[BothTeamsPlayedHardParticipant]

http://www.gatorzone.com/story.php?id=19053

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – For Florida men’s basketball coach Billy Donovan, Thursday night’s exhibition opener was sort of like walking into a chemistry lab.

Donovan pulled back the curtain and unveiled the five true freshmen on the roster, and then tossed them onto the court in various mixtures with the five returning starters.

Florida Tech never had a chance, not that the overmatched Panthers ever did. The Gators, who learned earlier Thursday that they will open the season ranked ninth in the AP Top 25, rolled to a 92-58 victory at the O’Connell Center.

“The game was a hard game for our guys to play in, primarily because of myself,’’ Donovan said of his experimental substitution patterns. “I wanted to make sure we gave our freshmen an opportunity to play so we could get a look at them.’’

The freshman many in the announced crowd of 7,784 came to see was 6-foot-9, 245-pound center Patric Young, the most highly touted of the incoming players. Young is a physical player who has already broken teammate Casey Prather’s nose in a pickup game and delivered plenty of punishing bruises.

It took Young all of 20 minutes to foul out in his collegiate debut.

“I was actually shocked he got 20 minutes,’’ Donovan quipped. “I thought he would foul out in 10.’’

Young managed to laugh about his rough-and-tumble debut.

“I fouled out in my first game,’’ he said. “I mean, who does that.’’

But before Young departed, he showed the hustle and all-out effort that has him pegged as the most physical player the Gators have had since winning back-to-back national titles in 2006 and 2007. Young filled up the stat sheet in a workmanlike way with three points, two rebounds, two assists, two steals and one block.

“I felt like I definitely played really hard,’’ Young said. “You could see how nervous I was when I shot my first free throw.’’

Senior Chandler Parsons, who finished with 15 points, four rebounds, four assists and four steals, liked what he saw from the newcomers and the veterans. Parsons expects Donovan to point out plenty of improvements the Gators can make when they watch film on Friday, but as exhibition openers go, he gave it two thumbs up.

“It’s always good to get out there and feel how fatiguing a game really is,’’ Parsons said. “I think we showed that we’re going to be a physical team, a tough team. We took a lot of charges. It’s promising because of all the physical things we did.’’

Here are other highlights from the Gators’ 19^th consecutive exhibition win since 2001:

–Sophomore Kenny Boynton led Florida with a game-high 24 points, hitting 10 of 15 shots, including 4 of 6 from 3-point range.

“He was really efficient,’’ Donovan said. “The thing that was great with Boynton tonight was his feeling and understanding.’’

–The five freshmen – Young, Prather, Cody Larson, Will Yeguette and Scottie Wilbekin – combined for 20 points, led by Prather’s 10. Prather also added a team-high 12 rebounds.

–Wilbekin played only five minutes, leaving the game with what trainers are calling a strained neck. Donovan said Wilbekin was cleared to play in the second half but still felt some discomfort.

–Returning starters Alex Tyus (10 minutes) and Vernon Macklin (12 minutes) played sparingly so Donovan could take an extended look at the younger players. Tyus made the most of his time, scoring 14 points; Macklin finished with four and a career-high three assists.

–Eleven of the 12 players who saw action scored for Florida.

–Junior guard Erving Walker finished 1-for-8 shooting, missing all five 3-pointers. “This will be a good film for him to watch,’’ said Donovan.

Bottom Line

“We did some things physically that I think have been lacking here,’’ Donovan said. “I thought we were really good on loose balls. I think our freshmen, we got good minutes that they can look at and our staff can look at to see where they can learn.”

http://www.gatorzone.com/basketball/men/boxscore.php?gameid=9409

 

[JNixonParticipant]

Good to see Parsons and Boynton play good. I predicted that Parsons will be a 1st round pick in the draft in 2011 and Boynton would be a darkhorse All-American candidate, so hopefully those two can continue to play at a high level so those projections come true. 🙂

But Patric Young plays very hard, and I’m interested to see how he bounces back from this. I expected him to be a fan favorite in Gainesville and to be a high energy athletic frontcourt guy, but he’s been getting all kinds of overrated love early by some draft experts

[JNixonParticipant]

Good to see Parsons and Boynton play good. I predicted that Parsons will be a 1st round pick in the draft in 2011 and Boynton would be a darkhorse All-American candidate, so hopefully those two can continue to play at a high level so those projections come true. 🙂

But Patric Young plays very hard, and I’m interested to see how he bounces back from this. I expected him to be a fan favorite in Gainesville and to be a high energy athletic frontcourt guy, but he’s been getting all kinds of overrated love early by some draft experts

[Author]

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