Florida Gators

[Deleted]

Next Game AT Mississippi State On ESPN 2 Thursday Night - projected starters (no change on Chris Walker):

FLORIDA PROBABLE STARTERS

# Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. P/RPG
15 Will Yeguete F 6-8 230 Sr. 5.4/5.2
24 Casey Prather F 6-6 212 Sr. 16.8/5.4
4 Patric Young C 6-9 240 Sr. 10.6/6.2
5 Scottie Wilbekin G 6-2 176 Sr. 12.5/3.4a
20 Michael Frazier II G 6-4 199 So. 12.3/3.4

MISSISSIPPI STATE PROBABLE STARTERS

# Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. P/RPG
3 Colin Borchert F 6-8 231 Sr. 10.4/4.3
20 Gavin Ware F 6-9 268 So. 11.0/8.2
1 Fred Thomas G 6-5 206 So. 8.4/3.2
4 Trivante Bloodman G 6-0 182 Jr. 5.8/2.4a
32 Craig Sword G 6-3 194 So. 13.9/3.6

[mscott59]

Jan 25, 2014 18:46:46 GMT -5 ETGator1 said:

Gators Chomp Vols:


By Chris Harry
GatorZone.com Senior Writer


AT THE BUZZER -
FLORIDA 67, TENNESSEE 41

WHAT HAPPENED: The sixth-ranked Gators turned their defense up loud enough to rival the super-sonic sounding home crowd and smashed the Southeastern Conference rival Volunteers for an 11th straight win. Sophomore guard Michael Frazier scored 17 points and senior point guard Scottie Wilbekin chimed in with 13 and in-your-face defense against one of the league's premier offensive players (see below). As evenly distributed as UF's baskets were (four players with double-figures, another with 9 points), it was the baskets visiting UT did not score -- and there were many -- that proved the difference in this game. The Vols scored just nine field goals through the game’s first 29 minutes and finished with a season-low point output in making just 26.8 percent from the floor.

WHAT IT MEANS: Florida remained the lone unbeaten team in the SEC, improving to 6-0 in league play while padding the school record for consecutive wins at the O’Connell Center to 26 straight. The Gators opened a three-game cushion on the Vols in the SEC race.

IN THE SPOTLIGHT: He may not appear on too many highlights tonight, but sophomore forward Dorian Finney-Smith was sensational off the bench, finishing with nine points, eight rebounds and bringing the Gators unbridled energy under the basket. His diving, into-the-bench save eventually netted a Frazier 3-pointer during an early second-half Florida run that blew the game open.

STAGGERING STATISTIC: Gotta go with two. Tennessee finished just 1-for-19 from the 3-point line (5.3 percent) against a UF defense that came in ranked 11th in the league -- and 222nd in the nation -- in 3-point defense at 35.2 percent. And the Vols leading scorer, 6-foot-6 guard Jordan McRae, who lit the Gators up for 27 points last season and was coming off a 34-point eruption Wednesday against Arkansas, came in averaging 19.2 points. He finished with just five points on 1-for-15 shooting. Take a bow, Mr. Wilbekin, arguably the best on-ball perimeter defender in the country.

SUBPLOT: The blowout win halted the Vols’ three-game winning streak in the series. Tennessee (12-7, 3-3) came in having won 13 of 19 in the series. For what it’s worth, the Gators go to Knoxville for a rematch Feb. 11.

UP NEXT: The Gators (17-2, 6-0) don’t play until next Thursday when they travel to face Mississippi State (13-6, 3-3).

i saw about 10:00 of the 2nd half. uf looked very good. ut looked nothing like a ncaa tournament team come march. even if the vols shot 35% from 3 saturday they still lose by double digits.

mark scott
tosu 81

[Deleted]

Mark, UF is now 7-13 against UT in the last 20 games. All I can say is it was a rare, enjoyable, and overdue blowout of the vols by the Gators.

After watching Arizona beat Utah 65-56 tonight, I've come to the conclusion that the national championship game is wide open even though Arizona is unbeaten in a good conference. The cats like every other team in the running have some holes that can and will be exploited come tournament time.

[Deleted]

2013-2014 Gator Basketball Team:

1 Eli Carter G 6' 2" 200 Jr. TR Paterson, N.J./Rutgers - Redshirting due to lack of full recovery from broken leg
42 Billy Donovan G 6' 2" 195 RJr. SQ Gainesville, Fla./Catholic University - Billy D's son
11 Lexx Edwards G 6' 2" 225 RSo. SQ Orlando, Fla./Jones - End of game playing time
10 Dorian Finney-Smith F 6' 8" 212 RSo. SQ Portsmouth, Va./Virginia Tech - Comes off bench, but could be a starter inside or out
20 Michael Frazier II G 6' 4" 199 So. 1L Tampa, Fla./Montverde Academy - Starter and UF's top 3 point shooter
12 Dillon Graham G 6' 4" 186 So. 1L Orlando, Fla./First Academy - Redshirting after career threatening hip surgery
0 Kasey Hill G 6' 1" 181 Fr. HS Umatilla, Fla./Montverde Academy - Comes off the bench at PG
30 Jacob Kurtz F 6' 6" 210 Jr. 2L Oviedo, Fla./Hagerty - Two Years ago was team manager - Now, 9th player off bench
31 Alex Murphy F 6' 8" 220 RSo. TR Wakefield, R.I./Duke - Eric Murphy's brother - Will have 1/1/2 or 2 years to play depending on NCAA ruling
24 Casey Prather F 6' 6" 212 Sr. 3L Jackson, Tenn./North Side - Starter and most improved Gator
23 Chris Walker F 6' 10" 220 Fr. HS Bonifay, Fla./Holmes County - NCAA hasn't cleared to play and nobody seems to know if or when he will be
25 DeVon Walker G/F 6' 6" 195 So. 1L Winter Haven, Fla./Winter Haven - 8th player off bench/good 3 point shot/Prather like athletic ability
5 Scottie Wilbekin G 6' 2" 176 Sr. 3L Gainesville, Fla./The Rock - Starting PG and also plays the SG
15 Will Yeguete F 6' 8" 230 Sr. 3L Bordeaux, France/Florida Air Academy - Knee injuries slowed him down, but he's still starting over Smith
4 Patric Young C 6' 9" 240 Sr. 3L Jacksonville, Fla./Providence (H.S.) - Good college center and could/should play the 4 if we had another 5

[Deleted]

Hope this guy is right:

twitter.com/APMarkLong

That's good info:

Walker likely cleared this week
Billy to play Walker if cleared by NCAA, no redshirt
Damontre Harris back on team practicing, but will not play this season
Michael Frazier II is SEC Player of the Week

[Deleted]

Florida Men’s Basketball Head Coach Billy Donovan

Monday, Jan. 27, 2014, Press Conference Transcript



On Monday, Billy Donovan talks about the Gators’ SEC success to date and the upcoming game at Mississippi State. Below is a transcript of Donovan’s press conference and selected quotes from player interviews.



