Gators defeat Tigers 88-62 in exhibition finale

No. 9/11 Florida Gators men’s basketball finished its short exhibition season undefeated, taking down the Georgetown College Tigers 88-62 at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center in Gainesville, FL, on Wednesday night.

Sophomore guard Kenny Boynton led the way for the Gators with 22 points on 9-of-15 shooting (4-of-9 from downtown) with three assist, while junior point guard Erving Walker was effective on both ends of the floor, scoring 11 points on 3-of-8 shooting with seven assists and six steals. Senior forward Chandler Parsons contributed to the effort with nine points, 10 rebounds, seven assists and three steals.

As a team, Florida shot 55.9 percent (33-of-59) from the floor and led 44-19 going into halftime. The Gators started the second half with a lack of intensity and focus likely due to their large lead, allowing the Tigers to score 43 points in the final 20 minutes.

“Top 10 teams don’t hold a team in the first half to 32 percent from the field, 14 percent from the three-point line and then look at the second half, defensively, [and not do the same],” head coach Billy Donovan said after the game. “To give up 53 percent in the second half from the field and 50 percent from the three-point line, to me, is the reason why I don’t believe we’re a top-10 team. Because of that right there. Top 10 teams, to me, don’t do those things.”

Florida officially begins the 2010-11 season on Friday, Nov. 12 when they take on UNC-Wilmington at 7 p.m. The game will be available live on Sun Sports

Other stat lines:
– Senior F Alex Tyus – eight points (4-of-7), two assists
– Redshirt senior center Vernon Macklin – 10 points (5-of-6), four rebounds
– Sophomore G Erik Murphy – seven points (3-of-5), three rebounds, two steals
– Freshman C Patric Young – seven points (2-of-4), three rebounds, two blocks
– Freshman G Casey Prather – four points (1-of-5), three reb., two blocks, two steals
– Freshman F Will Yeguete – six points (1-of-1), three rebounds

DONOVAN’s POST-GAME QUOTES (After the break…)

On the team’s second half effort: “In the second half there was, to me, a huge difference of intensity with the way we came out. I really felt that is something we’re going to have to deal with – with our team. I didn’t think our press was nearly as effective. I thought we were a step slow. It almost looked like to me in the second half that we didn’t want to play at the level physically that they wanted to play. Our freshmen – they do bring that to the table for our team – but that’s something that our older guys have to address.”

On Florida not playing a full game: “You want to be able to go out there and play well for 40 minutes. Great teams and really good teams play 40 minutes, and we didn’t do that. There’s a leadership component that our older guys need to step in. They need to start the second half in a way that we can feel really, really good about it. This is good for us. I don’t think here, in early November, I’m expecting our basketball team to be perfect. The reason the game was good because it exposed things that we can address and get better at.”

On starting the second half hot: “Everybody talks about us having five starters back, and older, and seniors, and all this stuff. What you want to see is the first four minutes of the second half, your older guys to come out with unbelievable energy [and] passion and put them away and take a 25-point lead – the first TV media timeout is 16 minutes – and [at that time] that lead be plus-10. You’re going to be in a situation where you’re going to come into the locker room and it’s going to be a one-point game. And if you come out and do that in a one-point game, you can very, very easily be down 10 or 12 quickly and then you’re battling to get back in the game.”

On replacing the starting five early in the second half: “If they come out and do that, I’m going to put five new guys in. I did that with [Mike] Miller’s group – we had Brett Nelson and we had Matt Bonner and we had Donnell Harvey and some other guys. And [Udonis] Haslem and those guys [weren’t playing well, so I said,] ‘New five in. New five in.’ They need to understand that could potentially happen in the second half.”

On Yeguete seeing a lot of action: “I love Will Yeguete. I just love him. He is a guy who plays the game without ever shooting the basketball, and he does a lot of those physical things that really go into winning. He brings a different intangible to our team that maybe the last couple of years our team’s been missing.”

On freshman F Cody Larson: “Cody is going to be a terrific player. He is going to be a very, very good player; there is no question in my mind. He’s tough, he’s physical, he’s got good athleticism and it’s all new to him.”

On the Gators being ranked high in the preseason: “I’m OK with the rankings. When I hear a team’s ranked in the top 10, there’s a certain expectation level I have, and we’re not at that expectation level that I would have right now because of some of the things that happened in the second half.”