After struggling through his worst shooting night of the year, Kenny Boynton looked back at the tape of Wednesday’s Arizona game to figure out where he was going wrong.
For one, he could see the amount of tough shots he was putting up and missing. Boynton, a junior guard, went 2 for 11 from the field and had as many shots blocked by the Wildcats as he had made buckets.
Both he and senior guard Erving Walker, who went 3 of 16 in the Arizona game, were critiqued by coach Billy Donovan on their shot selection before playing Rider in Jacksonville’s Veterans Memorial Arena on Friday.
“I told Erving this, ‘Three for 16, those days are over,’” Donovan said. “There’s too much offense on the floor right now.”
The backcourt duo responded with Boynton scoring 26 points – two shy of a career high – and Walker finishing 4 for 6 from three with 12 points in the Gators’ 90-69 win against the overmatched Broncs.
Freshman Brad Beal would chip in 18 more on 7-of-17 shooting.
“If you look at the quality of shots that those guys took and the way they were on balance, I thought clearly they showed the kind of shooters they are,” Donovan said.
Instead of trying to take over in the first half, Boynton and Walker worked the ball inside to sophomore center Patric Young, who was coming off a 25-point effort against Arizona.
For the second consecutive game, Young needed just a half to reach double figures. He finished with 12 points – all in 14 minutes during the opening frame – and grabbed 10 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season.
The Broncs (1-9) were able to clamp down on Young with a double team after the break, leaving the Gators’ previously quiet guards open. Florida (7-2) pushed its lead to 63-38 to open the second half by hitting six consecutive 3-pointers, including two from Walker and one from Boynton.
“I think Pat had a great first half,” Boynton said. “They tried to double him in the second half and I think he did a great job of getting the ball to us. Probably took one or two shots in the second half, he’s a very unselfish player.”
After beginning the game 1 for 4 from three, Boynton hit four 3-pointers in final 20 minutes and ended the game 9 of 13 from the field.
While running the point, Walker was efficient in guiding Florida to just one turnover in the first half. The Gators ended with a season-low six giveaways, as Walker also chipped in four of UF’s season-best 25 assists.
“We worked on that a lot in practice, the first thing we did was a drill where we were not supposed to turn the ball over,” Boynton said. “Against Arizona we forced a lot of things and I think in this game we did a great job taking care of the ball.”
Contact John Boothe at jboothe@alligator.org.
Junior guard Kenny Boynton's 26 points were two away from his career high during Florida's 90-69 win against Rider.
