When Erving Walker’s 3-pointer found the bottom of the net a little more than three minutes into the second half Friday night, he said two words immediately came to his mind.
“Thank God.”
Walker hit his first three of the season after going 0 for his last 17 shots from the field, and the rest of the Gators’ outside shooters finally found their touch as well, leading Florida (3-0) to an 80-58 victory against Troy (2-1) in the O’Connell Center.
After shooting 3 for 29 through its first two games, UF hit 12 shots from beyond the arc Friday, including seven that came in a dominant second-half performance in which the Gators outscored the Trojans 49-26.
Walker, a 41.9 percent 3-point shooter last year, was 0 for 6 from long range and just 4 for 19 from the field entering Friday’s game.
“I’m not going to lie, I was very frustrated, but you can’t dwell on that,” Walker said. “That’s so frustrating when you just keep missing and missing.
“That was just a slump, but hopefully I’m out of it.”
Kenny Boynton, Walker’s partner in the starting backcourt, led UF in scoring for the second straight game. The freshman guard poured in 23 points on 8-of-16 shooting, including three 3-pointers.
To ease some of the tension on Walker, who has run the point and led the team in minutes played through the first three games, Boynton occasionally took the ball at the top of the key during the second half to set up Walker.
Boynton said the backcourt role reversal is something the two will look to do more often as the season progresses to make it easier for Walker to find his shot from the wing.
“Both those guys look for each other when they’re playing,” UF coach Billy Donovan said. “They need to continue to have that kind of relationship because when both those guys are playing like that, it really creates a lot for our team.”
Walker and Boynton weren’t the only shooters who found their rhythm Friday night, though. Forwards Chandler Parsons and Dan Werner combined for 27 points and six threes.
Werner, who led the team with four 3-pointers, said during warmups the coaches insisted on getting the ball back to players who were missing their shots before the game – and odd twist on the usual shootaround practice of getting the ball back to players hitting their shots.
“They told us just to keep shooting, keep our confidence up,” Boynton said. “(Parsons) came in hot, so we knew somebody else had to get hot. Erv got it going, then I got it going.”
TYUS SPRAINS ANKLE: Junior power forward Alex Tyus went down with a sprained right ankle with a little more than two minutes remaining in the second half against the Trojans.
Tyus was tangled up with Troy’s Bernard Toombs and hit the floor in obvious pain, wincing as he walked off the court on his own. Donovan said Tyus’ ankle was tender and sore after the game, but he won’t know anything more until he meets with team doctors.
“I am concerned about Tyus’ ankle,” Donovan said. “I don’t know where that’s at.”
Parsons was also a little banged up after the game, nursing a hip flexor he said was “a little tender.”
