Facing yet another must-score situation with the clock winding
down, the Gators turned to the same man they have all season:
Erving Walker.
With Florida trailing by one with 20 seconds remaining, Walker
received a pass from Alex Tyus and dribbled across half-court.
After a momentary hesitation, the junior guard crossed from his
right hand to his left, split three Tennessee defenders and hit a
lefty lay-up high off the glass, propelling the No. 17 Gators
(20-5, 9-2 Southeastern Conference) to a 61-60 win over the
Volunteers (15-10, 5-5 SEC) on Saturday night in the O’Connell
Center.
“I was just trying to make the best play that was available,”
Walker said. “When I went through the lane, the lane kind of opened
up, and I saw I had to take this.”
Tennessee had one last chance to answer, but Melvin Goins’
step-back three-pointer caught only iron at the buzzer.
Goins’ miss evoked memories of the shot Kentucky’s Brandon Knight
missed at the buzzer almost a week earlier.
“We grinded it out here at home against a tough team,” senior
center Vernon Macklin said. “They didn’t stop fighting, so it was a
great win for us. It means a lot.”
Although Macklin was on the bench in the closing moments, the
comeback would not have been possible without his
contributions.
The Volunteers held a comfortable lead for the first nine minutes
of the second half as Macklin sat with three fouls. Then, shortly
after the senior returned to the lineup, he recorded four points, a
steal and an assist, igniting an 11-2 Gators run.
“That was huge,” Macklin said. “Coach (Billy Donovan) wanted us to
bring the spark. He came to me at halftime and told me, ‘Let’s go,
step up, be a man.’”
The senior attributed his most impressive play — an interception at
the top of the key followed by a fast break dunk — to observing
Tennessee’s tendencies as he watched from the sideline.
“I actually watched that play a couple times and realized I could
time the pass and go for it,” Macklin said.
The run Macklin sparked coincided with a rise in defensive
intensity, as UF held UT to just 13 points in the final ten
minutes. That included just one from Scotty Hopson, who had scored
21 prior to that stretch.
Hopson’s size, speed and quickness had given defenders Scottie
Wilbekin, Chandler Parsons and Kenny Boynton fits all night before
UF finally ratcheted up its defense to close the contest.
“It’s definitely tough trying to guard Scotty Hopson,” Boynton
said. “He’s a driver and a shooter. When he jumps up for a shot
it’s like I’m not even there.”
Despite the win, Florida’s players came away from the game unhappy
with their intensity level in the early going.
The Gators allowed the Volunteers to shoot 53.6 percent in the
first half and turned the ball over 10 times, creating a six-point
halftime deficit.
“I think maybe these last two games we’ve been kind of feeling like
we’re going to get an easy win,” Wilbekin said. “But we pulled
through in the end, so that’s all that matters.”
PARSONS HAMPERED BY INJURY: Senior forward Parsons
came into Saturday’s contest on one of the most prolific hot
streaks of his career, but he recorded just three points, three
rebounds and four turnovers against UT as he dealt with a deep
thigh bruise.
Donovan said he will likely keep Parsons out of action until
Thursday. He added that he is “hopeful” the senior will be able to
play in Florida’s next game Feb. 20 against LSU.