On the team being mentally equipped to handle an 11-0 run and a high ranking:

“I think it’s a hard thing to answer. Obviously, as a coach, you always want to go into every game on edge and understanding that in any competitive situation, anything can happen. Hopefully, our guys will respond to that. I’ve said this before when people were talking about the winning streak at home, to me, if it’s 11 in a row, five in a row or two in a row, to me its 0-0 right now. This is our next game and it really doesn’t make a difference anything that’s happened in the past. It’s all about what we do to get prepared for Mississippi State on Thursday. That’s all it comes down to for me. We’ve got some time here today, Tuesday and Wednesday to get prepared for them. I think our guys understand the length of this league, in terms of the grind for nine weeks. I think they also understand that one game to the next is very, very important. I think the situation you’re talking about, you’re always dealing with. If you lose a game, you can sit there and have a hangover after a loss. If you win a game, it could be, ‘Are you going to embrace prosperity?’ Those things are always going to come up, through every level of competition. Every time you play a game, after the game, there’s always some kind of residual effect after the game, whether a guy played really, really well and thinks he’s got it all figured out or a guy doesn’t play well and he’s down and loses confidence. I think any time after a game, whatever the game has, there’s going to be a certain effect it’s going to have on your team and on your players. I think right now, our guys appear to be in a good place. But for me, it’s all about our guys trying to get better and improve.”



On Mississippi State’s team dynamic regarding the sophomores:

“I made a comment last year that I think they’ve got a really talented group of young guys. A lot of those guys were freshmen and absorbed a lot of minutes and didn’t have a lot of experience in front of them; I think (Jalen) Steele might have been the only guy who was there from the previous regime and he’s gone now. Those guys, they’ve learned a lot, sure. (Gavin) Ware, their center, is much, much better, (Craig) Sword is better, (Fred) Thomas is better, (Trivante) Bloodman is better. All those guys are better, and there’s probably no other way to get better than to get the level of experience those guys had a year ago. They’ve certainly played extremely well at home this year. I think Rick (Ray)’s got a really, really good nucleus of four or five guys – Roquez Johnson and younger guys that are going to really grow and continue to improve, and they have from last year to this year.”



On having a strong Thursday-Saturday record:

“I don’t know. I think the one thing that you’ve got to be able to do, when you play Thursday and you’ve got that quick turnaround, from a scouting perspective and a coaching perspective, you’ve got to get the meat and potatoes of what’s really important and what we have to do in the game and maybe you’re not in as much detail as you are in the front end. For the Thursday game against Alabama, we had three days leading up to them to go through things and really cover a lot more, but going into the Tennessee game, the things that stood out to me right away were (Jeronne) Maymon and (Jarnell) Stokes on the glass and a +11 rebounding margin. So that becomes a huge emphasis in terms of being able to talk to our guys about that; and (Jordan) McRae coming off 34 points in the previous game and had 27 in Knoxville last year against us, how we’re going to try and defend him in certain actions. So you kind of get into some of those things, you’ve got to talk about those things, but you’ve got to have a group of guys that if you can’t drill it as hard as you want to because time or fatigue doesn’t allow it, then I think you’ve got to have a group of guys that can get through those things with an understanding of what they’re going to do and handling that situation.”



On the coaching staff preparing for more than just the next game:

“We’re always way ahead. For example, our next two games after Mississippi State, the Texas A&M game and the Missouri game, there’s already guys watching film on those guys. I don’t do that; I have a hard time moving like that. I just focus on what’s in front of me. Those guys will be good and the staff’s done a good job in terms of getting the right information to those guys on what we need to do.”



On Scottie Wilbekin’s progress as a point guard this season:

“I think one of the things that happened when he first came back, he was getting a lot of assists and then I thought after a few games it went the other way – he was scoring more points and wasn’t getting as many assists. I thought he got a little too offensive minded, trying to create and do a little bit too much. Now, I think he’s back to playing a little more balanced. Do we need him to score when he has the opportunity and option to? Absolutely; but we also need him to find other guys and make the game easier for other guys on the court for us, and I think he’s done better. At the beginning of the year, I thought he was really, really good in regards to his assists, and then I think he had a really big offensive game against Florida State, where he had a lot of scoring in that game. After that, he got into maybe trying to do too much and not utilizing some of the other personnel on the floor and I think he’s back to doing that a little more.”



On Damontre Harris’ role on the team:

“He’s in practice every day and he’s on the scout team, so whoever we’re playing against, he’s going to be one of their front point players. He’s lifting weights; he’s going through individual instruction; he’s not going to play this year. He’s doing everything else that everybody else is doing except he’s not on the bench during games and he’s not going to play in any games. But everything else, he’s doing right now. He’s got an opportunity to kind of salvage - it’s disappointing to me, a guy that sat out an entire year, would jeopardize himself like that in terms of his behavior. Over the holidays, it was laid out pretty clearly to him if he wanted to come back, this is what he was going to need to do, and in doing so, he was going to lose a whole year, basically; and he still wanted to do it. I gave him the opportunity to be released to anywhere he wanted to go, and go play where he wanted to play. I said, ‘If you’re going to come back, you’re not playing, so you’ve got to think hard about if you want to transfer and have a year and a half, go NAIA and play right away; those are the decisions you’ve got to make.’ How he got to the point where he wanted to come back, I don’t know, but he’s at that point right now and I think he’s pretty eager and what he’s been doing at least up to this point since he’s been back has been positive.”



On Dorian Finney-Smith’s current performance:

“I think the biggest thing with Doe Doe is he’s a guy that’s got to move from one play to the next. The thing I like about coaching him is he’s very, very accountable and very, very responsible, but I think at times he’s almost too hard on himself. He screws up or makes a mistake and does something wrong and sometimes it has a tendency to stay with him and linger for plays after it’s happened and it’s hurt our team and it’s hurt him. One of the things we’ve really tried to work with him on is being able to move from one thing to the next and let what just happened go and he’s had a hard time doing that. I much more appreciate that than a guy who every time he makes a mistake is pointing fingers at someone else’s fault. He probably assumes more responsibility than most. But he does rebound the ball very well; he gives us a guy skill-wise that we can put on the floor and can shoot it from behind the line; defensively, you can do some different things with him because he can guard multiple positions. But the best thing he’s done so far for us is rebounding.



