Schedule
November
Tonight – vs. Nebraska-Kearney, 7 p.m. (exhibition); 9 - vs. Georgetown, 9 p.m. (in Jacksonville); 11 – vs. Alabama State, 3:30 p.m.; 14 – vs. Wisconsin, 7 p.m.; 18 – vs. Middle Tennessee, 4 p.m. (in Tampa); 20 – vs. Savannah State, 7 p.m.; 23 – vs. Central Florida, 4 p.m.; 29 – vs. Marquette, 9 p.m.
December
5 – at Florida State, 7 p.m.; 15 – at Arizona, 10 p.m.; 19 – vs. SE Louisiana, 7 p.m.; 22 – at Kansas State, 8 p.m.; 29 – vs. Air Force (in Sunrise), 4:30 p.m.
January
9 – vs. Georgia, 7 p.m.; 12 – at LSU, 4 p.m.; 17 – at Texas A&M, 7 p.m.; 19 – vs. Missouri, 2 p.m.; 23 – at Georgia, 8 p.m.; 26 – at Mississippi State, 8 p.m.; 30 – vs. South Carolina, 8 p.m.
February
2 – vs. Mississippi, 7 p.m., 5 – at Arkansas, 7 p.m.; 9 – vs. Mississippi State, 5 p.m.; 12 – vs. Kentucky, 7 p.m.; 16 – at Auburn, 1:30 p.m.; 19 – at Missouri, 9 p.m.; 23 – vs. Arkansas 7 p.m.; 26 – at Tennessee 9 p.m
March
2 – vs. Alabama, noon; 6 – vs. Vanderbilt, 8 p.m.; 9 – at Kentucky, noon; 13-17 – SEC Tournament
Florida Gators
Coach: Billy Donovan (16 years at UF, 386-158; 18 years overall, 421-178).
2011-12 record: 26-11; lost in semifinals of SEC Tournament; Reached Elite Eight of NCAA tournament.
Returning starters: G Kenny Boynton, 6-2 (15.9 points per game, 44 percent 3-point shooting); C Patric Young, 6-9 (10.2 points and 6.4 rebounds); F Erik Murphy, 6-10 (led team with 37 blocks and was second in 3-point shooting).
Top newcomer: G Braxton Ogbueze, 6-0 (rated the No. 78 recruit in the country by Rivals); G Michael Frazier, 6-4 (rated No. 88).
Outlook: The Gators bring back seven of their nine main players. The starters they lost, point guard Erving Walker and do-it-all freshman Bradley Beal, likely are impossible to truly replace. Florida starts the season in the top 10 nationally, but will finish there only if Boynton and Young have all-SEC seasons.
Billy Donovan has to develop a new starting point guard, replace the production of a star who went third in the NBA Draft and sort through an array of possible combinations in the frontcourt.
And he loves it.
At 47 years old and entering his 17th season as coach of the Florida Gators, he embraces the challenge of piecing together this puzzle.
“I enjoy this process right now because we have so many different lineups that can be on the floor,” he said. “I think that stuff’s fun. It’s very stimulating.”
The perception nationally is that Donovan is smart enough and has enough talent on his roster to contend for a championship. The Gators are coming off back-to-back Elite Eight appearances and start out ranked No. 10 in both polls.
They have little time to smooth out their style. Florida opens Nov. 9 against Georgetown, a team that won 24 games and was a No. 3 seed in last season’s NCAA Tournament, in an unusual setting. The game will be played aboard the USS Bataan, which will be docked at the Mayport Naval Air Station near Jacksonville.
The Gators host No. 23 Wisconsin the next week.
“We don’t have time to play through mistakes,” Donovan said. “There could be a game against Georgetown or some of these other teams where you have a couple mistakes and it could cost you the game.”
He gets a test run tonight when the Gators host Nebraska-Kearney in an exhibition game at the O’Connell Center.
Florida finished 26-11 last season, including three decisive wins in the NCAA Tournament before blowing a late lead against Louisville in the regional final. The Gators were up 65-54 with about eight minutes left, then unraveled on their way to a 72-68 loss that haunted them in the off-season.
“There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t think about it,” center Patric Young said. “Back-to-back Elite Eights doesn’t sound anywhere near as good as back-to-back championship titles, so that’s lingering in my head. I want to leave here with a championship. We all want to and we know we have all of the components necessary.”
Florida brings back three starters and a roster that includes those who clocked 65.4 percent of its minutes from last season. The two departures were Erving Walker, a three-year starting point guard, and outstanding freshman guard Bradley Beal. The Washington Wizards took Beal, the team’s best and most versatile player, with the No. 3 pick in June.
Leading scorer Kenny Boynton is back at shooting guard, though he will play point, too. He was fourth in the SEC in scoring at 15.9 points per game, and the media voted him to the pre-season all-conference team. Boynton, a senior, is 501 points away from tying the school scoring record.
Young returns with a chance to be the most dominant big man in the SEC. He is a 6-foot-9, 249-pound junior who averaged 10.2 points and 6.4 rebounds per game last year. Donovan is adamant that he needs to be a more forceful scorer near the basket and be a better rebounder.
The Gators also have senior Erik Murphy back at power forward. At 6-foot-10, Murphy is valuable on the perimeter and down low. He averaged 10.5 points per game, led the team with 37 blocked shots and made 42.1 percent of his three-pointers.
At point guard, UF plans to go with junior Scottie Wilbekin. He was a key reserve the past two years, and Donovan believes he is ready for full-time work. It will be a major leap for a player who averaged 15.2 minutes, 2.5 points and 1.6 assists per game last season.
“Scottie is going to surprise a lot of people,” Boynton said. “If he brings what he’s done in workouts to the game, Scottie will definitely step into Erv’s position pretty good.”
The fifth starting spot seems open. Mike Rosario, a senior shooting guard, gets it in tonight’s exhibition, but Donovan is considering lineups that include forwards Casey Prather and Will Yeguete as well. Each combination has advantages and disadvantages, and sorting through them is a task that still energizes Donovan after two decades in his profession.
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