During Florida’s 78-64 win against Ole Miss on Saturday, senior guard Kenny Boynton and senior forward Erik Murphy fed off each other’s strengths.
Murphy scored a team-high 19 points and Boynton racked up nine assists, tying his career best. Boynton assisted on four of Murphy’s seven shots and 10 of his 19 points.
Boynton scored 9 points on 3-of-13 shooting against the Rebels but found Murphy, who had the hot hand, in the post and behind the arc. Murphy went 7-of-8 shooting and drilled 5 of his 6 three-point attempts.
“I wasn’t hitting from the outside, but I tried to get my teammates involved on other plays,” Boynton said.
“[Murphy has] done a great job of helping me out, knocking down the outside shots.”
Said Murphy: “I just shoot when I’m open. When I don’t shoot when I’m open, coach (Billy Donovan) gets mad.”
Boynton and Murphy’s synergy has been key this season for No. 2 Florida (18-2, 8-0 Southeastern Conference), which jumped two spots in this week’s AP poll for its highest ranking since Feb. 12, 2007.
During SEC play, Boynton has helped Murphy get good looks at the basket. During the past eight games, Boynton has assisted on 7 of Murphy’s 24 three-pointers and 31 of his 112 points.
In eight SEC games, Boynton has averaged 4.3 assists — 1.5 more than his career average. His assist-to-turnover ratio of 5.7 in conference play is the highest in the SEC.
The Gators won the assists battle against the Rebels 23-5 on Saturday. Ultimately, Boynton was responsible for 31 of Florida’s 78 points.
“[Boynton is] finally getting an understanding that he can really impact the game in a lot of different ways,” Donovan said. “Through experience, going through what he’s going through, he’s become a very, very good decision-maker. He’s made other people on the floor better.”
Murphy has averaged a team-high 14 points and shot an SEC-best 57.1 percent from beyond the arc during league play. Missouri guard Earnest Ross’ 48.6 percent clip from three-point range is the next-best average in the conference.
“[Murphy is] more confident now,” junior forward Will Yeguete said. “[Donovan] really wants him to shoot the ball when he’s open, and we all really want him to shoot the ball.
“I think he’s doing a good job of taking open shots, and he’s been making [them], so we just have to keep looking for him.”
Boynton and Murphy will look to keep No. 2 Florida’s offense flowing when it travels to Fayetteville, Ark., to face Arkansas tonight at 7.
The Razorbacks (13-8, 4-4 SEC) are No. 13 in the conference defensively, allowing 68.3 points per game.
But Arkansas is a better scoring team at home, tallying 73 or more points 12 times and boasting a 12-1 record at Bud Walton Arena.
Second-year coach Mike Anderson’s Razorbacks have shot 47.3 percent at home but 41.5 percent on the road and at neutral sites.
“Those numbers are drastically different,” Donovan said. “There’s probably a comfort level, a confidence level, for those guys playing in Fayetteville.”
Saturday’s box score incorrectly credited Boynton with an assist on Murphy’s three-point field goal at the 10:42 mark in the first half. Rosario, who dribbled the ball twice and then passed it to Murphy, should have been credited with the assist on the play.
Senior guard Kenny Boynton attempts a layup during Florida’s 78-64 win against Ole Miss on Saturday in the O’Connell Center.