On this being a different team in its makeup than previous years:

“I do think every team, even though you have different parts and sometimes the parts aren’t the same, but these four seniors were on last year’s team and now with Kasey Hill coming in and Doe Doe being a transfer you kind of inject some different pieces into the team. But I would agree with Scottie, it’s different, it’s really different. I think one of the things with Erving Walker, Kenny Boynton, Erik Murphy and those guys is that they had really unbelievable careers and were really good players but I think that for those guys they did a great job of getting themselves emotionally, individually ready to play. I was never ever worried about Kenny Boynton on any game and coming to play. He got himself ready. He maybe had some bad games, but it was never one of those things where you looked at it and said, ‘he just wasn’t ready to play.’ Same thing with Erik Murphy. He maybe didn’t play well but you never said, ‘is this guy going to be ready to play tonight?’ I think one of the things, and I made this comment, I did a poor job with Erving Walker because I was trying to get Erving to be more of a leader as a senior. He and Kenny had developed a very, very close relationship and I think it overwhelmed Erving. He didn’t play well with that kind of responsibility. He felt like it was too much for him. Kenny Boynton was kind of a shy guy; he wasn’t very outspoken on the court, he just kind of was focused on what he needed to do. And I think in a lot of ways Scottie, and Patric (Young), Casey Prather, and Will Yeguete when they were a little bit younger they probably needed a little bit more direction and it wasn’t because those guys (Walker, Boynton) didn’t want to do it. It was just like Kenny Boynton from his freshman year when he came in here and he was injected into the starting lineup and he was around some older guys as a freshman. He didn’t need that, he just got himself locked in to play. Same thing with Erving when he came. As a freshman, we just put him out there and he played. Frazier had that luxury last year where he could just kind of come in and play and not have to worry about other people. And I think that Scottie and Patric were able to see that maybe with a guy like Vernon Macklin or Parsons or some of these older guys that they needed help. And it’s so easy I think when you get to be a senior to sit there and say, ‘what’s wrong with this freshman? He doesn’t know what he’s doing.’ They quickly forget that they were once freshman too and Vernon Macklin and those guys were saying the same thing about you. I think that have a really, really good awareness of that and I think because of the time investment they’ve made, those guys, the younger guys, Kasey Hill is so receptive. Brad Beal was the same way, he was very, very receptive to coaching from Boynton and help from Boynton when they needed that. I think that with the dynamics of our team over the last couple of years those guys could see the value in some of that leadership stuff in terms of communication and helping. I think Scottie has done a really good job away from the court of getting with guys individually and talked to them through the struggles they’re dealing with. That’s why I think it’s been a little bit different for those guys.”



On evaluating Kasey Hill’s play:

“You know, Kasey has played very, very well. I’m really pleased with him, he’s gotten better. He hasn’t shot the ball great, which is ok. Most freshmen are going to be up and down. But his assist-to-turnover ratio is good, he’s getting in the lane. I think he’s getting more aggressive and playing with a little more intensity. He’s a little bit like Doe Doe sometimes; if things don’t go well he has a tendency to carry it to the next play. But, I think he’s moving out of that maturity-wise. But the last couple games, the Alabama game and the Tennessee game, I thought he’s played well for us.”



On the officiating rule emphasis this season and how it is holding up:

“I think it’s a work in progress. I’ve said this before, I think when you have officials that have been officiating 20+ years a certain way and now you’re changing there’s always going to be some adjustments. Adjustments for players, coaches and the officials as well. Other changes maybe you can see that have taken place, yes. Are they consistent all the time? No. It’s hard sometimes. You take our game against Tennessee. You have two very physical teams and physical front courts and stuff and you want guys to be able to play, but you don’t want them to be in a situation where someone is gaining an advantage physically. So there’s a balance there. I think they’re trying to work through that. It’s going to be interesting to see how supervisors feel it’s going. Maybe there’s been some calls that have been missed, maybe there’s been too much contact that has been let go. But I think it’s been consistent for both teams, which I think as a coach and as a player you have to make adjustments to how the game is being officiated.”



On whether the Damontre Harris situation is absolute, or if he may see action at the NCAA Tournament:

“To me, as a coach I think it would completely devalue what our team values are here in terms of what we’re trying to do each and every day. He had every opportunity back in November to do those things and he elected not to. You know I said, ‘we’re parting ways, he’s going to move on.’ Then obviously he reached out. But you have too many guys like Patric Young and Yeguete and Prather and those guys that have been committed for years and really working to do the right things. For him to all of sudden just get injected back in there because he may help our team, I mean I think we’ve done fine without him. He’ll have to work to get better and improve but we’re not going to play him this year.”



On where has Chris Walker has improved the most in the last six weeks in practice:

“He’s more prepared than he was a couple weeks ago. I think the biggest adjustment he’s made is just having a better feel and understanding of what we’re doing offensively and defensively. When you walk into a situation, and we have 60 different offensive sets and he doesn’t know one of them, I mean that’s a long way to have to come. So, there’s certain concepts and things he’s got to get under belt which he has done a better job of figuring out and he’s improving on. But, we’re spending a lot of extra time with him. He was here this morning and he’ll be here this afternoon and we’re doing as much as we can. But having a better feel and understanding of what we’re doing has been the biggest jump that he’s made and I think he’s getting stronger too just being on a consistent weight-training program. It’s been good. I think the education part for him on nutrition and what he’s eating has been good. So, I think he came in here at like 203 pounds, and right now he’s at about 210 or 213. He’s moving in the right direction there. He’s made some growth and some strides. How ready is he? I’m sure he’ll be very anxious, nervous and excited. How many minutes can we actually get out of him? I’m not really sure. But he’s a really, really good kid who’s worked hard and has been eager to learn and get better and I appreciate the way he is handling himself in a very difficult situation.”



On if he would redshirt Chris Walker:

“No, I wouldn’t. And we’re going to have a situation somewhat similar to that next year with Alex Murphy who is probably going to miss the first 10 games because he transferred mid-semester and he’ll have to sit out. That could potentially happen for him. You don’t typically do it. I don’t look at Chris (Walker) missing 19 games because he wasn’t even here. He’s missed, I think from Memphis on. That’s probably a better number of games. But as long as he’s in practice every day, that’s OK. As long as we can get him enough, so-to-speak, game repetition in terms of what we’re doing out there and he’s been there and he would give us some depth in our front court. But I’m not overly worried about it. I think he’s playing well and doing well so we’ll keep him out there. My biggest fear for Chris is you have a highly exposed player and sometimes when a guy isn’t playing the ‘legend of Chris Walker’ grows greater than who he really is. You know, it was the same thing with Doe Doe last year. He’s sitting out and everyone is talking about this guy like he’s Magic Johnson. And Chris Walker now is, ‘Oh my, this guy is going to end up being Kevin Garnett,’ and he’s not that. And I think whenever he gets able to play if that’s their expectation of Chris Walker they’re going to be very, very disappointed because he’s not that. And my biggest fear for him is there is a level of anticipation and excitement of whenever he gets cleared to play, but I hope there is at least a level of understanding in terms of how much he’s missed in terms of coming in to where he’s coming in, and if anybody is expecting him to be savior it would really be unfair. He’s got a lot of growing to do. He’s got a lot of physical growing, mental growing, he’s got to understand the college game a lot more. There’s so much that’s in front of him to get better at and I just hope people will not look at it and say, ‘wow. I was expecting something different.’ Hopefully for him, I don’t want to have to see him go through that.”



