Donovan: Florida Must Improve to Beat Wisconsin

After winning its home opener versus UNF last friday, the Florida men’s basketball team will travel to Madison, Wisconsin to face the 20th ranked Badgers Tuesday night at 9 pm.

UF leads the all-time series against UW 2-1 including a 74-56 victory in Gainesville last year.

Despite getting a win against UNF, Gators head coach Billy Donovan was not happy with the mindset or effort from his players during the game. On Monday, Donovan was more calm than he was following Friday’s game, but his message was still the same.

“If we play like we did Friday, we have no shot,” Donovan said.

Part of what Donovan was referencing was the Gators lack of defensive efficiency. Florida gave up 24 three-point attempts to UNF as well as 30 attempts in their exhibition game to Florida Southern just a week earlier. The Badgers took 23 three-point shots in their lone regular season game versus St. John’s and shot 47 percent on those attempts. The Badgers love to stretch the floor, sometimes playing four guards at one time.

The Gators will once again be without their three suspended players, Scottie Wilbekin, Dorian Finney-Smith and Damontre Harris, which may force Donovan to settle for a few less than desirable lineups for extended periods of time. Coach Donovan knows focusing on foul trouble can lead to weak defensive efforts, something the Gators cannot afford to display against Wisconsin.

“Obviously for us depth is going to be a challenge going into the game, and we’ll have to be smart and try to protect guys,” said Donovan. “You can go in there–to any game–trying to stay out of foul trouble, and if you do that, what happens is you become very weak defensively.”

In last year’s matchup between Florida and Wisconsin, Gators forward Erik Murphy went 10-for-10 from the field with 24 points, however, Murphy–along with the other top two scorers from last year–will not be with UF this time around. That leaves Patric Young as a player to set the tone and control the inside. Young had just two points and two rebounds against UNF, and Donovan said Young’s stat-sheet struggles were not all his fault.

“I thought our backcourt people put him a lot of bad situations,” Donovan said. “Listen, there’s times where guys make mistakes and poor decisions on fouls, but one of Pat’s fouls got picked up on when one of our guards did a bad job on pick-and-roll coverage.”

The Badgers will look to even up the all-time series versus Florida as well as the home-and-home series they started last year.

When asked about expectations going into Tuesday night’s game, Donovan simply replied that he has to evaluate his team as they are and what they could look like going forward.

“I think this time of year, I don’t really go through whether we’re ready or not ready. I look at it a lot more of, this is the game that’s in front of us right now, and going through a game like this we’re going to find out where we’re at and where we need to get better,” Donovan said.

Country 103-7 The Gator has live coverage of the game starting at 8:25pm.

For audio on the quotes above, click here:

Billy Donovan 2

Billy Donovan 3

Billy Donovan 4

About Trevor Sikkema

Check Also

Orange & Blue Sports Network

Catch the student-led broadcasts from the College of Journalism and Communications right here.

LIVE THREAD: National Signing Day

Here’s an updated thread of all the recruits who picked the Gator hat today! RB …

AFC Divisional Round Preview: Pittsburgh Steelers

During last weekend’s NFL Wild Card round, the Steelers made a statement by handing the Dolphins a …

Houston Looking For an Upset in Foxborough

The saying has always been “it’s hard to beat a good team twice,” and in …

Blue Jackets vs. Lightning Tonight

The Columbus Blue Jackets and the Tampa Bay Lightning will be facing each other once …

Possible Additions to McElwain’s Recruiting Class Visiting this Weekend

With National Signing Day less than three weeks away, the Gators are hosting several talented …

Florida Gymnastics Prepares for Season Opener

GAINESVILLE, FL – The Florida Gator gymnastics team will kick off their season this Sunday …

Surprised Gators Promote Randy Shannon To Defensive Coordinator? You Shouldn’t Be

Florida’s head coach, Jim McElwain, announced Friday morning that Randy Shannon would be making the …

Quarterbacks in Spotlight for NFL Wild Card Weekend

The NFL Wild Card kicks off Saturday and the quarterback situations could not be any more different. On …

College Football Playoff Shakes Up Schedule

The College Football Playoff was a success in its first year. Yet, that doesn’t stop …

Michael Jordan Speaks out about Shootings, Police Officers

NBA great Michael Jordan opened up about his thoughts about shootings of African-Americans and the …

Treon Harris to Transfer

With the college football season approaching, the Florida Gators have announced that former starting QB …

USA Basketball Wins Second Exhibition Game

Just a few short days after their big win over Argentina, team USA won its …

Charlotte Is No Longer The Home Of The 2017 NBA All-Star Game

The House Bill 2 came between Charlotte, North Carolina and the 2017 All-Star Game. The …

Tampa Bay Rays Continue Series Against Oakland

The Tampa Bay Rays are continuing their three-game winning streak. The Rays defeated the Oakland …

MLB Preview Tonight

It’s summer time—the best time to go to a baseball game and experience the atmosphere. …

Braves Begin Series With Rockies

The Atlanta Braves (33-62) open up a four-game road series with the Rockies (43-51) tonight …

Marlins To Close Out Series With The Phillies

The Miami Marlins are in the middle of a crucial ten game span against NL East …

Rays Crush Rockies 11-3, Face A’s Next

In the midst of a terrible season that has seen the Tampa Bay Rays (37-57) …

American League Second Half Outlook

The second half of the baseball season is in full swing which translates to? Pennant races. Teams …

National League Evening Preview

Tonight is a busy night for the National League in the MLB. Starting with the …

Big 12 Looks To Expand

Following a Tuesday meeting between Big 12 presidents, Oklahoma president David Boren announced that the …

LSU Looks To Capitalize On Its Opportunity

The Louisiana State University Tigers will enter the 2016 college football season with high expectations, …

Muschamp Helps Close Out SEC Media Days 2016

It wasn’t Will Muschamps first SEC Media Days experience, but 2016 marked the first time …

Phil Mickelson Leads British Open After First Day

The 145th annual 2016 British Open is underway at Royal Troon Golf Club in Scotland. The …

Missouri’s Football Crisis: Rebuilding A Program

On the final day of SEC Media Days, Barry Odom took the stand as Missouri’s head …

Second Half Of MLB Season Begins

The All-Star Break is a good time for teams to rest up and reform themselves …

British Open Underway

The 145th Open Championship is already underway at the Royal Troon Golf Club in Scotland. Welcome …

Gators Softball Blows Six-Run Lead, Drops First Game Against Bulldogs

The No. 10 Florida Gators softball team lost to the No. 17 Mississippi State Bulldogs, …