COLUMBIA, S.C. — A last minute switch in the starting lineup was not the way the Gators wanted to begin their second Saturday in Southeastern Conference play.
Winless in four road games this season but perfect at home, Florida entered South Carolina’s Colonial Life Arena as a team struggling with consistency. Having to place center Patric Young on the bench with an ankle injury didn’t appear, at first, to be the remedy.
“I just told [Patric], ‘We’re going to need your effort and your energy and if you can’t bring that, then you can’t play and can’t start you,’” coach Billy Donovan said.
Filling in for Young, fellow sophomore Will Yeguete brought both as he scored a career-high 14 points in the No. 19 Gators’ 79-65 win against the Gamecocks.
Yeguete, a 6-foot-7 forward, went 6 of 6 from the field and hauled in half of his eight rebounds on the offensive glass.
“He had a terrific game, made some great plays,” Donovan said. “He rebounded balls for us, defended very well and we really needed him, because we were pretty much, in the first half, just rotating him, Murphy and Larson.”
While South Carolina (8-9, 0-3 Southeastern Conference) wasn’t able to exploit the thinned frontline of Florida (14-4, 2-1 SEC), the Gamecocks were a lethal, 6 of 11 from behind the arc in the opening half.
With his team trailing 41-40 at the half, Donovan said the early deficit was due more to South Carolina making difficult and timely shots rather than defensive breakdowns.
“We made a few adjustments at the half just in terms of pressuring up a little bit,” Donovan said. “In the first half, they made all those shots,” Donovan said. “In the second half, they didn’t make them.”
After shooting 62.5 percent in the first 20 minutes, the Gamecocks’ hot start scaled back considerably, as USC made just 25.8 percent of its shots in the final half.
Fueled by 10 second half points by Yeguete, Florida’s attack remained consistent after the break and was able to go on a 17-3 run in the first 9:34. The Gators shot 53.2 percent from the field and 50 percent on 3-pointers for the game.
“Pat is a pretty big key in our team and for us, as a whole team, had to step up,” Yeguete said. “It wasn’t only me.”
Altogether, six Florida players reached double figures, including junior guard Kenny Boynton, who led the Gators with 15 points on 4-of-7 shooting from behind the arc.
Freshman Brad Beal would add 14 points and four rebounds, while junior forward Erik Murphy and senior guard Erving Walker each scored 11. Walker would also dish out seven assists to just two turnovers.
“It means a lot because you show a lot of people about your team when you’re on the road playing in somebody else’s house,” said junior guard Mike Rosario, who finished with 10 points. “We got to stay together as one. I felt like we did a great job at that tonight.”
Contact John Boothe at jboothe@alligator.org.
Starting for an injured Patric Young, sophomore forward Will Yeguete (15) scored a career-high 14 points and hauled in eight rebounds in the No. 19 Gators' first road win of the season.