On the matchup against Mississippi State this Thursday in regards to style of play:

“Very, very aggressive; we’re going to see some changing defenses – 1-3-1 zone, 2-3, switching man-to-man. They get out – (Craig) Sword, (Fred) Thomas, (Trivante) Bloodman, good steal guys – get out in passing lanes, can deny good speed and quickness. Getting to the free throw line at home an enormous amount, I think the last three SEC games it’s like 117-74; they’re getting about 39 free throws a game at home in SEC paly. They’ve done a good job of getting into the lane and getting fouled. Defensively, they’re going to try to turn you over with some pressure. They’re a really, really good help defensive team, they rotate very, very well. They’ve got good speed and quickness out in the perimeter.”



Sophomore G Michael Frazier II

On being named SEC player of the week:

“It’s a great honor. It just shows that hard work pays off. I’m going to continue to strive to get better each and every day and continue to focus on the team.”



On not scoring against Auburn:

“Honestly, I have to do a better job of staying focused on things that I can control in the game. I think that I did a poor job of focusing on the game and things I could affect. I took that as a learning lesson. Just to stay focused on the things I can control. I can’t control if the ball goes in or not. We won, and I was happy even though I didn’t play well. I was happy that we got the win, which is the most important thing. My mindset is to just to continue to keep getting better. Every day at practice I’m just trying to move forward.”



On dealing with the mental aspect of a miss:

“Now I’m more focused on putting it out of my mind. Before I was focused on the miss. I think that was all a habit that I developed over the years. I can’t let a miss affect me. My coaches and teammates have done a great job of drilling into my head to have a short memory. I know as a shooter it is supposed to be important, but for some odd reason I can’t seem to get that into my head. I think I am getting better at it. My teammates and coaches stay on me about it. Just shoot when I am open, and that is what I am trying to do.”



On fighting complacency:

“Our coaches and our seniors are doing a great job of keeping us grounded as a team and showing us areas we can get better so that we don’t get complacent. Last year I think our team, not to speak about last year too much, but our team got complacent at times. Even this year we have gotten complacent. So moving forward I think our team has a habit now of playing desperate. We have taken on that identity and that has helped us a lot.”



On the team’s success on Thursday-Saturday games:

“I can just say that I think everyone on the team is focused on taking care of their bodies, which is the main thing at this point of the year – eating right, getting proper rest. I think we’re doing a great job of that, so that’s why we’ve been able to be successful on these quick turnarounds.”



On focusing on the “meat and potatoes” of an opponent on a short turnaround:

We had no choice. We only had one day to prepare for Tennessee. I think our guys did a great job of coming in and being focused and being focused on just that day so that we can get in what we need to get in and then get out because we need that rest. Like I said, we’re doing a good job of taking care of our bodies right now.”



On defensive changes from last year to this year:

“I think having multiple weapons on offense and defense keeps teams on their toes. Anytime we can go into a game and throw zone at them or the press at them I think it is always good to change up our defenses so that they can’t focus on one thing. This year we have been effective in the press, the 1-3-1, man and in zone, so it’s been a weapon. I like all of them, as long as we get stops.”



Senior F Will Yeguete

On Mississippi State:

“I think that they are definitely going to be a better team than they were last year … I think that they had a really good defensive team, but we haven’t started watching anything on them yet. We’re going to start tomorrow. We’ll see tomorrow.”



On sustaining the intensity from the Tennessee game:

“I think just being focused on the game and knowing who we are playing against. Just taking it one game at a time and us making sure our seniors are ready to and that the rest of the team is ready to go regardless of who we are playing against.”



On keeping the young guys focused…

“Coach D (Billy Donovan) is doing a really good job of making sure we are ready and that we take one game at a time. We have a process. We just stick to the process pretty much. They (younger guys on the team) don’t really know how to simplify and make sure that you go hard at practice every day. That is up to us seniors to let them know that, ‘Hey, we’ve got to get ready and prepare for every single game.’”



On Michael Frazier:

“Michael Frazier gets down when he misses a few shots. We are doing a better job of telling him to keep shooting, keep shooting because we know it is going to go in. He works a lot on his shots. We understand that he is going to miss some and we also understand that the next one when he is open that he is going to take it.”

[Deleted]

1/27 AP and Coaches Polls:

espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/rankings



AP Top 25
RK TEAM RECORD PTS
1 Arizona (63) 20-0 1,623
2 Syracuse (2) 19-0 1,561
3 FLORIDA 17-2 1,436
4 Wichita State 21-0 1,435
5 San Diego State 18-1 1,337
6 Kansas 15-4 1,272
7 Michigan State 18-2 1,251
8 Oklahoma State 16-3 1,067
9 Villanova 17-2 1,063
10 Michigan 15-4 1,050
11 Kentucky 15-4 896
12 Louisville 17-3 891
13 Cincinnati 19-2 793
14 Wisconsin 17-3 763
15 Iowa 16-4 722
16 Iowa State 15-3 684
17 Duke 16-4 549
18 Pittsburgh 18-2 517
19 Saint Louis 18-2 464
20 Creighton 17-3 445
21 Massachusetts 17-2 353
22 Memphis 15-4 262
23 Oklahoma 16-4 203
24 Ohio State 16-4 143
25 Texas 16-4 142


Others receiving votes: Connecticut 67, Gonzaga 51, UCLA 39, Virginia 18, Minnesota 5, George Washington 5, Kansas State 5, Green Bay 5, Southern Methodist 3, Southern Miss 1, Louisiana Tech 1, Harvard 1, American University 1, New Mexico 1
Dropped from rankings: Kansas State 22, Baylor 24
Complete Rankings »




USA Today Coaches Poll
RK TEAM RECORD PTS
1 Arizona (31) 20-0 799
2 Syracuse (1) 19-0 769
3 Wichita State 21-0 724
4 FLORIDA 17-2 694
5 San Diego State 18-1 653
6 Michigan State 18-2 621
7 Louisville 17-3 552
7 Kansas 15-4 552
9 Villanova 17-2 509
10 Oklahoma State 16-3 497
11 Kentucky 15-4 433
12 Iowa 16-4 386
13 Wisconsin 17-3 368
14 Michigan 15-4 346
15 Cincinnati 19-2 323
16 Duke 16-4 298
17 Pittsburgh 18-2 279
18 Iowa State 15-3 268
19 Massachusetts 17-2 265
20 Creighton 17-3 229
21 Saint Louis 18-2 218
22 Memphis 15-4 155
23 Ohio State 16-4 118
24 Gonzaga 18-3 114
25 Oklahoma 16-4 85


