Postgame notes: Florida 77, Ole Miss 71
Sunday, January 9, 2011 | Men's Basketball, Softball, Scott Carter
The Gators opened SEC play with a 77-71 win over Ole Miss on Saturday night before an enthusiastic crowd of 11,531 at the O'Connell Center, the second-largest home crowd of the season.
Most notable is that junior guard Erving Walker surpassed 1,000 career points. And Walker made the points count, eclipsing the 1,000-point barrier on a short floater in the lane that snapped a 61-61 tie and gave the Gators the lead for good.
UF (12-3, 1-0 SEC) next plays on Tuesday at Tennessee. The Vols (10-5, 0-1) opened SEC play on Saturday with a 68-65 loss at Arkansas.
Here are some quick notables from the Gators' win over the Rebels:
--UF was the only team from the SEC to make last year's NCAA Tournament to win its SEC opener on Saturday. Tennessee, Kentucky (lost to Georgia) and Vanderbilt (lost to South Carolina) all went down.
--Florida has now won nine of 10 over the Rebels and is 12-6 all-time against Ole Miss under Billy Donovan.
--The Gators matched their best assists-to-turnover ratio of the season, finishing at plus-15 with 22 assists and just seven turnovers. They had 26 assists and 11 turnovers in a 105-55 win over North Carolina A&T on Nov. 18.
--Gators have 41 assists and 20 turnovers past two games, reaching that 2-to-1 ratio Donovan has talked about being so important.
--The Gators tied their season high by hitting nine three-pointers. They shot their best percentage (9 of 18, 50 percent) of the season from beyond the arc.
--The Gators have scored 70 or more points in three consecutive games, their longest streak since the first three games of the season.
--Walker is the third member of the starting lineup to reach 1,000 career points, joining senior forwards Chandler Parsons and Alex Tyus. Speaking of Parsons, he went 3-for-3 from three-point range and 4-for-4 from the free-throw line, marking first time since season opener against UNC-Wilmington that Parsons was perfect from the foul line.
--Kenny Boynton had a four-point play for the third consecutive game and sixth time in his career.
--Freshman guard Scottie Wilbekin tied his career high with six assists.
--Senior center Vernon Macklin returned to the starting lineup after coming off the bench due to a muscle strain in his chest against Rhode Island. On Saturday, Macklin scored 16 points and grabbed seven rebounds in 30 minutes.
--Walker has now scored 20 or more points in three of his last five games.
--Sophomore forward Erik Murphy missed his second consecutive game due to an injured right foot. Murphy continues to wear a protective boot on his foot and it remains uncertain when he'll return.
