There is an old axiom that says, “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.”
And when an attempt usually converts less than 50 percent of the time — as with a shot in basketball — the ability to earn second chances can be of paramount importance.
Florida (11-3) appears to have taken that message to heart, as the Gators have established dominance on the offensive glass and will need to continue that trend if they want to earn a victory over Ole Miss (12-3) Saturday at 8 p.m. in the O’Connell Center.
So far this season, the Gators have grabbed 42.8 percent of their offensive rebounding opportunities, a number that ranks them fifth nationally, according to Kenpom.com.
This means that every time a UF shot misses, there is a 42.8 percent chance the Gators will come down with it.
“I think with our size and our depth, it really allows us to get to the backboard,” senior forward Chandler Parsons said. “We’ve got guys flying in there every game.”
Florida’s willingness to crash the glass offensively has played a major role in overcoming its streaky three-point shooting.
The Gators have discovered that a missed shot does not always mean the end of a scoring opportunity, as they have put up 184 second-chance points this season.
Many of those come from senior center Vernon Macklin, who leads the team in offensive boards with 39 and poured in a career-high 22 points when he squared off against Ole Miss a season ago.
“After the first seven or eight points, the rest came off of offensive rebounds or if there was penetration,” coach Billy Donovan said.
Against a Southeastern Conference frontcourt with the physicality of Mississippi, the Gators will need to get contributions from bench players like Will Yeguete, Patric Young and Casey Prather if they wish to pull off a repeat performance.
Despite playing limited minutes, the freshmen have been an effective per diem source of rebounds all season, including last week’s 71-67 win over Xavier.
“Those guys just come at you in waves,” Musketeers coach Chris Mack said of Florida’s frontcourt. “They can really offensive rebound the ball. Certainly Tyus and Macklin are a lot more skilled at this point in time than the young kids that they’re playing off the bench, but when those guys come in they’re very effective.”
INJURY UPDATE: Sophomore Erik Murphy has been ruled out of Saturday’s matchup as he continues to recover from a mid-foot sprain he suffered in practice over the weekend.
Yeguete was officially cleared to return to practice Thursday, but his status for the Ole Miss game is still unknown.
Although Parsons (ankle), Macklin (pectoral muscle) and junior Erving Walker (hip pointer) are all dealing with lingering injuries, each is expected to be fine for Saturday’s contest.