Others receiving votes: Texas 41, Virginia 26, UCLA 22, Connecticut 18, George Washington 8, Baylor 6, Kansas State 6, Southern Miss 6, Toledo 5, Colorado 5, Southern Methodist 1, Stephen F. Austin 1
Dropped from rankings: Baylor 23
Complete Rankings »

[Deleted]

From Franz Beard at Gator Country on Chris Walker and Billy D's comments:


Written by
Franz Beard, January 27, 2014

Monday, there were no hints about the status of Chris Walker, whose eligibility hinges on a decision by the NCAA, but Billy Donovan’s tone was positive and upbeat, more so than in past weeks about the 6-10 freshman who has been enrolled since the end of the fall semester but has been unable to see the court.

Walker has been going to class and going through a full basketball regimen that includes weights, nutrition, individual instruction and practice with the team in preparation for a ruling that was expected weeks ago. When the 4th-ranked Gators (17-2, 6-0 SEC) take the court at the O-Dome, Walker is sitting at the end of the bench in sweats along with injured teammates Eli Carter and Dillon Graham and transfer Alex Murphy.

With a third of the Southeastern Conference schedule already played, Florida faces a six-week, 12-game grind to end the regular season. That will be followed by the SEC and, barring an unforeseen collapse, the NCAA Tournaments, so Walker could play in as many as 21 games if he receives a ruling prior to Thursday’s trip to Mississippi State.

Walker has not played in a game that counted since last March when he led Holmes County to the Florida 1A championship. Because he was unable to enroll in August, he missed work in the weight room and conditioning. Since enrolling in December he’s been catching up on offensive and defensive terminology and sets that teammates have been working on since practice began back in October.

He’s come a long way since December and Donovan says Walker has enough of a grasp of what the Gators are doing that when he’s eligible, “I’m gonna play him.”

Since arriving on campus, Walker has added 10 pounds of muscle – Donovan says he was 203 when he arrived – through work in the weight room and getting on an adequate nutrition plan. He’s been learning the offensive and defensive sets on the fly at practice every day. There is no shortage of assistance from the coaching staff or from teammates.

“When you walk into a situation where we have 60 different offensive sets and he doesn’t know one of them I mean that’s a long way to have to come so there’s certain concepts and things that he’s got to get under his belt which he’s done a better job of figuring out and improving on but you know we’re spending a lot of extra time with him,” Donovan said. “He was in here this morning he’ll be in here this afternoon and we’ll do as much as we can, but I think having a better feel and understanding for what we’re doing has been the biggest jump that he’s made.”

Walker has an enormous upside. He is a legitimate 6-10 who is still growing and filling out his long, skinny frame. He can run the floor, jump and has a tremendous sense of timing as a shot blocker. He won the McDonald’s All-American dunk contest last year but he also has range out to the 3-point line with his jump shot.

He has the tools to play at a very high level, but Donovan warns not to expect Walker to play like a hall of famer from the moment he steps on the court for the first time.

“My biggest fear for Chris is you have a highly explosive player and sometimes when the guy’s not playing, the legend of Chris Walker grows greater than who he really actually is,” Donovan said. “It’s the same thing with Doe-Doe (Dorian Finney-Smith) last year. He’s sitting out, and everyone’s talking about this guy like he’s Magic Johnson. Chris Walker now, it’s like, my god, this guy is going to end up being Kevin Garnett. I mean, he’s not that. And I think if anybody, whenever he gets able to play, if that’s your expectation of Chris Walker, then you’re going to be very, very disappointed because he’s not that.”

Donovan is very protective of Walker and with good reason. He is a kid who has gone through an ordeal with the NCAA that wasn’t of his making and it has set him back in terms of his development as a basketball player.

So Donovan almost pleaded for patience and understanding.

“He’s got a lot of growing to do,” Donovan said. “He’s got a lot of physical growing, mental growing. He’s got to understand the college game a lot more. There’s so much that’s in front of him to try and get better at. I just hope that people will not look at it and say ‘wow. I was expecting something different.’ And hopefully, for him, I don’t want to see him have to go through that.”

When Walker does play, Donovan anticipates that Walker will have to deal with the typical freshman jitters. Judging from the positive, upbeat tone with which he spoke Monday, it would seem that Donovan expects that Walker will be dealing with the jitters sooner and not later.

Again, there were no hints that Donovan knows exactly when Walker will get cleared, but this was the most positive the Florida coach has been since it was announced that Walker had been admitted to the university.

“I’m sure he’ll be very anxious and nervous and excited,” Donovan said. “How many minutes we could actually get out of him I’m not really sure but he’s a really, really good kid that’s worked hard and he’s eager to learn and get better and I appreciate just the way he’s handled himself in a very difficult situation.”

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O'Connell Center:

www.panoramas.com/images/P/UFL3.jpg

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The NCAA clears Chris Walker to play - that's 10 SEC games and the SEC tournament to get Chris worked into the rotation before March Madness. Billy D likes to run and press. He'll have the depth to do it anytime he wants to now:

By Kevin Brockway
Staff writer



Published: Wednesday, January 29, 2014 at 4:02 p.m.

Last Modified: Wednesday, January 29, 2014 at 4:02 p.m.


The long-awaited debut of Florida freshman forward Chris Walker is finally coming to fruition.


Walker has been cleared by the NCAA but is not eligible to play until UF's home game vs. Missouri on Tuesday night, according to the NCAA.

Florida plays Thursday at Mississippi State and Saturday at home vs. Texas A&M.

Walker, a 6-foot-10 McDonald's All-American from Bonifay, should serve as a nice addition to UF's frontcourt. Last spring, Walker led Class A Holmes County to the state championship, tallying 30 points and 15 rebounds in the title game.

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UF can go 2 games up, Ole Miss lost last night, on the rest of the SEC field with a win at Mississippi State tonight:


By Chris Harry
GatorZone.com Senior Writer


STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Sometimes there are themes. The “desperation” one worked splendidly last weekend against Tennessee, even though it’s only January.

Sometimes there is adversity, such as any injury that impacts the lineup, and an accompanying call to rally and pick up a teammate. Lord knows that one has been summoned this season.

Don’t forget the catch phrases. In the Florida basketball complex, references to “the process” and “living in the moment” come up often and are put to the players in a way to strive for consistency.

