Donovan Pleased With How Gators Respond
Friday, November 19, 2010 | Men's Basketball, Scott Carter
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – You know it's a good night for the UF men's basketball team when the Rowdy Reptiles spend the final five minutes of the game shouting for the last guy off the bench to score.
Junior walk-on guard Kyle McClanahan was that guy Thursday night at the O'Connell Center.
Finally, at the constant urging of the student section, McClanahan tossed up a shot at the buzzer. The short jumper bounced around the rim before dropping harmlessly to the court. No good.
Oh well, the perfect capper to a 105-55 victory over North Carolina A&T was not meant to be. Otherwise, the script played out perfectly for the Gators in their most-lopsided win since a 102-51 thumping of North Florida on Nov. 20, 2007. That was also the last time Florida scored 100 points.
The Gators even held the Aggies to less than 56 points, a challenge head coach Billy Donovan tossed their way at halftime with a 53-28 lead.
“I was happy that going into the half with a relatively large margin, that they continued to play and we continued to stay focused on the right things and built on our lead,'' Donovan said. “I thought our guys played the right way.''
More than anything else, Donovan wanted to see how his team would respond to Tuesday night's disappointing 93-75 loss to Ohio State. The ninth-ranked Gators played evenly with the fourth-ranked Buckeyes for 30 minutes, but the game lasted 40 and the final 10 minutes weren't pretty for the Gators.
Would they have a hangover on Thursday night against the overmatched Aggies? Or would the Gators come out looking like a team ranked in the top 10?
The Gators chose the latter.
“It was just important for us to bounce back after the loss we suffered to Ohio State,'' senior forward Chandler Parsons said. “It was a good opportunity for us to come and play a team like them, really disruptive, pressing us, flying everywhere.
“Our discipline was a lot better. Our defense was more solid. On the other end, we had a lot less turnovers.''
Donovan used 10 players, and nine of them scored, including eight in double figures, the first time that had happened at UF since Dec. 10, 2000. Parsons and guard Kenny Boynton led the way with 16 points apiece. Freshman Casey Prather added 12, and Erik Murphy, Erving Walker, Scottie Wilbekin and Patric Young all scored 11.
Vernon Macklin finished with 10 points and Will Yeguete had seven and a team-high 15 rebounds, the most for a UF freshman since Al Horford grabbed 18 against Alabama on Feb. 5, 2005.
The Gators shot 57.5 percent (42 of 73) and committed only 11 turnovers after 18 in Tuesday's loss. Cutting down on the turnovers is perhaps what pleased Donovan most, including 12 assists from point guards Walker and Wilbekin – they each had six – and no turnovers from the duo.
“That's always a very, very positive statistic,'' Donovan said.
Besides responding well to the loss to Ohio State and cutting down on turnovers, the most important aspect of Thursday's win was that the freshmen received their most extended playing time of the season.
Wilbekin (31 minutes), Prather (24), Yeguete (23) and Young (22) not only played significant minutes but they produced, combining to hit 16 of 32 shots and grab 24 rebounds thanks to Yeguete's glass-cleaning performance.
“I was just trying to bring energy. Defensively, that's my role,'' said Yeguete, who did not play against Ohio State. “Our goal is not to let the team down. We want to prove ourselves when we get in the game. I think we played well as a team.''
After extending their lead to 80-45 midway into the second half, the only question that remained was whether the Gators would crack the century mark. Thanks to two freshmen – Wilbekin dropped off a pass in the lane that Young finished to put UF up 101-52 with 1:15 left – they reached triple digits against the Aggies' full-court press that did little all night to slow down Florida.
“I feel like I finally got a chance to get a real feel for the game,'' Young said. “I could see a lot of things out there. It just felt really good to finally get some time out there.''
The Gators played without senior forward Alex Tyus, who sat out recovering from a mild concussion he suffered against Ohio State. Donovan said Tyus will likely return on Sunday when the Gators host Morehead State.
Murphy did just fine in Tyus' spot Thursday, adding four rebounds, two blocks and an assist to go along with 11 points in his first career start.
In the end, those final 10 minutes of the Ohio State loss seemed a distant memory 105 points later.
“You always worry about how the emotions will carry over,'' Donovan said. “You always worry about, 'Does that game on Tuesday bleed over into today?' I was really encouraged with the way our guys responded and the attitude they came out with.''
