Coach Billy Donovan was unsure Saturday morning if Casey Prather (ankle) would play against Alabama and left the decision in the senior forward’s hands.
Prather wanted to give it a go. It turns out he was just fine.
In 33 minutes on the floor during the No. 3 Gators’ 78-69 win against the Crimson Tide on Saturday in the O’Connell Center, Prather recorded 15 points on 7-of-11 shooting, six rebounds, three assists and no turnovers.
“It was not too bad,” Prather said of his minor ankle sprain. “For the most part, I didn’t really notice it.”
The 6-foot-6 senior had been dealing with the injury for more than a week and missed a few days of practice last week because of it.
After a five-point performance against Missouri on Tuesday, Prather saw his streak of 18 consecutive games of double-figure scoring snap. The injury clearly affected his mobility during the contest.
“When he knows he can do things physically, it just adds to his confidence,” Donovan said.
“It has nothing to do with him making shots. It has to do with him moving. When he can’t move like he wants to move, I think he knows he’s putting our team in jeopardy. I think that eats him alive and kills him.”
But after Saturday, the Gators see Prather returning back to form.
“His ankle … he’s still babying that a little bit,” senior center Patric Young said.
“It’s not where he would like it to be, but he comes out here and he’s still going to play hard.
“It was good to see him dunk the ball and be explosive. We’re going to need that the whole season.”
Walker’s second game: For the second straight contest, Chris Walker did not see significant minutes on the floor.
And once again, all of his points came close to the rim.
During Florida’s victory against Alabama, Walker played only four minutes but scored four points on 2-of-3 shooting and grabbed two rebounds.
The freshman forward did not check into the game until 9:19 in the first half — this time to much lighter cheers than during his first moments on the floor in his seven-minute Florida debut against Missouri last Tuesday.
On his first two defensive possessions, Walker struggled defending Alabama’s big men in the post as Jimmie Taylor and Levi Randolph scored layups off the glass over him during an 8-0 run by the Tide. The Bonifay native was then subbed out at the 7:04 mark.
But Walker, who checked into the second half after sitting the first 7:40 of the period, made an impact for the Gators during their 17-3 run in the second half that helped them to a 56-44 lead with 10:33 remaining.
During his first play of the half, Walker tipped in a Kasey Hill lob to help the Gators to an eight-point lead.
The play was a familiar scene — in his UF debut against Missouri, Walker’s four points came on two alley-oop dunks from Hill passes.
Two plays later, Dorian Finney-Smith sent a bounce pass Walker’s way for a two-handed flush.
But at times during Saturday afternoon’s contest, Walker looked flustered in the post and confused during some of Florida’s offensive sets. Donovan admitted after the game he should give Walker — along with Hill and DeVon Walker — more minutes in the future.
“This was a hard game for Chris because they’re playing zone, and there’s things you want to run against a zone,” Donovan said. “He’s not all caught up on our zone offense. You get pretty simplistic when he’s out there. When they switched and went man-to-man, we put him out there. Against man, he did a pretty good job.
“But we need some of our younger guys to grow a little bit faster than they are right now. Maybe that’s a little bit unfair to them, but that would help our team.”
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Chris Walker attempts a layup during Florida’s 78-69 win against Alabama on Saturday in the O’Connell Center. Walker scored four points in four minutes against ‘Bama.