And then there are just plain numbers.

For the Gators (17-2, 6-0), who with their 11 straight wins skied to No. 3 in the Associate Press Top 25 this week, a road date at Mississippi State (13-6, 3-3) may not appear particularly daunting. The Bulldogs have the lowest RPI of any team in the Southeastern Conference, checking in at a distant 240th. They’ve played the weakest schedule in the league -- one of the softest in the nation -- with their best win of the season, a four-point home defeat of rival Ole Miss, coming with Rebels mad bomber Marshall Henderson sidelined by a suspension.

So what can UF coach Billy Donovan do to get his players’ attention for their trip Thursday night to Humphrey Coliseum?

“I can show them these,” Donovan said, holding out his notes after practice Tuesday.

The first set belonged to his own team.

In seven games away from the O’Connell Center this season, have failed to meet their goal of holding opponents to .90 points per possession in same of them. The .90 figure is the standard Donovan and his assistanta seek and only in the neutral-site game against Fresno State did they hit it.

The other six:

- at Wisconson: .98 (loss)
- at Jacksonville: .92 (win)
- at Connecticut: 1.0 (loss)
- vs Memphis: 1.14 (win)
- at Arkansas: 1.06 (win in overtime)
- at Auburn: .97 (win)
- at Alabama: .96 (win)

Even with a really good defensive effort against Fresno down in Sunrise -- the Gators posted a .884 in the 66-49 win -- that’s an average yield of .984 by the UF defense when out of the O'Dome.

That's sub-standard for a team with high goals, starting with winning an SEC title.

"That’s just not good enough,” said Donovan, whose team smothered Tennessee 67-41 at home four days ago, and posted a season-best .67 defense efficiency rating against the Volunteers. “You’re not going to be able to sustain that every single game, but the goal is to be under .90. We’ve done that at home, but we haven’t been great on the road yet. That’s the challenge for this game.”


And there are more numbers woven into the challenge.

Mississippi State has attention-grabbing offensive digits at the “Hump.” The Bulldogs have averaged 80 points in three SEC games on their home floor, with six players averaging in double double-figures and the team shooting 39 free throws a game.

“We’re playing in someone else’s confines,” Donovan said. “They’re more comfortable there.”

It’s a fact that teams play (and especially shoot) better at home. So even though the Gators have come a long way since early in the season -- when Donovan called them out as a vastly inferior defensive team than the one he had a year ago -- there’s plenty of room to grow after just a third of the SEC season.

“As a team, we keep improving, keep getting better, we know it’s going to be a process,” senior forward Will Yeguete said. “Hopefully, we can keep making strides on defense.”


GATORS HOOP SCOOP
No. 4 Florida at Mississippi State

When: Thursday, 7 p.m.
Where: Humphrey Coliseum, Starkville, Fla.
Records: Florida 17-2 (6-0); Mississippi State (13-6, 3-3)
TV: ESPN2 (w/Rece Davis and Bobby Knight)
Radio: Gator IMG Sports Network (w/Mick Hubert and Bill Koss)
Game notes: Florida notes; Mississippi State notes

THE TIP-OFF

History: Florida leads the all-time series 60-49, including a 13-8 record under Coach Billy Donovan. Among Donovan’s 5-4 mark at Starkville is the 82-47 thrashing the Gators put on the Bulldogs last year, led by 18 points from Mike Rosario and 17 from Erik Murphy.

Pre-game storyline: The Gators are alone atop the Southeastern Conference standings, but need to win to maintain their lead on second-place Ole Miss and, after that, Kentucky and Georgia, each with two losses. UF already has won three league games away from home.

The players: Sophomore shooting guard Michael Frazier II (12.3 ppg, 3.4 rpg) is coming off two games that earned him SEC Player of the Week honors. Frazier averaged 17.5 points and 2.5 assists, combining to go 8-for-19 from 3-point range. ... Senior point guard Scottie Wilbekin’s assists aren’t going to wow anyone (just 2.6 in SEC play), but the UF offense is moving better and the team's assists are being more evenly distributed. ... Casey Prather (16.8 ppg, 5.4 ppg) was 11-for-23 from the floor last week. Most forwards would take, but those numbers actually pulled down Prather’s field-goal percentage (now .615) for the season. His 6-for-16 night at Alabama (.375) was only the fifth time he’d been under 50 percent in a game in his senior season.

The opponent: The Bulldogs have played the SEC’s weakest schedule -- and it’s not even close. MSU’s strength of schedule is ranked 240th, with the league’s next lowest being Missouri at 142. The most challenging non-conference opponent on the slate was UNLV, with dates against the likes Prairie View, Kennesaw State, Mississippi Valley State, Jackson State and Loyola (Ill.). Thus far in SEC play, the Bulldogs have beaten Auburn and Texas A&M, split with Ole Miss (minus Marshall Henderson) and been drummed at Kentucky and Alabama. ... MSU is in its second season under Coach Ricky Ray and have already passed last year’s win total (10), thanks to that schedule. ... Guard Craig Sword (13.9 ppg, 3.6 rpg) leads the team in scoring, but the Bulldogs have three others in double-figures, among the frontcourt duo of 6-9, 270-pound Gavin Ware (11.0 ppg, 8.2 rpg) and 6-8, 231-pound Colin Borchert (10.4 ppg, 4.3 rpg) ... The Bulldogs do a good job of forcing turnovers, forcing 15.6 per game (2nd in SEC), but they rank at the very bottom of the league in rebounding margin (minus-1.4), 3-point field-goal percentage (30.9) and free-throw percentage (65.3).

Key numbers:

* 12 - Years since Mississippi State lost a second straight home game to Florida. The Gators beat the Bulldogs in 2001 and 2003.

* 30 - Average margin of victory in UF’s two wins over MSU last season. In addition to the 35-point blowout at Starkville was a 83-58 win at Gainesville.

* 38.8 - UF’s opponents’ field-goal percentage, which ranks 21st nationally.

* 46.3 - Florida’s field goal percentage, which ranks second in the SEC and 82nd nationally.

* 1989 - The last year UF won a fourth straight in the series. The Bulldogs have not lost four in a row to the Gators since dropping 12 straight from 1984-89.

Watch for it: The Bulldogs shoot a lot of free throws at home, so pressing a whole bunch -- assuming the Gators are making shots and can set up their full court defense -- would seem like an antidote to discourage MSU halfcourt offense (and drives by those guards). It sure worked against Tennessee, but the Bulldogs have better backcourt players and they're capable of getting out in transition with all the steals they force. Still, UF will try and hurry up play and get pace to its liking.

