Florida-Alabama Has Ample Storylines, None Bigger Than SEC Title on Line
Tuesday, March 1, 2011 | Men's Basketball, Scott Carter
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – If you like plentiful storylines with your late-season college basketball, the O'Connell Center is the place to be Tuesday night.
This isn't just another Florida-Alabama game. This one has something for everyone:
--Florida's Chandler Parsons, Alex Tyus and Vernon Macklin are playing their final game at the O-Dome. They will be honored, along with injured forward Adam Allen, on Senior Night.
--Longtime Gator assistant coach Anthony Grant, in his second season at Alabama, makes his first trip back to the O-Dome since leaving UF in 2006.
--Both teams are coming off weekend losses – Florida losing at Kentucky and Alabama at Ole Miss – so neither team is in a particularly good mood.
And if those subplots don't whet your appetite, there's this bonus ending: the winner clinches a share of the SEC regular-season title.
“I've had a lot of good games at the O-Dome and a lot of bad games at the O-Dome,'' Parsons said Monday. “Nothing would mean more to me if I could end it with a bang and end it cutting down the nets.''
Florida coach Billy Donovan downplayed talk of cutting down the nets if the Gators win to secure a share of their first SEC regular-season title in four years, but there's no doubt he would prefer to have the option.
The Gators had their season-high six-game win streak snapped with a 76-68 loss at Kentucky on Saturday. However, the Crimson Tide also stumbled, blowing an 11-point lead at Ole Miss in a 68-63 loss.
The losses left both Florida and Alabama at 11-3 in the SEC with two games remaining. Regardless of how the final game of the regular-season plays out, Tuesday's winner can say they are SEC regular-season champs.
That's a storyline few expected in October when practice opened. Florida was predicted to win the SEC by many, but Alabama last made the NCAA Tournament in 2006 and suffered four consecutive losing SEC seasons until this year's team starting to knock off SEC foes one by one.
Grant is pleased at the turnaround, but he also knows what to expect at the O-Dome having spent so many games there on the Gators' bench as one of Donovan's assistants for a decade.
“It will be a tough environment to walk into,'' Grant said Monday. “The good thing about it is I don't have to play. I'm not suiting up, so it'll be our guys against Coach's guys, and it should be a good game.''
The game has potential to be a defensive battle considering the teams rank first and second in the SEC in scoring defense. Alabama leads the conference by limiting opponents to 58.2 points a game; Florida is second, allowing 62.3 points per game.
Donovan and Grant remain close and talk frequently. Grant, who served as Florida's associate head coach his final five seasons on Donovan's staff, left to become head coach at Virginia Commonwealth following the 2005-06 season, the first of back-to-back national titles for the Gators.
He instantly led VCU to the NCAA Tournament and quickly became a top target of other schools, taking over the Crimson Tide after three seasons at VCU.
Donovan has already faced two former assistants this season – UCF's Donnie Jones and Arkansas' John Pelphrey – but not with nearly as much on the line. He said there are some similarities between the teams and some differences based on personnel that make the matchup unique with Alabama.
“I am very, very happy for him and the job he has done with his team,'' Donovan said Monday. “He really has done a terrific job. There is always going to be some familiarity.
“He knows me really, really well, and I know him really, really well.''
Grant shared a story Monday about the last time Alabama won an SEC regular-season title in 2002. The Crimson Tide clinched the title on a last-second shot by Antoine Pettway to beat the Gators a year after Florida shared the SEC title.
Grant was an assistant at UF at the time and Pettway, now Alabama's director of basketball operations, reminds him often of his last-second layup.
“Pettway doesn't let me forget it,'' Grant said.
The 14th-ranked Gators hope they are the ones celebrating Tuesday.
“It's a big game and we're excited about it,'' Tyus said.
“What's at stake with the game, we couldn't ask for a better ending,'' Parsons said.
Donovan talked a lot Monday about the journey this year's seniors have traveled since first arriving on campus while the glow of back-to-back national titles still hovered over the program.
They have had their ups and downs, but as they close their home careers with a chance to win an SEC title, they have earned a chance at a special ending in Donovan's view.
“Two or three years ago, you don't even know if you will get to that point,'' Donovan said. “They have figured some things out … where they are today and where there were as freshmen are two totally different ends of the spectrum.''
GATOR GAMEBOX
Alabama at Florida
Tip-off: Tuesday, 7 p.m. (O'Connell Center)
Records: Alabama 19-9 (11-3 SEC); Florida 22-6 (11-3)
TV: ESPNU
Radio: Gator Radio Network (click here for affiliates); Sirius 121; XM 141
Game notes: Click here
Need to know: Gators have won 15 of last 18 meetings since 1999 … Florida coach Billy Donovan is 16-5 against Alabama, including 8-0 at home … Gators are 10-1 against SEC West over last two seasons, only loss coming last month at Mississippi State … Senior night for UF's Chandler Parsons, Alex Tyus, Vernon Macklin and injured F Adam Allen, who is passing up his fifth year of eligibility … Parsons moved into UF's top 20 in all-time scoring on Saturday and now has 1,345 career points … Grant is 36-24 since taking over at Alabama before the 2009-10 season … Gators are 19-1, 8-0 in SEC when holding opponents to 70 points or less … Alabama junior F JaMychal Green leads team in scoring (16.1) and rebounding (7.4) … Crimson Tide lead SEC in steals with 9.6 per game, topped by F Tony Mitchell's 1.8 a game.
