In just more two weeks, the Gators appear to have undergone a complete transformation.
While the Florida of 2010 was consistently undone by struggles with 3-point shooting and ball movement, the 2011 squad has turned those tenets into its biggest strengths.
Thanks largely to 22 assists, 50 percent 3-point shooting and a season-low seven turnovers, Florida (12-3, 1-0 Southeastern Conference) got the conference portion of its schedule off to a strong start with a 77-71 win over Ole Miss (12-4, 0-1 SEC) on Saturday night in the O’Connell Center.
“Offensively we’re getting better and we’re starting to utilize each other,” coach Billy Donovan said. “We’re taking higher percentage shots … We ended up going 22 assists and 7 turnovers, and that’s how I’d like our team to play.”
Against Ole Miss’ tall, physical, high-pressure defense the Gators were able to make the most out of their possessions through stellar ball-handling and precision passing.
Florida consistently worked the ball inside over the first 20 minutes, scoring 18 points in the paint in the first half.
This effort on the interior generated space for Florida’s 3-point shooters, who connected on 9 of 18 attempts in the game.
“Our guys are doing a better job and our shot distribution is better balanced,” Donovan said. “Our guys are being a little more patient and we’ve got a better balance of inside-out than we’ve had the last month or so.”
Starters Kenny Boynton, Vernon Macklin, Chandler Parsons and Erving Walker combined for 70 of the team’s 77 points.
Parsons played another strong all-around game with 17 points, seven rebounds and five assists, while also connecting on all three attempts from beyond the arc.
“I really thought Chandler Parsons had a totally complete game,” Donovan said. “He’s really, the last couple of games, played exceptionally well.”
Walker scored a team-high 20 points, which put him over 1,000 for his career.
He and Boynton combined to record the team’s final 16 as the Gators held off the Rebels’ furious charge late in the contest.
Boynton personally scored nine points, including his third four-point play in as many games, on 3-of-4 shooting over the game’s final 3:04.
“Those guys are stepping into the shot knowing they’re going to make the shot,” Parsons said. “We need that from them, they’re scorers. They hit some big shots right when Ole Miss started going on some runs.”
The Rebels’ rally was fueled mostly by senior Chris Warren, who scored all 20 of his points in the second half.
After feeling out Florida’s defense during an 0-for-4 first-half shooting performance, Warren turned it on and connected on four of his five three-point attempts over the final 20 minutes.
“We were aware that he was going to try to take over the game, and he did,” Donovan said. “He singlehandedly almost won the game for them.”
But in the end Warren’s efforts were not enough, and the Gators walked away with their third consecutive win over a quality opponent.
“We’re playing really well right now,” Parsons said. “I think we still have a lot of room to get better, but it definitely feels pretty good to get a win like this.”