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UF has 2 game lead in SEC at 7-0:


By Chris Harry
GatorZone.com Senior Writer


STARKVILLE, Miss. -- The message in the locker room was clear, but it was also obvious. To a man, the Florida Gators knew what the problem was Thursday night at Humphrey Coliseum.

“They were playing harder than we were,” Scottie Wilbekin said.

Mississippi State was at home, where the Bulldogs are a far more stubborn and competitive team. The Florida Gators got a taste of that hard-headedness when the home squad stared down a nine-point defict against the Southeastern Conference frontrunners by scoring eight straight points to end the first half, seize momentum and remind the Gators they were there to play a game.

“Yeah, I rung ‘em up at halftime,” UF coach Billy Donovan. “But I rung ‘em up before the game, too, because they had a really bad warm-up.”

So after things got a little heated in the locker room, the Gators returned to the floor and ignited a second-half spark that was good enough to put a 62-51 victory in the books and stay perfect in Southeastern Conference play.

Senior forward Casey Prather scored 16 points and grabbed seven rebounds, while senior center Patric Young fought off first-half foul trouble to post his way to 12 points and eight rebounds. Senior point guard Scottie Wilbekin had a season-high eight assists. Sophomore forward Dorian Finney-Smith had nine rebounds and sophomore shooting guard Michael Frazier II started really bad with his shot from deep, only to finish really good.

“A win is win, especially on the road,” Wilbekin said after going just 2-for-9 from the floor, but helping the Gators double up the Bulldogs (14-7) in assists. “It wasn’t pretty, but we got the win. What else matters?”

Actually, nothing.

UF’s 12th straight victory (and fourth on the road in the league) kept the Gators (18-2, 7-0) as the lone unbeaten SEC team and increased their lead in the conference to two games over Kentucky and Ole Miss.

No Gator was great, but collectively the team put together a crisper second half of 56-percent shooting and a 20-12 rebounding margin that covered up an otherwise bad night from the 3-point line (30 percent) and horrific one from the free-throw line (8-for-18 and 46.2 percent).

The game had a similar blueprint to the SEC roadies Florida slogged through at Auburn and Alabama recently. Like those games, the Gators pounded away and eventually got the result they sought. Though hardly the way they sought it.

“We came out with more focus, played harder and were better connected and more determined,” Young said of the second half. “We can't control the ball going in the basket, but we can control our energy on the defensive end of the floor."

Against the Bulldogs (13-7, 3-4) that meant denying dribble penetration -- and not letting guard Craig Sword (12 points, 1 assist) dictate offense -- and preventing them not only from finding rhythm from long distance but not allowing their ball-hawking defense (8.8 steals per game) to create turnovers and get out in transition.

MSU started the night averaging 80 points a game at “The Hump” against SEC opponents and were shooting an astounding 39 free throws per game. Against UF, the Bulldogs had their season-low total in points, sank just four 3s in 14 tries and -- get this -- attempt a measly six free throws.

Of the latter, they made one.

"Offensively we had our problems," Bulldogs coach Rick Ray said. "I thought we had a plethora of opportunities in the first half to finish at the rim that we just didn't get done."

Florida appeared on the verge of opening up the game, up nine after backup Jacob Kurtz hit one of two free throws with 5:29 to go in the first half.

The Gators did not score again.

“I thought the lead was kind of fraudulent anyway,” Donovan said. “They had missed a lot of easy shots and then we got a truckload of really good looks [from 3] for Frazier and Wilbekin to close out the half -- and we missed them all.”

UF bounced its last seven shots of the half, while MSU ran off eight straight points to end the period and cut the Florida lead to just one, taking all the momentum into intermission.

“They wanted it more than we did,” Frazier said.

That’s how Donovan saw it. He sent his team back on the floor with the challenge to prove that wasn’t the case.

“As a coach, there are certain things that you can see that show a lack of mental focus; a lack of intensity and desperation,” Donovan said. “The free throws? That’s just a microcosm of what I’m talking about -- a lack of focus. You can’t go 18-for-24 one game and then do that [8-for-19 Thursday] if you’re focused.”

The overall picture tightened up in the second half. Mississippi State scored two of the period's first three buckets and twice led by a point, but a reenergized Young scored back-to-back baskets, the second on a thundering slam off his own miss, to give the Gators a lead and start a 13-2 run that lasted the next six-plus minutes.

Young had six points in the burst, freshman guard Kasey Hill hit a bank shot in transition, Finney-Smith sank a baseline jumper and Prather threw in three points.

Just like, a one-point deficit became a 10-point lead. Only once did the Bulldogs trim the margin to as little as eight. After starting 0-for-6 from long distance, Frazier banged in his final 3-point tries to squelch any hopes of a comeback. His last one came with 2:31 to go, the shot clock winding down, and MSU on the verge of a stop and trailing by nine.

“When he’s open, I want him to shoot it,” Donovan said. “He has about as much guilt when he misses a shot as any player I’ve ever coached. It internally affects him in a negative way and he’s got to move past that. I thought in the second half, he made a couple big 3s for us that really stretched our lead out.”

They were key, but not as much as UF’s overall mentality in the second half.

Makes you wonder where it was in the first? Definitely made their coach wonder.

“Down the road, that can come back and bite us,” Frazier said. “If a team as talented as us plays like it wants the game that much more than us, we'll be down 20 at the half. But we held it together this time.”

Maybe dealing with it this time will help avoid a next time.

Donovan hopes so.

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Starters for aTm game tomorrow in Gainesville at 4 PM EST and televised on the SEC TV network:

FLORIDA PROBABLE STARTERS

# Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. P/RPG
15 Will Yeguete F 6-8 230 Sr. 5.2/5.2
24 Casey Prather F 6-6 212 Sr. 16.7/5.5
4 Patric Young C 6-9 240 Sr. 10.7/6.3
5 Scottie Wilbekin G 6-2 176 Sr. 12.2/3.7a
20 Michael Frazier II G 6-4 199 So. 12.2/3.4

TEXAS A&M PROBABLE STARTERS

# Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. P/RPG
14 Kourtney Roberson F 6-9 244 Jr. 9.7/7.0
24 Antwan Space F 6-8 224 So. 6.2/4.4
2 Shawn Smith G 6-4 192 Fr. 5.8/3.3
21 Alex Caruso G 6-5 183 So. 8.9/4.7a
23 Jamal Jones G 6-8 197 Jr. 11.7/3.9

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Florida's 18-2 start ties with four other UF teams for the best starts in school history:



Dooleys Desk

Tracking UF’s best hoops starts

Friday, January 31, 2014 at 3:55 by Pat Dooley



Florida’s 18-2 record through its first 20 games ties the best mark all-time for a Florida team. Here are Florida’s best starts through 20 games (two losses) and how the seasons turned out.

2006-07

Started 18-2. SEC finish: First in the East. NCAA Tournament: National champions.

