In the span of one week’s time it was seemingly a different team that took the court Friday night against the Tribe of William & Mary. The seventh ranked Florida Gator men’s basketball team looked a lot crisper on the defensive side of the ball and that propelled them to a 23 point victory, 68-45.
Against Barry University the Gators gave up 70 points on 62 shots and seemingly never looked in rhythm. The defense looked to be a step behind and many of the players at one point or another simply looked lost.
Against the Tribe on Friday night, despite being on the receiving end of a lot of missed shots, the Gators found success and established themselves as a team with at least a little more of a defensive presence.
The Gators held the Tribe to just 45 points on 31 percent shooting. Despite attempting 57 shots, William & Mary only sunk 18, with just two of those coming from beyond the arc. The Tribe shot an abysmal nine percent from three on the night and that ultimately led to their demise. William & Mary senior guard Marcus Thornton who averaged over 18 points per game a year ago, shot 3 of 11 from the field and 0 of 5 from three finishing with just 10 points. Despite the Gator defense’s success as a whole on the night, head coach Billy Donovan attributes Thornton’s quiet night to his sophomore point guard.
“I was really proud of Kasey Hill. I thought he was phenomenal. The fact that he had to guard Thornton every minute he was out there except for a couple possessions, he did a terrific job on him.”
The Tribe finished with just one other player in double figures on the night as sophomore forward Omar Prewitt totaled 15, shooting 7 of 15 from the field. The Gators as a whole came away with one block, eight steals and out-rebounded the Tribe by eight on the night and transfer Jon Horford says it was all in the preparation.
“We’ve been practicing a few weeks, so we expect as a team for it to get better. A little bit every week, the more we play together the more we get a feel for what our roles are and what we need to be and what we need to do. It’s gradual improvements.”
Offensively it was a tale of two halves.
The Gators got out to a hot start sinking their first four three pointers, connecting on five in the first half alone. The Gators ended the first half with a 24 point lead shooting 55 percent from the field and 50 percent from beyond the arc. Florida’s success would not continue however as the team put up just 26 points in the second half. The Gators shot just 38 percent from the field and sank just one three pointer but it would prove to be more than enough.
The Gators finished with three in double figures as redshirt junior Dorian Finney-Smith led the way with 15, junior Michael Frazier II finished with 12 and Horford ended the night with 11. Despite Smith injuring his left wrist early in the game he was able to rebound and shoot 55 percent from the field. Doe-Doe also finished with five rebounds and one steal and Frazier spoke after the game about the former Virginia Tech transfer.
“He’s a very good, well rounded player. We need him to do multiple things for this team and he proved he can do that tonight.”
The Gators also received big performances out of the freshmen as back-up point guard Chris Chiozza and forward Devin Robinson combined to play 36 minutes on the night. Robinson struggled in the exhibition but improved against the Tribe, hitting on 4 of 9 from the field including a big time alley-oop from Chiozza. Robinson finished with one block and four rebounds, and most importantly did not look lost on defense.
Chiozza made great use of his 20 minutes as he finished with four points, three assists, two rebounds and three steals. Chiozza’s speed should prove to be quite valuable to the team moving forward and he proved on Friday night, what he lacks for in size he can make up for in other areas.
Overall, it was a solid team effort for Donovan’s crew. The Gators finished with more fast break points, more bench points, and more points in the paint. The team also finished the night with 13 assists as six different players finished with one each. With the team succeeding in a multitude of areas on the night coach Donovan was able to speak very highly of his players after the fact.
“I thought our whole team got better from last week. I saw some growth individually and I saw some growth collectively.”
Now sitting 1-0 the Gators will welcome the Miami Hurricanes into the O’Connell Center Monday night as they will look for yet even more improvement.
For audio of the quotes above, click on the links below:
Donovan talks about Kasey Hill
Donovan talks about Devin Robinson
Donovan talks about the team’s improvement
Horford discusses the team’s improvement through preparation