OXFORD, Miss. — While Vernon Macklin was almost solely responsible for keeping Florida close in the first half, Erving Walker put the game away in the final minute.
Macklin scored a career-high 22 points on 8-of-11 shooting, the Gators made 25 of 27 free throws and Walker hit six straight from the line in the final 42 seconds to push UF (19-8, 8-4 Southeastern Conference) past Ole Miss (17-9, 5-7 SEC) 64-61 in Tad Smith Coliseum.
UF is now 6-3 in games decided by five points or fewer, and the team finished 6-0 against the SEC West for the first time since 2003.
Macklin had 16 of his 22 points in the first half Saturday, taking advantage of the Rebels’ man defense to score 11 of the Gators’ first 15 points.
“The guards found me early, so I just kept running the floor,” said Macklin, who also hit all six of his free throws and grabbed seven rebounds. “Coach was saying to get the ball inside, so my teammates got the ball inside and I got established early.”
After struggling to find his rhythm at the beginning of the season, Macklin is finally getting more comfortable in the post. The junior center topped his previous career high of 20 points, which he set earlier this month against Mississippi State.
“I’m very confident right now,” Macklin said, adding that he has put in time with assistant coach Rob Lanier to improve his post game. “Working on my post moves is making me more confident and relaxed when I get the ball.”
The challenge for Macklin now, UF coach Billy Donovan said, is staying consistent. After his 20-point performance against Mississippi State, Macklin scored just five at South Carolina just four days later.
“He played great, and he carried us in a lot of ways, but he needs to take that next step where he becomes a consistent player night after night,” Donovan said. “It may not be scoring, but just being a consistent presence out there all the time.”
Macklin was even good enough from the free-throw line — usually a weakness for the 6-foot-10 center — for Donovan to leave him in for most of the crunch-time minutes.
But when the Gators needed someone to close out the game from the line, Walker stepped up.
With 42 seconds left and UF up 58-57, Walker subbed in for Macklin and drained six straight free throws to hold off the Rebels.
“He’s got ice in his veins,” junior forward Chandler Parsons said. “When the game’s on the line, give him the ball.”
Walker thrived at the line despite a poor shooting performance for the second straight game. The sophomore point guard made no field goals against Auburn on Thursday and wasn’t much better Saturday, hitting just two of his 10 attempts.
Walker and freshman guard Kenny Boynton combined to shoot just 4 of 22 from the field, and UF’s only three came when the ball was blocked into the hands of a wide-open Dan Werner on a bizarre play with 6:06 remaining.
Still, the Gators found a way to win — something they will have to do to keep their NCAA Tournament dreams alive.
“We don’t want to live or die by the three-point line,” Parsons said. “We know where we want to get to, and this was a huge win on the road. We’ve just got to keep taking it one game at a time, keep rebounding, keep doing all the physical things and not worry about our offense, because we’ve got a lot of guys that can score.”
