While the Gators’ guards again showcased their scoring prowess Friday night, sophomore center Patric Young took control of nearly everything else.
In his first career double-double performance, the 6-foot-9 Young preyed on a thin Jackson State frontcourt with 12 points and 10 rebounds during No. 8 Florida’s 99-59 season-opening win in the O’Connell Center.
“My teammates just set me up for everything I needed,” Young said. “I didn’t have to do too much on the offensive side, just run the floor and they gave me the ball when they thought I could score and had the confidence I could finish.”
Four UF guards ended in double figures as well, with junior Kenny Boynton and redshirt junior Mike Rosario leading the way with 19 points apiece. Freshman Bradley Beal would net 14 in his first regular season game, while senior Erving Walker added 10 points.
Jackson State also relied on four guards offensively and stayed in a small lineup for much of the game. Their lone big man on the floor for the opening tip-off – 7-foot-2 center Jamarious Sykes – saw just eight minutes of action.
“I was really aggressive on the boards,” Young said. “I really wanted the ball tonight because we’ve been really emphasizing rebounding and I think I’m a big part of helping this team out to rebound.”
As the Tigers (0-1) failed to find an answer to Young’s physicality at either end, the Gators (1-0) churned out a 40-10 scoring advantage in the paint and grabbed more offensive rebounds (23) than on defense (21).
Coach Billy Donovan said his players have made huge strides working the glass over the last week after only having five more rebounds than Division III Catholic in a Nov. 3 exhibition game.
“We outrebounded them by 15; that’s kind of the expectation level I have for our guys,” Donovan said. “I think any time you’re playing and you can have a plus-15 rebounding margin, that’s a good day.”
Florida was able to pull away from Jackson State on a 23-0 in the first half thanks to an effective full-court press which caused 16 turnovers in the opening 20 minutes. The Gators eventually led by 36 points at halftime and didn’t allow the Tigers to reach double digits until the 8:52 mark.
Young continued to flourish in the open court with a team-high three steals, a career-best three assists and two blocks.
Junior forward Erik Murphy, who had six points and four rebounds, was also a presence inside defensively with three blocks, which forced the Tigers into taking desperation threes late into the shot clock.
“We played such great defense as a team in the first half that they had to get shots up,” Young said. “Unluckily, a lot of their shots did fall, especially some tough ones. You saw the one little guard took off on one foot. … Erv was like, ‘That’s going in,’ as soon as he shot it.”
Jackson State able to turn in a second-half surge of 36 points thanks in large part to their 9-for-13 shooting from 3-point range. But while they shot 83.3 percent from behind the arc, the Tigers only managed to connect on 34 percent of their attempts any closer thanks in large part to Young and Murphy.
“I think I had something to do with that lull there,” Donovan said. “Probably subbed too many guys at one time; changed lineups too quickly. I just wanted to balance our minutes and get some guys the opportunity out there on the court.”
Contact John Boothe at jboothe@alligator.org.
