Forward Erik Murphy fractured one of his ribs when he absorbed contact from a teammate during Friday’s practice.
Murphy missed Sunday’s game against Yale, and coach Billy Donovan listed the senior as “doubtful” on Monday.
Still, Murphy dove for balls and drew charges Wednesday night.
In 18 minutes off the bench, Murphy scored 11 points as No. 11 Florida (11-2, 1-0 Southeastern Conference) opened its SEC slate with a 77-44 victory against Georgia in the O’Connell Center.
“(With) a broken rib and him trying to breathe and run and be a frontcourt player and take on the amount of contact he takes on, it’s a painful experience on a daily basis,” Donovan said. “I give him a lot of credit.”
Murphy made 4 of 9 field goal attempts, including 3-of-6 shooting from behind the arc. He scored eight points in the first half.
Despite hustling through pain, Murphy was critical of his performance.
“I wouldn’t say I played that well,” he said. “I have to rebound better.”
Murphy first felt discomfort in his ribs against Air Force on Dec. 29 but fractured one of his ribs Friday. He missed practice Monday but returned Tuesday.
Murphy wore a pad wrapped over the fractured rib Wednesday night.
“[Athletic trainer Dave Werner] is the best in the business, so I just trusted him,” Murphy said. “He’ll always nurse me back to health. … [Werner] made a little contraption, so when I get hit, it doesn’t hurt that bad.”
Redshirt senior guard Mike Rosario scored a team-high 19 points on 6-of-10 shooting, while junior forward Casey Prather notched 10 points on 5-of-7 shooting and grabbed seven boards.
Prather started ahead of Murphy and junior forward Will Yeguete, who is dealing with tendinitis in his right knee.
Yeguete, who averaged 24.8 minutes per game before Wednesday, went scoreless in 14.
“This has been going on for a couple of weeks here. It just got progressively worse,” Donovan said.
“After the Yale game, it really, really bothered him, and he tried to practice on Monday and couldn’t go, then tried to go again [Tuesday] and couldn’t go. … This is going to be kind of an ongoing thing with him for a little while until we can kind of get it calmed down.”
In his third career start and first since Feb. 24, 2011, Prather set the tone early for the Gators.
During Florida’s 11-0 run in the first five minutes, Prather scored the game’s first six points and notched two steals, including one in the full-court press.
“It was just a good feeling because the crowd was into it, my teammates jumping around,” Prather said. “It was a great energy boost for our team.”
Florida had runs of 8-0 in the first half and 9-0 in the second period.
The Gators held Bulldogs guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to 11 points on 4-of-10 shooting.
The 6-foot-5 sophomore entered the game averaging 17.5 points, 7.2 rebounds and 2.3 steals per game. No other Georgia player scored more than six points.
Florida’s win snaps a four-game winning streak for Georgia (6-8, 0-1 SEC).
The Gators’ 33-point victory is the second-largest margin of victory against the Bulldogs in the history of the series.
The Bulldogs shot 38.9 percent and were 1 of 10 from behind the arc. Florida shot 52.7 percent and was 12 of 26 on three-point attempts.
“Our defense wasn’t as ready as we had been the last couple of games,” Caldwell-Pope said. “We just laid down and gave them easy baskets.”
UF utilized a full-court press to force 19 UGA turnovers. In the game’s first 11:44, Georgia had 10 giveaways and took only six shots.
“We know that we could be a very, very good defensive team,” Rosario said.
“We’re playing for something, so right now, it means a lot to us holding teams under 50. We’re just trying to keep that intensity on that end because it creates offense for our team.”
Forward Erik Murphy passes the ball during Florida’s 77-44 win against Georgia on Jan. 9 in the O’Connell Center. Murphy scored 17 points in Florida's 61-57 loss at Kentucky on Saturday.
