Two days after facing their toughest frontcourt test of the young season, a possible injury caused the Gators to get creative with their lineup down low.
Sophomore Will Yeguete — usually UF’s first forward off the bench — was forced to the sidelines prior to Thursday night’s home game against North Florida due to concussion-like symptoms resulting from a blow he suffered against Ohio State on Tuesday.
Without their second-leading rebounder, the No. 7 Gators (2-1) relied on as many as four guards on the court for the first time this season to defeat the Ospreys (1-2), 91-55, in the O’Connell Center.
“We were uncomfortable, actually, because [playing four guards] hadn’t happened even in practice,” junior guard Kenny Boynton said. “Overall, we’re going to start doing that more in practice, but I definitely like that set on defense.”
In nearly eight minutes of playing four guards to close the first half, the Gators forced five turnovers and allowed nine points.
Though Boynton led all scorers with 20 points and senior Erving Walker added 17 of his own, Florida struggled through a 37.9 percent shooting performance on 11 of 29 attempts from three.
“I’ve got to try to find a way to help them,” coach Billy Donovan said. “Pat Young was doing a great job freeing them up with screens, but we got so perimeter-oriented that Pat wasn’t really involved.”
Coming off a 14-point performance against the Buckeyes, Young had seven points on seven shots.
While the four-guard lineup didn’t spark the Gators’ offense, it did provide a chance for their backcourt to be more involved on the boards.
After grabbing five rebounds in two games, 6-foot-3 freshman Brad Beal registered his first career double-double with 12 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. Walker hauled in six boards of his own, as Florida made up for its lack of threes with 29 second-chance points.
“I need to start doing it more often like coach Donovan tells me,” Beal said. “When we have four guards, I don’t have a choice but to rebound because I’m the biggest guard.”
In lieu of Yeguete, Donovan turned to 6-foot-6 swingman Casey Prather as the first UF player off the bench. Prather saw just one minute of playing time against Ohio State, but on Thursday he scored or assisted on 11 points in nine minutes for the Gators off two made baskets, a free throw and three assists.
“Casey provided great energy,” Boynton said. “Casey didn’t force anything. He finished when he needed to, he passed when he needed to, you know, he found open guys. If Casey comes in and does that, he’s going to see more and more minutes.”
Though Prather, a sophomore, is generally considered an undersized post player, the Ospreys’ own lack of size prevented a matchup problem for the Gators. The average height of UNF’s three starting forwards was 6-foot-6.
With Yeguete’s status unclear until he goes through more testing today, Donovan said he could picture continuing to use Prather at the four.
“I’ve got to try and put him in some situations where we can take advantage of him at that spot,” Donovan said. “There’s got to be just some more concepts that we’re playing out of.”
Contact John Boothe at jboothe@alligator.org.
Florida freshman Brad Beal (23) scored 12 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in a 91-55 win against UNF on Wednesday.
