Florida Gators
SEC (26-7, 14-4)
We all knew Florida was going to be good this year. But perhaps we didn’t know they’d be THIS good. In what was a very up and down regular season for the nation’s top teams, the Gators emerged as one of the premiere squads in all the land. Since being ranked highly in the weekly polls was almost a request to get bounced, Florida was not alone in being upset at points during the season. None of the top teams got through the year unscathed by lesser opponents. However, after battling through the rigors of winter, the Gators came out on top of highly hyped SEC peers Kentucky and Missouri. Head Coach Billy Donovan has Florida fans reminiscing about the back-to-back championship teams who won with their depth and this team might be on the same track.
Big Wins: 11/29 Marquette (82-49), 1/19 Missouri (83-52), 3/02 Alabama (64-52)
Bad Losses: 2/05 at Arkansas (69-80), 2/26 at Tennessee (58-64), 3/09 at Kentucky (57-61)
Coach: Billy Donovan (17 seasons at Florida)
Why They Can Surprise:
The Gators dropped some surprise games to the likes of Kansas State and Arkansas this year. Those losses were not any worse though than Kansas losing to TCU or Michigan falling to Penn State or Louisville getting upended by Villanova. Every team had their bad weeks this season. What Florida also had to go along with those losses was some signature wins. They trounced Wisconsin by 18 points; they routed Marquette by 33; they conquered Florida State by a cool 25; they hammered Missouri by 31 and I’m seriously running out of synonyms for “beat handily.” In the Gators’ 10-game winning streak from the end of December through the beginning of February, when games are supposed to be tough and conference foes are around every bend, Florida went 10-0 (obviously) and won by an average of 25 points per contest! And none of the 10 games were any closer than 14 at the final buzzer. This team shoots great from the floor (top ten in the nation in field goal percentage) and plays sound defense. With everyone healthy and Kenny Boynton getting his shot to fall, no one in the country is any better than the Florida Gators.
Why They Can Disappoint:
For starters, not everyone is healthy. In the final games of February, forward Will Yeguete, guard Michael Frazier II and forward Casey Prather were all trying to come back from various injuries and ailments. Yeguete specifically missed a ton of time towards the end of the season. Although Florida has a dynamic starting five, having their three main reserves banged up is not ideal for March. The other problem has been the inconsistency from arguably their two best players. Kenny Boynton and Patric Young are main cogs on this team and veterans in Donovan’s system. They each have very different problems in their respective games that are hindering Florida. Boynton tends to shoot himself out of the flow while Young tends to disappear into it. Young will go halves, sometimes entire games, without taking more than a couple shots from the field. He rarely gets to the line in general so when he’s not shooting, he is almost invisible on offense. Boynton, on the other hand, will try to shoot his way out of struggles, like good shooters should. But this sometimes works in the opponents’ favor. Shooting below 40 percent from the floor on the year, Boynton may have to defer to teammates more or be the unfortunate reasoning behind an upset loss.
Probable Starters:
Kenny Boynton, Senior, Guard, 12.6 ppg, 2.9 apg, 3.1 rpg
Mike Rosario, Senior, Guard, 12.3 ppg, 2.2 apg, 2.5 rpg
Scottie Wilbekin, Junior, Guard, 9.0 ppg, 5.0 apg, 3.0 rpg, 1.5 spg
Erik Murphy, Senior, Forward, 12.6 ppg, 5.5 rpg
Patric Young, Junior, Center, 10.3 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 1.7 bpg
Key Roleplayers:
Michael Frazier II, Freshman, Guard, 6.0 ppg, 1.0 apg
Will Yeguete, Junior, Forward, 5.4 ppg, 5.8 rpg
Casey Prather, Junior, Forward, 6.1 ppg, 3.7 rpg
By the Numbers:
Scoring Offense: 72.0 (67th in nation, 5th in conference)
Scoring Defense: 53.2 (3, 1)
Field-Goal Percentage: 48.5 (9, 1)
Field-Goal Defense: 37.3 (4, 1)
Three-Point Field Goals Per Game: 8.4 (15, 1)
Three-Point Field-Goal Percentage: 38.2 (27, 1)
Free-Throw Percentage: 69.8 (158, 3)
Rebound Margin: 4.7 (44, 3)
Assists Per Game: 15.1 (32, 1)
Turnovers Per Game: 11.1 (26, 1)
Last Five Postseason Appearances:
2012 NCAA Round of 64 win over Virginia
2012 NCAA Round of 32 win over Norfolk State
2012 NCAA Regional Semifinal win over Marquette
2012 NCAA Regional Final loss to Louisville
2011 NCAA Round of 64 win over UC-Santa Barbara
2011 NCAA Round of 32 win over UCLA
2011 NCAA Regional Semifinal win over BYU
2011 NCAA Regional Final loss to Butler
2010 NCAA Round of 64 loss to BYU
2009 NIT First Round win over Jacksonville
2009 NIT Second Round win over Miami
2009 NIT Quarterfinal loss to Penn State
2008 NIT First Round win over San Diego State
2008 NIT Second Round win over Creighton
2008 NIT Quarterfinal win over Arizona State
2008 NIT Semifinal loss to Massachusetts
*all team stats through 3/10
See All Men’s Basketball Postseason Capsules
