Florida routs Florida Tech 92-58 in exhibition

The No. 9/11 Florida Gators took the court at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center for the first time during the 2010-11s season and came away with a 92-58 exhibition game win over the Florida Tech Panthers on Thursday night.

Every member of the Gators saw action Thursday, though it was sophomore guard Kenny Boynton who led the way with 24 points and five rebounds on 10-of-15 shooting (4-of-6 from downtown) in 25 minutes. Freshman forward Casey Prather, seeing the court for the first time while wearing the orange and blue, also played for 25 minutes and earned a double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds.

Senior Fs Chandler Parsons and Alex Tyus were the Gators’ other offensive standouts with 15 and 14 points, respectively. Parsons also contributed four rebounds, four assists and four steals, while Tyus added three boards. Junior point guard Erving Walker was the team’s main facilitator, playing 24 minutes and recording six assists.

Also in their first game for Florida as freshmen, center Patric Young took two charges, F Will Yeguete scored six points and grabbed eight rebounds, F Cody Larson played 15 minutes, and PG Scottie Wilbekin played five minutes before straining his neck and sitting out the second half.

As a team the Gators shot 50 percent from the field (37-of-54), out-rebounded the Panthers 46-28 and forced their opponent into 30 turnovers. Highlights included a powerful LeBron James-like block by Young and numerous dunks by Tyus including an inbounds alley-oop in the first half.

POST-GAME QUOTES (After the break…)

Head coach Billy Donovan on substitutions: “The game was a hard game for our guys to play in primarily because of myself. Our substitution patterns were not cohesive at all; I was putting guys in and out. I really wanted to make sure that I gave our freshman an opportunity to play and we could get a look at them.”

Donovan on his team’s performance: “I was really happy with our team. I think physically we did some things physically that had been lacking here. I cannot ever remember us trying to attempt the amount of charges we took tonight. I thought we were really good on loose balls. I thought that we rebounded the ball well.”

Donovan on Prather’s talent: “I’m not trying to compare him to Corey Brewer, because he’s not Corey Brewer. He’s got that kind of quickness and he’s got that kind of athleticism and he has done that in practice. […] He’s a guy that’s only going to get better, and he’s been a great kid to coach. I’ve really enjoyed being around him because I think he wants to be a good player and he also understands the fact that he has to guard. He’s gotta be a guy that’s got to be a defensive stopper, offensive rebounder. Scoring has got to be something that’s secondary to him, and I think he understands that.”

Donovan on how the exhibition will help: “Sometimes you walk out of games and you look at the score and you may not get a lot out of a game when you’re doing exhibition. I’ve had enough of those. This is a game I thought we got a lot out of and could get a lot out of tomorrow watching film.”

Donovan of Young not fouling out: “I was shocked he got 20 minutes, I thought he would have fouled out in 10. He stepped up and took some charges that a lot of guys would have moved out of the way of. And we’ve been a team that has moved out of the way of them the last couple of years. You can always harness that back and pull that back. I appreciate his aggressiveness very much.”

– Donovan also noted after the game that Walker, who went 1-for-8, reverted back to his play from the 2009-10 season where he would rush shots and take it to the hole instead of being patient and passing. He said this was uncharacteristic of what he had been doing in practice recently. Donovan added that he was proud of Boynton’s shot selection and was impressed with how he shot the ball and hustled on both ends of the floor.