Just What The Gators Needed
Sunday, January 23, 2011 | Men's Basketball, Scott Carter
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The Gators needed a boost. They needed a win so convincing that by early in the second half, all that was left to be determined was the margin.
They got it Saturday night at the expense of the Arkansas Razorbacks.
“Florida was just too much for us,'' Arkansas coach John Pelphrey, a former UF assistant, said after the Gators cruised to a 75-43 win.
If the Gators play like they did before a jazzed up crowd at the O'Connell Center, they could be too much for anybody in the weeks to come.
The Gators looked like a team with five returning starters. They looked like a team picked to win the SEC by the league's media. They looked like the kind of team coach Billy Donovan has dreamt about but only seen glimpses of this season.
Not only was it “by far'' Florida's best game of the season according to senior Chandler Parsons, who set a career high with 15 rebounds, it showed Donovan something.
Two nights earlier, the Gators shot 27 percent and hit only 5 of 26 three-pointers at Auburn. The Gators escaped with a 45-40 win thanks to a gritty defensive effort.
With such a short turnaround before hosting Arkansas, Donovan and the team checked into a local hotel Friday night to get their minds right. In the end, the bonding session got the Gators' game right.
“Tonight was a display of their resiliency,'' Donovan said. “I felt like it was an important game; a game that we needed everyone's focus.''
The Gators actually fell behind 2-0 on Saturday, but Vernon Macklin scored the game's next eight points and from there the Gators had their way.
If you need proof of the Gators' dominance, here are some numbers:
--Florida shot 57.1 percent in the first half and after limiting Auburn to 16 points in the second half on Thursday, held Arkansas to 17 in the first half, taking a 22-point lead into halftime.
--The Gators made Arkansas sharp-shooter Rotnei Clarke disappear, holding him scoreless and causing him to shoot more air balls (two) than shots that hit the rim (one).
“The game plan was to face-guard him,'' Parsons said. “We were straight up denying him. We just wanted to make it a nightmare for him; we didn't want to give him any open looks.''
--Led by Parsons, the Gators owned the boards with a 43-30 rebound advantage.
--The frontcourt duo of Macklin and Alex Tyus combined to hit 11 of 17 shots, each finishing with 13 points.
--Besides his stellar defense on Clarke, Boynton added four three-pointers and a team-high 20 points.
--Parsons had an unusual stat line – 5 points, 15 rebounds, 5 assists – but a perfect one in Donovan's eyes.
“I thought Chandler had a terrific game,'' Donovan said. “He made the game easy for a lot of guys on our team.''
Add all the above up and it was Florida's most lopsided SEC win since an 84-50 win over South Carolina on Jan. 13, 2007. That was the season the Gators captured the second of back-to-back national titles.
Boynton didn't hesitate when asked what the most important thing the Gators could take from Saturday's win and build on.
“A good team like Arkansas … if we can blow them out, we feel like we can [beat] any team in the league if we come out and play with this intensity and this defense that we played with tonight,'' Boynton said. “It just showed us how good we are if we just come out and be focused.''
Coupled with South Carolina's loss to Kentucky, the Gators (15-4, 4-1 SEC) moved back into sole possession of first place in the SEC East. Before the Gators could get dressed and walk into the night, Donovan was already getting them ready for Tuesday's showdown at Georgia.
When a writer asked if at times this team mystified him – winning by 32 points after scoring just 45 two nights earlier – Donovan had a classic reply.
“Don't fall in love,'' he said.
There are more games to play, more games to win, more hurdles to cross for a team that is still trying to find its way.
But if the Gators continue to play like they did Saturday, the flirting stage could begin soon for their head coach.
