March 17th, 2010 07:49pm
by Kevin Brockway
Florida is making its first NCAA Tournament since 2007 largely because of a strength of schedule that finished close to the top 30 in the nation.
Given the results, expect Florida to continue to schedule tougher for years to come. Florida has non-conference games at Florida State and at Xavier (the return for the home-and-h0me series) already slated for 2010-11.
Florida associate coach Larry Shyatt, who puts together UF’s schedule each offseason, said the Gators also have home-and-home series with three different …
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March 15th, 2010 10:38pm
by Kevin Brockway
Florida coach Billy Donovan watched some film of BYU shortly after he learned the Cougars were UF’s NCAA opponent.
Donovan came away most impressed with point guard Jimmer Fredette, BYU’s leading scorer at 21.7 ppg.
“We’ve seen two great point guards in our league in (South Carolina’s Devan) Downey and (Kentucky’s John) Wall, and I’m not so sure those two guys can have the impact in a game like this guy can,” Donovan said. “He goes to Arizona and gets, …
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March 11th, 2010 06:55pm
by Kevin Brockway
Florida’s perimeter shooting has been more down than up throughout the regular season.
The Gators had some time to adjust to Bridgestone Arena during Wednesday afternoon’s shoot-around before its opening-round SEC Tournament matchup Thursday night against Auburn.
Florida has played in three similar arena settings with mixed results. The Gators went 12-for-20 from 3-point range against Jacksonville at Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena and 12-for-30 from 3-point range against Syracuse at the St. Pete Times Forum. But against Richmond at the BankAtlantic Center …
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March 10th, 2010 10:44pm
by Kevin Brockway
Florida’s lone representative on the All-Southeastern Conference first and second team was sophomore point guard Erving Walker.
Walker earned All-SEC second-team honors based on his hot 3-point shooting start in league play and the fact that he’s fourth in the league in assists at 5.0 per game.
But an argument could have been made for Florida junior forward Chandler Parsons to make the team instead of Walker because Parsons has played better down the stretch.
UF coach Billy Donovan was asked Wednesday at …
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March 9th, 2010 08:44pm
by Kevin Brockway
Florida coach Billy Donovan said Tuesday in retrospect sophomore guard Ray Shipman deserved more playing time against Kentucky.
Shipman scored nine points and nine minutes last Sunday against the Wildcats, but did not return to the game until the closing seconds after being forced out of the game when he took a blow to the mouth with 9:16 left in the game.
“He was playing very, very well,” Donovan said. “He got hit in the mouth. He got taken out of the …
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March 6th, 2010 01:46pm
by Kevin Brockway
It’s been somewhat of a quirky season for Florida.
But if the Gators have proved anything, it’s that less time between games has equaled better results.
Florida is 5-0 in this season when having two days or less to prepare for an opponent. When having four or more days between games, the Gators are 5-5.
Florida has won six of its nine Southeastern Conference games this season on Thursday-Saturday turnarounds. Granted, five of those six wins came against the weaker SEC West. But …
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March 1st, 2010 05:55pm
by Kevin Brockway
Florida senior Dan Werner will be honored before Tuesday night’s regular-season home finale against Vanderbilt as part of Senior Day festivities.
The timing is somewhat awkward, considering Werner failed to pull the trigger on a shot in the closing seconds of a critical 78-76 loss last Saturday at Georgia. Werner instead attempted a pass to center Vernon Macklin underneath the basket that was knocked out of bounds with 0.1 seconds remaining. Had the pass made it through, it was still unclear …
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March 1st, 2010 02:15am
by Kevin Brockway
Florida’s loss to Georgia on Saturday afternoon not only temporary stalled its march toward an NCAA Tournament berth.
It also hurt Florida’s chances of securing the No. 3 seed from the East in the Southeastern Conference Tournament.
UF and Tennessee are currently tied for third in the SEC East at 9-5. But if the season ended today, the Vols would get the nod at the No. 3 seed because of a better division record (5-5), then the Gators (3-5). Florida would need …
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February 25th, 2010 10:47pm
by Kevin Brockway
It’s still up in the air whether Florida will return to the NCAA Tournament after a three-year absence.
But for a night, at least, Florida coach Billy Donovan had a chance to lash out at critics of his program after the Gators beat Tennessee 72-65 on Tuesday.
With the win, Florida became just the fifth program in the country to win 20 or more games for 12 straight seasons. Donovan has been at the helm for all 12 years. The other programs …
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February 23rd, 2010 06:59pm
by Kevin Brockway
By now, those not living under a rock know about Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl’s mystical mastery over Florida coach Billy Donovan.
Pearl entered Tuesday night’s matchup with Florida 8-1 in his career against Donovan. Five of UF’s losses, though, were in games decided by five points or less.
But what fans may not know is what began as a frosty relationship between the two has thawed over the years. Last month, when Pearl called upon Donovan for a charity function to benefit …
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