For the first time in five games, Erik Murphy slid back into his old starting role on Saturday against Texas A&M and tried to forget about the long, padded sleeve covering his right leg.
Though a bone bruise in Murphy’s knee had limited him over the last three weeks, it didn’t take the junior forward long to get reacquainted with being among Florida’s first five again.
The 6-foot-10 Murphy scored seven of the No. 13 Gators’ opening nine points in their neutral site matchup with the No. 22 Aggies (8-2) at the Orange Bowl Classic in Sunrise and finished the 84-64 Florida (8-2) win with 13 points on 4-of-6 shooting.
Against a touted Texas A&M defense that allowed just 51.4 points per game – fourth best in the nation – Murphy needed just over three minutes to match his scoring high of his previous three games.
“We do need Erik’s ability to shoot the ball, stretch the defense, (his) size and rebounding,” UF coach Billy Donovan said. “He can do some different things offensively. We needed to get him back out there.”
Murphy also chipped in on the defensive end for the Gators with one block and a steal. Florida spent much of the first half mixing half court traps and full court pressure, which resulted in 10 forced turnovers and 15 points in the first 20 minutes.
“I looked at the scoreboard (10 minutes in) and it was 20-4,” Murphy said. “I didn’t realize they only had four points and was like, ‘Wow, we must be playing some pretty good D.’”
While one of Murphy’s two 3-pointers on the afternoon helped build an early lead for the Gators, it was the hot shooting of junior guard Kenny Boynton, who finished with a game-high 22 points, that stretched Florida’s margin over Texas A&M to 50-25 at the half.
Boynton earned the game’s most valuable player honors and reached 20 or more points for the sixth time this season by hitting 6 of 12 from three. His 46.3 shooting percentage from behind the arc is second only to Murphy’s 52.2 percent clip.
“Once he gets hot, he just doesn’t cool off,” Murphy said. “Really, it’s crazy that once he hits his first one or two, I feel like every one is going in after.”
With 16 points apiece from guards Erving Walker and Brad Beal, the Gators pushed four starters into double figures. The lone exception was sophomore center Patric Young, who was in foul trouble for most the game and limited to 2-of-2 shooting and four rebounds in 20 minutes.
Sophomore forward Will Yeguete, who had started the previous five games, helped maintain Florida’s 33-28 advantage on the boards against Texas A&M’s long and physical frontcourt with a team-high six rebounds to Murphy’s five.
“There’s nothing that Will did wrong,” Donovan said of Yeguete losing his recent starting job. “Actually, Will did a great job in [Murphy’s] absence, but we’ve got to get the frontcourt done collectively as a group. And I thought Erik played very, very well in the first half. He made some great moves inside, he knocked down some threes and did a good job defensively.”
Donovan said the game’s opening 20 minutes were the best he’s seen out of Florida this season, but, to his disappointment, the Gators did ease their defensive pressure on the Aggies in the second half. Texas A&M responded by outscoring UF 39-34 in the final period behind 5-of-9 shooting from three.
“It’s almost human nature,” Murphy said. “We try to just keep it up, try to keep the same level of intensity and it’s tough. It’s just human nature and natural to sort of relax a little bit, but we try to stay away from that.”
Contact John Boothe at jboothe@alligator.org.
Junior guard Kenny Boynton scored a game-high 22 points and wrapped up MVP honors at Saturday's Orange Bowl Classic in Sunrise for the second-straight year.
