OMAHA, Neb. — In his 16 years at Florida, Billy Donovan has yet to find an end-all cure for a shooting slump.
After watching Kenny Boynton — the Gators’ leading scorer at 16.1 points per game — get held to single digits in three of his last four games entering Sunday, Donovan was amazed to see the junior guard almost magically snap back with a 20-point performance against Norfolk State.
“I have no idea why Kenny Boynton went through a shooting slump there and then all of the sudden, he gets a drive to the basket and knocks down his first three and gets going offensively,” Donovan said. “Sometimes that’s hard to figure out.”
For a high-volume 3-point shooter like Boynton, the solution to ending his scoring struggles before Florida earned a berth to the Sweet 16 this week was easy: just get closer to the basket.
While Boynton continued a four-game, 5-for-23 slide from behind the arc by hitting only 2 of 7 3-pointers against the Spartans, he ended the Gators’ 84-50 win 5 for 5 on layups and jumpers.
The five field goals from 2-point range were the most Boynton has made in one game since Florida played LSU on Jan. 21.
“Pretty much, I tried to do a better job of attacking the rim,” Boynton said. “I think I attacked the rim, and I tried to get a foul early in the game, and it kind of put me in a rhythm.”
Boynton’s high-percentage shooting within the 3-point line during the tournament coincides with the rest of the Gators, who have made a living lately on every shot other than a three.
Florida has been an inconsistent 3-point shooting team at times this year and hasn’t bucked that trend going into the postseason.
The Gators followed a 50 percent shooting night from three against Kentucky in the Southeastern Conference Tournament by hitting 17.4 percent and 37.5 percent on 3-pointers in their first two rounds of The Big Dance.
“We’re a better shooting team than what we’ve shown maybe the entire season,” Donovan said. “I think we really have been a streaky team in a lot of ways.”
As Virginia and Norfolk State keyed on Florida’s 3-point shooting, the Gators found success inside. UF made 24 of 30 shots from inside the arc in a 71-45 victory Friday against the Cavaliers, followed by an 18-for-25 effort two days later to beat Norfolk State by 34 points.
Along with Boynton’s four free throws, the Gators also capitalized on fouls from aggressive drives by Erving Walker, who made 8 of 9 from the charity stripe, and Brad Beal, who also had four made free throws.
“The one great experience that we’ve gone through is shooting the ball like we did against Virginia,” Donovan said.
“We still won by 20-plus points, and we were 4 for 23 from three. I think the same for the Norfolk State game.”
The result was the two largest margins of victory in this year’s NCAA Tournament and an opportunity to play No. 3 seed Marquette in Phoenix on Thursday at 10:17 p.m.
Contact John Boothe at jboothe@alligator.org.
UF guard Kenny Boynton (1) ended a recent slump with 20 points in Sunday’s 84-50 victory against Norfolk State. Boynton had been held to single digits in three of the four previous games.
