Just about everything went as expected for Florida on Friday
The starters were whom the crowd expected. The outcome was exactly what was expected from the non-conference matchup with No. 7 Florida (1-0) defeated William & Mary (0-1) 68-45.
The game was an improvement defensively from what Florida had shown against Barry on Nov. 6. Coach Billy Donovan reach 19-0 straight successful season-openers and Florida earned its 33rd consecutive straight season opening win. Check, check, check, check, check.
But there was one detail for Dorian Finney-Smith that did not go as planned early on.
Less than four moments into the solid start, with Florida leading William & Mary by six points, Finney-Smith went down after assisting Eli Carter on a three-point shot.
Florida lost some senior leadership for a few moments when starter Finney-Smith headed to locker room with left wrist injury.
Donovan said the team is hoping it’s a sprain, but he decided to send Finney-Smith to the hospital after the game to get x-rays to rule either way.
Finney-Smith returned to the game with a wrapped left wrist about three minutes after he had left it.
“I would assume he’d be able to play just because we were able to throw him back in the game there tonight,” Donovan said. “So I would imagine if he could play tonight after it happening, I would think that on Monday he could play.”
Finney-Smith rebounded well. Finney-Smith found himself dunking off rebounds, and following up dunks with successful three-point shots. He ended the night leading the team in scoring with 15 total points.
Finney-Smith was a perfect 4-for-4 on his free throws and he total five rebound although he played a relatively low 22 minutes.
“He’s a very good well-rounded player and we need him to do multiple things for this team and he showed that he could do that tonight,” said starting guard Michael Frazier II.
Frazier wasn’t far behind Finney-Smith. He totaled 14 points in 28 minutes played.
Center Jon Horford kicked off the game with a three-point shot and ended the night having made 4-of-5 three-point attempts and totaled 11 points in a team-high 30 minutes played. Horford said he was pleased with Florida’s defensive effort as compared to the team’s exhibition performance.
“That’s all we want. Gradual improvement” Horford said. “We’re not looking to make leaps and bounds. It’s a little bit at a time. Then, by the end of the year, we’ll be where we need to be.”
Donovan said he was also pleased with defensive improvement, besides the fact that his team was outscored by one point in the second half.
“I thought we were better defensively,” Donovan said. “I thought we made some good strides, I thought we moved better. And they’re a hard team to guard.”
Senior guard Marcus Thornton, arguably the toughest spot to guard, was limited to 10 points and no three-pointers.
“I was really proud of Kasey Hill, I thought he was phenomenal,” Donovan said. “The fact that he had to guard Thornton every minute he was out there, except for a couple possessions, he did a terrific job on him.”
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Dorian Finney-Smith dunks during Florida's season-opening win against William & Mary on Friday in the O'Connell Center.
