The big story leading into Tuesday night was Chris Walker’s much-awaited debut, but Gators fans got only a small dose of the freshman forward during No. 3 Florida’s 68-58 win against Missouri in the O’Connell Center.
Walker recorded four points, two rebounds, two blocks and two fouls in only seven minutes on the court. All of his points came on two alley-oop dunks on assists from freshman point guard Kasey Hill.
“I’m so glad to finally have it behind me,” Walker said. “My coaches and teammates just been keeping me motivated and I just let it go. That’s what I did.”
Added coach Billy Donovan: “I thought he contributed very, very positively with the seven minutes that he played. I was really proud, more than anything, because I really didn’t know what to expect.”
Walker checked into the game at the 11:28 mark in the first half — the latest of any player in Florida’s rotation. The freshman forward had waited 12 games — a suspension the NCAA handed him for receiving impermissible benefits as an amateur prospect — for his moment to finally play.
Before his suspension, he was not enrolled at UF in the fall semester due to academic eligibility issues.
When Walker first walked to the scorer’s table, the O’Connell Center roared with game action still ongoing.
“Dang, Chris, you’re really about to step onto this court and play for the Florida Gators for real,” Walker said, imitating his thought process through the moment. “This is not high school anymore. This is real.”
On his second defensive possession of the night, Walker blocked Mizzou guard Earnest Ross’ floater down the lane and to loud applause.
“It kind of relaxed me,” Walker said of his first block. “It felt good to do something.”
Eighteen seconds after the 6-foot-10 Bonifay native checked back into the game with 2:25 in the first half, Walker received a lob from Hill, his former AAU teammate, and threw down a two-handed slam to tie the game at 23.
The freshmen duo repeated the same play with six seconds remaining in the half.
“I just looked in his eyes and it brought back flashbacks,” Walker said. “I just looked down and was like, ‘Oh.’ He just threw it up and I got it.”
Walker did not see much time on the floor in the second half. He played about only two minutes during the late stretch of the contest, checking in at the 9:45 mark.
“I don’t think his expectation was, ‘I’m going to come in here and play 25 to 30 minutes,’” Donovan said. “He knew that.”
Thanks to Missouri’s early success mixing zone defenses and Florida’s struggles from behind the arc — the Gators (20-2, 9-0 Southeastern Conference) shot 1 of 11 from three-point range in the game’s first 20 minutes — the first half was tightly contested. The Tigers (16-6, 4-5 SEC) went on a 7-2 run to lead 23-18, but Florida responded with a 7-2 run of its own to tie things up.
But after Walker’s second alley-oop dunk of the night with six seconds left in the half, Jabari Brown sunk a three-pointer at the buzzer to give Missouri a 28-25 halftime lead.
In the second half, Frazier and the Gators finally found their three-point shooting touch.
After Missouri led 45-43 with 9:57 remaining, Florida went on a 16-3 run over a span of 6:36 thanks to three treys by Frazier. A hook shot by center Patric Young gave UF a 58-48 lead with 4:10 left.
Senior point guard Scottie Wilbekin made eight free throws to seal the win for the Gators and finish with a game-high 19 points.
Frazier added 14 points on 5-of-12 shooting for Florida.
The Gators are on a 14-game winning streak and have won 28 consecutive games in the O’Connell Center heading into Saturday’s home contest against Alabama.
With Walker’s debut finally out of the way, Donovan hopes the hype will settle down.
“I never wanted him to feel like he walked off the floor in his first game and felt like, ‘I was a big disappointment tonight,’” Donovan said. “I’m happy ... he feels good about himself.”
Follow Landon Watnick on Twitter @LandonWatnick
Freshman forward Chris Walker looks for a pass during Florida’s 68-58 win against Missouri on Tuesday in the O’Connell Center.
