Rebounding has been an issue for center Patric Young and forward Erik Murphy this season. Both players’ production on the glass has dropped from last season.
The 6-foot-9, 249-pound Young has averaged only five rebounds per game in the past six games. In Murphy’s past four contests, he has pulled down only 3.3 rebounds per game.
Young and Murphy struggled to rebound in No. 11 Florida’s 77-44 win against Georgia on Wednesday night.
Young grabbed his first rebound with 9:29 left in the contest. He finished with three boards.
Murphy, who played with a broken rib, did not record a rebound.
Donovan was critical of his two starting big men.
“Patric, because of his size, people are always going to keep a body on him,” coach Billy Donovan said. “He’s got to be able to make that effort spinning off a guy and trying to get at least to the same level as the guy who’s blocking him out.
“The same thing for Murphy. It’s a lot more difficult for Erik to offensive rebound, because he’s on the perimeter.”
Consistently rebounding has been a problem for Young throughout his college career. Young has had back-to-back games with double-digit rebounds twice in his career, neither of which came this season. He has recorded double-digit rebounds in only 10 of his 87 games with the Gators.
According to KenPom.com, Young tallies a defensive rebound on 16.3 percent of his defensive possessions, while Murphy does so only 12.2 percent of the time. Both rank outside of the top 500 nationally.
“It’s pretty tough to be a team that rebounds high up in the air above the rim when you’re so focused on blocking your guy out,” Young said on Nov. 6. “When you’re engaging someone, it’s hard to get off the ground. If we’re all doing our job making sure our individual guy doesn’t get the ball, we should be fine.”
Florida’s rebounding will be tested against one of the best frontcourts in the Southeastern Conference when UF travels to Baton Rouge, La., to face LSU on Saturday afternoon.
Tigers forward and JUCO transfer Shavon Coleman averages a team-high 8.7 rebounds per contest, and sophomore big man Johnny O’Bryant III averages 7.5.
LSU (9-3, 0-1 SEC) is tied for 20th in the nation with 41.1 rebounds per game. UF (11-2, 1-0 SEC) is No. 162 with 35.5.
The Tigers are coming off a 68-63 loss on the road against Auburn on Wednesday. LSU is 8-1 this season when it wins the rebounding battle but 1-2 when outrebounded.
“They’re going to have to keep those guys off the glass, and they’re going to have to chase balls off the backboard,” Donovan said of his frontcourt. “[LSU is] obviously a big team up front. They rebound the ball very well. Johnny O’Bryant’s a high-energy guy.”
With Murphy (fractured rib) and junior forward Will Yeguete (knee tendinitis) still ailing, the Gators will rely on Young and junior forward Casey Prather to crash the boards.
“We definitely need Patric to try to chase some more balls on the glass,” Donovan said. “When he does do that, he’s a terrific rebounder, but it’s also hard for him to rebound a lot of times when he’s in the lane like he is, and so many people have got bodies on him.
“It’s a difficult and challenging proposition for him to go chase those kind of balls, but we need him to do that.”
Center Patric Young (4) pulls down a rebound during UF's 77-44 win against Georgia on Wednesday night in the the O'Connell Center