2005-06.

Started: 18-2. SEC finish: Second in the East. NCAA Tournament: National champions.

2012-13.

Started 18-2. SEC finish: First. NCAA Tournament: Lost in Elite Eight to Michigan.

2002-03.

Started: 18-2. SEC finish: Second in East. NCAA Tournament: Lost in second round to Michigan State.

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By Chris Harry
GatorZone.com Senior Writer


GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- As a way to keep the team on notice, Florida's coaches often point to an opponent -- in this case, the Texas A&M Aggies -- and tell the Gators that they just never know.

As in, “You never know what team could be the one that keeps you from winning a championship.”

UF has won 12 straight games after Thursday night’s victory at Mississippi State. The Gators (18-2, 7-0) have rocketed to No. 3 in the national polls and after playing three of the last four games on the road, they'll tip off a three-game home stand Saturday against the Aggies (12-8, 3-4) at the sold-out O’Connell Center, where they’ve won a school-record 26 in a row.

Sounds like a pretty cozy situation, especially against an A&M squad that lost early in the season to Missouri State, got trounced by 20 at home by North Texas, and Wednesday night went to South Carolina and was thrashed by 28.

Those results were itemized for UF coach Billy Donovan after practice Friday. He nodded, but didn't care.

“It’s all in what you choose to look at,” he said. “I choose to look at the Tennessee game.”

The Aggies went into Knoxville, where the Gators have struggled to win the last decade, played some fabulous defense knocked off the Volunteers.

Guess what game got a lot of play in UF’s first-look and personnel film session Friday.

“They definitely have our attention,” senior point guard Scottie Wilbekin said. “They have enough weapons to worry us.”

One of them is guard Jamal Jones, a lanky 6-foot-8 guy with ball skills who posed a match-up problem for the Vols; maybe even caught them off guard. Jones went 8-for-19 from the floor, including 5-for-10 from 3-point range, and hung 23 points in that upset.

The Aggies have another guard, Alex Caruso, who has a flair to his game and leads the SEC at 4.7 assists per outing. He had 11 against Arkansas, another pretty good team A&M beat.

So amid all the hype of Chris Walker’s pending debut Tuesday, a next-up opponent on a losing skid, the one-day hustle of a Thursday-Saturday turnaround, and that built-in security blanket the O’Dome has provided this bunch, it would be human nature-like to make some assumptions about this game.

That’s where the coaches come in.

“We need to be focused,” Donovan said.

If the Gators roll out against the Aggies as they rolled out Thursday in Starkville -- somewhat casually, not on edge, the way Donovan likes -- they could find themselves in a game before they know it.

And you never know who that team could be.

“Maybe this would be the one,” Wilbekin said. “We don’t want to find out the hard way.”


GATORS HOOP SCOOP
No. 3 Florida vs Texas A&M

When: Saturday, 4 p.m.
Where: O’Connell Center, Gainesville, Fla.
Records: Florida 18-2 (7-0); Texas A&M 12-8 (3-4)
TV: SEC TV (w/Joe Davis and Joe Dean)
Radio: Gator IMG Sports Network (w/Mick Hubert and Bill Koss) -- Click here for affiliates) / Sirius 134/XM 199
Game notes: Florida notes; Texas A&M notes

THE TIP-OFF

History: Just the fifth all-time meeting between Florida and Texas A&M, with the Gators holding a 3-1 lead. Two of those wins have come the last two years. UF’s win two years ago was in the Orange Bowl Classic at Sunrise, the season before the Aggies joined the SEC. Florida won 68-48 at College Station last year behind Mike Rosario’s 19 points (4-for-7 from 3-point range) and 18 from Patric Young. The game before that, A&M’s Elston Turner scored 40 in an upset win at Kentucky, but was held to four points on 1-for-10 shooting by the Gators.

Pre-game storylines: UF, the lone unbeaten in league play, has a two-game cushion on second-place Ole Miss and Kentucky in the SEC standings and wants to keep it that way -- and will have three straight home games to pad that lead. The game also will mark Florida’s last before freshman center Chris Walker, the McDonald’s All-American who joined the team in December, officially becomes eligible to take the floor Tuesday night against Missouri.

The players: Senior forward Casey Prather (17.2 ppg, 5.6 rpg) went 7-for-8 from the floor at Mississippi State and his shooting percentage is back up to .648 for the season. That’s leads the SEC by nearly 8 percentage points. ... Senior forward Will Yeguete (5.2 ppg, 5.2 rpg) did very little on either end of the court Thursday, finishing with 1 point and four rebounds. The Gators will need more activity and intensity from him. Why not start with this game? ... Senior point guard Scottie Wilbekin (12.2 ppg, 3.7 apg) had a season-high 8 assists against the Bulldogs. His backup, freshman Kasey Hill, had three more. Together, they had 11 assists and just three turnovers. The Wilbekin-Hill combo is the lone tandem in the SEC ranked in the top 10 in assist-to-turnoer ratio.

The opponent: After opening the SEC season with three straight wins, including a road upset of Tennessee, the Aggies have dropped four straight (at Mississippi State, at Kentucky, home vs. Vanderbilt and at South Carolina) by a combined 65 points. ... Against conference competition, A&M ranks at the bottom of the league in scoring offense (61.6 ppg), free-throw percentage (60.1) and rebounding (29.9 per game). ... Guard Jamal Jones (11.7 ppg, 3.9 rpg) is the lone Aggie averaging in double-figure scoring. The most productive frontcourt guy is 6-9, 244-pound Kourtney Roberson (9.7 ppg, 7.0 rpg). Guard Alex Caruso (8.9 ppg, 4.7 apg) can do a little bit of everything.

Key numbers:

* 10 - Times sophomore forward Dorian Finney-Smith has led the Gators in rebounding during his 18 games. As a freshman at Virginia Tech two years ago, he led the Hokies 18 times on the glass.

*12 - Consecutive home SEC wins for the Gators, which is one shy of the school record set from 1967-69 and again from 2006-08.

* 56.1 - Percentage of UF scoring that comes from the four-member senior class of Young, Yeguete, Wilbekin and Prather.

* 113 - Two-point field goals by Prather. That leads the SEC, ahead of LSU’s Johnny O’Bryant (111) and Missouri’s Jordan Clarkson (110).

* 199 - Conference victories (including his time at Marshall in the Southern Conference) for Donovan. His next will be No. 200.

Watch for it: Sophomore off-guard Michael Frazier II is a career 45.7 shooter from 3-point range. In the last three games, he’s 11-for-30 -- down to 36.6 percent -- but still hovering right on his career number (45.2) for the season. But maybe after hitting nearly 49 percent through 16 games, he’s due to heat up again. He likes shooting in the O'Dome.