University of Florida senior guard Kenny Boynton might have found the recipe for his recent shooting woes — some good old-fashioned home cooking.
Boynton knocked down three 3-pointers in the second half and, along with teammate Erik Murphy’s game-high 21 points, sparked the No. 14 Gators (9-2) to a 78-61 victory over Air Force in the Orange Bowl Basketball Classic on Saturday. The game was played at the BB&T Center, about a mile from where Boynton enjoyed a spectacular high school career at Plantation-American Heritage.
“It’s my last time in college to play down here,” said Boynton, who was participating in the Orange Bowl event for the fourth time in his career. “I had fun.”
It hasn’t been all fun for Boynton this season. A noted long-distance shooter, Boynton entered Saturday’s game having made just four of his last 32 3-point attempts and shooting 27.9 percent beyond the arc.
Boynton didn’t get off to a very good start against Air Force, missing his first two 3-point attempts and scoring only three points in the first half as the Gators struggled with the scrappy Falcons (8-3).
But Boynton got on track early in the second half, connecting on consecutive 3-pointers to turn a three-point Florida lead into a 43-34 advantage with 14:36 to play. Air Force never came within seven points of the Gators after that.
“Kenny can miss 10 shots and then make his next 10,” Air Force coach Dave Pilipovich said. “We talked about it at halftime — expect him to be more aggressive in the second half — and he was.”
Boynton wasn’t the only dangerous Gator the Falcons had to confront. Murphy, a 6-foot-10 senior forward named the game’s Most Valuable Player, tortured undersized Air Force from long distance and around the basket. He made 8 of 10 shots and finished with 21 points to go along with seven rebounds, four assists and three blocks.
“I thought today was really a complete game for him offensively,” coach Billy Donovan said. “He scored in a lot of different ways.”
Boynton, Murphy and just about every other player in orange and blue proved to be unstoppable for Air Force in the second half. The Gators shot 69.6 percent (16-for-23) in the final 20 minutes while holding the Falcons to 33.3 percent (8-for-24) shooting.
Air Force guard Michael Lyons, the Mountain West Conference’s leading scorer with an average of 20.5 points per game, was held to three field goals and 11 points thanks primarily to the defensive effort of Florida guard Scottie Wilbekin.
The Gators were coming off two losses in their previous three games after winning their first seven and had fallen in the Associated Press Top 25 rankings from No. 5 to No. 14.
Asked if the victory was needed to uplift the team’s spirit, Murphy responded: “I don’t think it’s a confidence boost because I don’t think our team is ever not confident.”
Air Force dropped to 2-77 all time against ranked teams.
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