Florida Gators

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Junior guard Michael Frazier II has had enough problems battling the defenses teams have slapped on him this season.

Now comes waves of germs.

Frazier (right) fought through the early onslaught of a respiratory infection in scoring 17 points Wednesday night at South Carolina. That kept him out of practice Thursday. Then on Friday, he tested positive for strep throat and watched from the sidelines again.

Saturday afternoon, though, the Gators' best outside threat took part in the team's shoot-around as the Gators (8-6, 1-0) prepped for their 7 p.m. date against Mississippi State (7-7, 0-1) in their SEC home opener at the O'Connell Center. Frazier is averaging 14.3 points and 4.6 rebounds.

At South Carolina, Frazier came off the bench for the first time in 47 games, as Coach Billy Donovan sat his leading scorer after growing tired of a certain disposition Frazier tends to exhibit when his shot isn't falling.

If Frazier's availability is at all compromised -- or that disposition rears itself again -- Donovan may see what he can get from junior guard Eli Carter, who is coming off his most productive game -- six points, four rebounds, three assists, two steals in 20 minutes -- since scoring 21 in a loss to Miami in the second game of the season.

Carter (right) suffered a mid-foot sprain during practice three days after that performance against the Hurricanes. Though he tried to play through the pain during two games in the Bahamas (where he made just two of 18 shots), the UF medical staff eventually shut him down for a couple weeks. Upon Carter's return to the floor, after playing one game against Jacksonville, the strep throat bug hit and he did not play against Wake Forest in the Orange Bowl Classic at Sunrise. After recovering from that, Carter aggravated his foot injury 30 seconds into the game at Florida State.

So what Carter was able to do against the Gamecocks was encouraging relative to the UF frontline rotation -- and certainly in light of Frazier's current situation.

“It felt good to be out there, for my team,” said Carter, whose two free throws with 6.4 seconds left helped seal the victory. “Just being able to contribute for 20 minutes ... it was actually exciting, staying healthy for a whole game.”

Carter's ability to break down a defender and penetrate into the lane, along with his vision to find open players on the perimeter is something the UF offense had missed. And while a streaky shooter, he's still capable (and definitely willing) to take big shots. Carter's off-the-dribble jumper from the elbow with 3:19 to play -- after South Carolina had cut the Florida lead to four -- was huge.

Remember, Carter took a medical red-shirt last season while recovering from a broken leg his sophomore year at Rutgers. The leg never healed properly, so it's really been one thing after another for him.

Said Donovan: “I think Eli finally got to a place where he said, 'I can't control that stuff, I've just got to go out and focus on myself.' ”