Without freshman point guard Kasey Hill (high ankle sprain), the Gators struggled to play organized on the offensive end early Thursday night. But they eventually figured it out and cruised to a big win.
Six players scored in double figures for No. 16 Florida (4-1) as it defeated Middle Tennessee 79-59 in the O’Connell Center.
“We pulled together,” sophomore DeVon Walker said. “That’s great basketball. Everybody’s eating bread — that’s what I call it.”
Added senior center Patric Young: “We were very confident with what we had out there. … We have so many weapons. Even without our point guard, we could still distribute the ball and finish and score buckets and get fouled.”
Young led the way with 16 points — 12 coming in the first half — six rebounds and a team-best three assists, while Dorian Finney-Smith added 14 points.
“I thought Patric Young did a great job tonight,” coach Billy Donovan said. “I thought he set the tone defensively. He was active.”
The Gators did not have Hill — who suffered a high ankle sprain in Monday’s game against Southern and will miss at least a month of action — running the offense, but they managed to shoot 50 percent from the field. UF also found success from the free-throw line, shooting 25 of 30.
But Florida failed to find rhythm offensively in the game’s opening minutes. After the first 10 minutes of play, Florida had shot only 4 of 16 and led 9-5.
“There was a little bit of nerves going on early,” Young said. “We weren’t moving the ball well.”
Entering halftime with a 34-26 lead, Florida had recorded only two assists against four turnovers.
“In the first half, we got really stagnant,” Donovan said. “We got too bogged down trying to figure out their 1-3-1 zone.
“It was painful to watch.”
But after the first half, the Gators went on a tear.
A dunk by Young, two three-point plays by Jacob Kurtz and Finney-Smith and a layup by Michael Frazier II in transition fueled a 12-0 run by the Gators over 2:38 to take a 49-30 advantage with 15:16 in the second half.
From that point until the end of the contest, Florida led by at least 12 points.
“We knew that the first four minutes (of the second half) were really important,” Young said.
Florida’s win against Middle Tennessee (4-1) is its fourth straight game holding an opponent to fewer than 60 points. The Blue Raiders shot 42.6 percent and committed 16 turnovers in the contest.
“With a limited bench and no bench playing against a good team, I thought our defense was constant the whole entire game,” Donovan said.
“I thought our offense was really good without a point guard in the second half. I thought we were very well balanced. We had mid-range pull-up jump shots. We had drives to the baskets. We got fouled. We had post feeds. We did a lot of different things.”
Wilbekin’s status unknown: After the game, Donovan declined to comment on whether senior point guard Scottie Wilbekin (suspension) will be reinstated for Florida’s game on the road Monday against Jacksonville.
“He still has stuff he has to do,” Donovan said. “So, I’m not going to comment on any of those things here right now.”
Follow Landon Watnick on Twitter @LandonWatnick.
Patric Young dunks the ball during Florida’s 79-59 victory against Middle Tennessee on Thursday in the O’Connell Center. Young had 16 points.
