In its 66-63 loss to Ole Miss in the Southeastern Conference Tournament final on Sunday in Nashville, Tenn., Florida bucked a trend.
For the first time this season in a clutch situation, the Gators went inside.
Before Sunday, Florida was 0 of 2 from the field in the final 30 seconds of a game when trailing by one or two points this year. Both misses were long-range shots by guard Kenny Boynton. The first was against Missouri on Feb. 19 when behind 61-60 with 9 seconds left. The second came against Kentucky on March 9 trailing 59-57 with 15 seconds remaining.
But against the Rebels, forward Erik Murphy got the late touch as the Gators trailed 65-63 with 22 seconds left.
“I thought that was our best option to either get a good post move, or a jump hook, or maybe an inside pivot jump shot or get fouled,” coach Billy Donovan said. “Giving [Murphy] the opportunity to do that I thought gave us the best chance to tie the game.”
On the play, guard Mike Rosario fed the ball to Murphy, who posted up against Ole Miss forward Murphy Holloway on the left block. Murphy maneuvered his way into the paint and released a right-handed hook shot, but the attempt clanked off the right side of the rim as Holloway pulled down the rebound with 8.6 seconds left.
“I wanted to get some action toward the basket,” coach Billy Donovan said. “I just felt like in that situation, Erik is a really good free-throw shooter. He’s probably our most consistent guy down inside. He got it in there, and he got a shot that he’s capable of making that he didn’t make.”
Although Murphy came up short in the clutch against Ole Miss, he said he would be comfortable being the go-to guy late in a tight NCAA Tournament matchup.
“If that happens again, I have to try to make the play again whether it’s for me or one of my teammates,” Murphy said. “I want to be in that situation, and it’s something I’ve accepted.”
Frazier providing boost: In his sixth game back from a concussion, guard Michael Frazier was nearly automatic from behind the arc early against the Rebels on Sunday.
Frazier scored all nine of his points in the first 9 minutes on 3-of-4 shooting from three-point range. At the 11:12 mark in the first period, Frazier had half of UF’s points and had outscored Ole Miss 9-6.
“The reason we had a 12-point lead going into halftime was because of him,” Donovan said.
During Florida’s 80-58 quarterfinal win against LSU on Friday, Frazier notched 11 points on 3-of-5 shooting — his highest scoring effort since Feb. 16. The freshman also grabbed five rebounds.
But in UF’s 61-51 semifinal win against Alabama on Saturday, Frazier went scoreless, finishing 0 of 3 from the field.
Still, Donovan might consider going to Frazier late in games.
“He’s more of a guy that’s a receiver,” Donovan said. “He’s not a guy that can go create a shot. Someone has to go and get one to him. I have no problem with Mike Frazier shooting the ball at the end of the game.”
Yeguete progressing: Despite shooting poorly throughout the SEC Tournament, forward Will Yeguete was active on the boards.
Yeguete played 58 minutes and averaged four points on a combined 3-of-11 shooting. The junior also grabbed 4.3 rebounds per game.
In UF’s win against Alabama, he scored six points and pulled down six rebounds.
Yeguete has played six games since undergoing arthroscopic surgery to remove bone chips in his right knee on Feb. 8. He missed six games with the injury.
Yeguete had no complications with his right knee during three straight days of competition.
Since returning to the lineup, Yeguete has averaged 3.3 points and four rebounds in 16.7 minutes per game.
Senior forward Erik Murphy prepares to take a shot during Florida’s 83-52 win against Missouri on Jan. 19 in the O’Connell Center.
