Despite winning by 26 points, the Gators left Wednesday’s contest with a decidedly negative feeling.
Although No. 9 Florida took a 25-point lead into halftime, it outscored Georgetown (Ky.) College just 44-43 in the second half of a 88-62 victory in the O’Connell Center.
“There was a huge difference in intensity with the way we came out to start the second half,” Donovan said. “I really felt like that’s something we are going to have to deal with [concerning] our team.”
During the break, Donovan stressed to his players that the Tigers would come out hungry in the second half and that the Gators would need to do the same.
Evidently the message did not take hold, as Georgetown opened the half on a 7-2 run in the first 1:02, prompting Donovan to bench all five starters.
“When we’re up like that we cant take our foot off the gas, we gotta keep applying pressure, keep getting after it in the press, and we can’t have let-ups like that,” Chandler Parsons said. “I think he wanted to send a message that if we’re not ready to play, we’re a deep team and we have other guys that can step in and play.”
Florida’s defense took a severe dip across the board in the second period.
After forcing 18 turnovers and holding Georgetown to 32 percent shooting in the first 20 minutes, the Gators notched just eight turnovers and allowed the Tigers to shoot 53 percent in half No. 2.
“To give up 53 percent shooting in the second half from the field and 50 percent from the three-point line is, to me, the reason why I don’t think we’re a top-10 team,” Donovan said. “Top-10 teams don’t do those things. Great teams and really good teams play 40 minutes, and we didn’t do that.”
One bright spot for the Gators was the play of Chandler Parsons, who worked diligently over the offseason to become a more complete player.
The senior showed off the fruits of his efforts Wednesday night, recording nine points, 10 rebounds and seven assists.
Parsons also added three steals and a block in 27 minutes of action.
“I’m gonna definitely try to do a little bit of everything,” Parsons said. “I’m going to try to do whatever I can to get my teammates involved. I’m going to make them keep me off the offensive glass every night out and I’m gonna score the ball.”
For the second game in a row, sophomore Kenny Boynton was Florida’s leading scorer, as he netted 22 points on 9-for-15 shooting.
Boynton once again hit four three-pointers, this time doing so in nine attempts.
The rest of the team shot a combined 3-for-13 from distance Wednesday after a 1-for-16 performance in UF’s exhibition opener against Florida Tech.
Junior guard Erving Walker has been the poster boy for those struggles, as he has hit just one of his 10 attempts from behind the arc.
“Shots are going to come and go,” Walker said. “I just gotta stay confident and take good ones. Whether they go in or not we just gotta live with it, but as long as I’m taking good ones coach is comfortable with that.”
