time series 68-48, winning 10 of the last 13 meetings.
- Last season, the Volunteers swept the series; they have won the last five meetings against the Gators (since 2007).
- Florida has not won in Knoxville since 2005, and head coach Billy Donovan is 12-14 against Tennessee.
- The Gators are on a four-game winning streak, their longest in SEC play since 2007.
- Allowing 95 and 89 points to its first to SEC opponents, the Gators have held teams to 62.8 points per game during their four-game winning streak. Florida is 10-1 this season when holding opponents to 60 points or less and 120-2 all-time under Donovan.
- The Gators are out-rebounding their opponents by 5.2 boards during their four-game winning streak.
- Tennessee defeated then-No. 1 Kansas earlier in the season and also has a quality win over rival Memphis.
- As a team, the Volunteers are forcing 19.1 turnovers per game, averaging 78.7 points per game and hitting 47.1 percent from the floor.

Read OGGOA’s Gators vs. No. 14 Volunteers preview after the jump!
Continue Reading » Florida Gators vs. No. 14 Tennessee Volunteers

Tags: Adam Allen, Alex Tyus, Billy Donovan, Brian Williams, Bruce Pearl, Cameron Tatum, Chandler Parsons, Erving Walker, Kenny Boynton, Kenny Kadji, Melvin Goins, Ray Shipman, Scotty Hopson, Tennessee Volunteers, Tyler Smith, Wayne Chism