Florida basketball set for Saturday tilt at LSU

Location: Pete Maravich Assembly Center – Baton Rouge, LA [Capacity: 13,215]
Time: 4:00 p.m. EST

TV: ESPNU (Tom Hart, Matt Doherty)
SiriusXM: 200 | Radio: Gator Radio Network [Affiliates]
Online Video: WatchESPN.com | Mobile Video: WatchESPN app
Live Updates: @OnlyGators on Twitter and SportsYapper app

Odds: Florida -11 | O/U 135.5

MECHANICS FINE, SHOT SELECTION THE KEY

Senior guard Kenny Boynton broke out of a massive slump with a career-best performance one week ago. Asked Thursday if Boynton’s mechanics had anything to do with the slump he had been on, Donovan dismissed the notion and explained that few players’ mechanics are flawless but that each gets good at the way they shoot.

“Through the amount of time he has spent on his shooting, he has worked himself into a terrific shooter,” he said. “These guys end up perfecting their shot through their mechanics through repetition. I don’t think Kenny’s mechanics necessarily are absolutely ideal and perfect, but I can’t sit there and say that there’s many players out there who you can say their mechanics are ideal and perfect.”

Instead, Donovan pointed to shot selection as the key to staying out of slumps and being a contributor even when the ball is not falling in the basket for a player on a particular night. Boynton scored just seven points on 2-of-8 shooting in Florida’s 33-point win over Georgia.

“I think he’s done better. From a maturity standpoint, I thought his shots that he took [Wednesday] were pretty good shots,” Donovan said. “He didn’t score a lot of points, which is OK. He’s got to be able, as a senior, to function and understand [when he doesn’t score]. If he’s going to talk about wanting to do something special in his senior year and really wanting this to be a great season, there’s going to be some games where he doesn’t shoot the ball particularly well or he has maybe a poor shooting night. I think there’s a difference between those two things. Having a poor shooting night is something that is going to happen, but if you’re having a poor shooting night because of shot selection then that’s something that you can correct.”

[EXPAND CLICK TO EXPAND and read the rest of this preview.]CLIMBING THE CHARTS

Boynton is in his fourth year as a starter for the Gators. He is quickly making his way up many of Florida’s all-time lists and is already first in school history in three-point field goals made (291) and attempted (842). He currently leads the SEC in career points (1,762) and three-pointers among active players.

Career scoring
1. Ronnie Williams – 2,090 points
3. Udonis Haslem – 1,781 points
4. Erving Walker – 1,777 points
5. Kenny Boynton – 1,762 points

Minutes
1. Erving Walker – 4,358
4. Andrew Moten – 3,930
5. Kenny Boynton – 3,911

Starts
1. Andrew DeClerq – 128
3. Andrew Moten – 124
4. Kenny Boynton – 118

Field goal attempts
1. Stacey Poole – 1,578
2. Andrew Moten – 1,572
3. Kenny Boynton – 1,436

Field goals made
1. Ronnie Williams – 772
8. Matt Bonner – 580
9. Kenny Boynton – 573

Boynton is also approaching the top 10 in games played (nine away), free throws made (25 away) and assists (41 away).

NOTES AND QUOTES

» Florida is only 40-60 all-time against LSU including 11-8 under Donovan. The Gators hold a 12-33 all-time record when playing the Tigers in Baton Rouge (4-4 under Donovan).

» Donovan on junior center Patric Young, who should be posting better rebounding numbers: “Patric, because of his size, people are going to always keep a body on him. The extra effort and the second effort, when he gets hit going to the offensive glass, he’s got to be able to make that effort spinning off a guy and trying to get at least to the same level as the guy that’s blocking him out. … We definitely need Patric to chase some more balls on the glass. When he does do that, he’s a terrific rebounder. It’s also hard for him to rebound a lot of times when he’s in the lane like he is and so many people have bodies on him. It’s a difficult and challenging proposition or him to chase those kinds of balls, but we need him to do that.”[/EXPAND]