- The Gators continue to roll, but something else rolled on Tuesday in Florida’s 58 -40 win over Savannah State — Kenny Boynton’s ankle. Boynton turned his ankle in the second half, tried to return to play, and eventually had to be helped off the court after just five points in 24 minutes. According to coach Billy Donovan, Boynton “was capable of going back into the game. We held him out.” Donovan added that he didn’t anticipate his senior guard would miss any additional time. That’s positive news for the Gators, as Boynton has increased his shooting percentages (he currently has an effective field goal percentage of 58.1%) and offensive efficiency rating (127.3, but be sure to read the small sample size oath).
- In quite a change of events from recent years and even earlier this year in its first exhibition game, Florida is relying on its defense to win games. “We’re getting better,” Donovan said. “I think the one thing I tried to do in the offseason was really show and display what and how teams scored against us and what we were going to try to do to try to correct those things. It’s an everyday process, but I think those guys are committed and I think those guys are working hard.” Florida’s adjusted defensive efficiency ranks fourth in the nation and its effective field goal defense ranks second. And the Gators’ defense might have won them the game against Savannah State. “Our defense saved us because we were not very good at all on offense,” Donovan said. Right now, Florida appears more balanced than it has been in many years.
- Kentucky point guard Ryan Harrow appears to be feeling better, but now will be out one more game, this time with a family issue. Prior to UK’s victory over Morehead State, Calipari said Harrow “called (Tuesday) and said, ‘Coach, I got an issue that I’ve got to deal with, and my mom’s here. I’m going to go deal with it.’ ” Harrow has struggled this year, only amassing 10 minutes of play this season. When asked whether or not he thought Harrow was having difficulty adjusting to the high pressures of being the starting point guard, “I don’t think so,” Calipari said. “I don’t think it’s that. It might be some of it, but I don’t believe that. He was getting better. That’s the sad thing about it.” Kentucky would certainly like to see its starting point guard back. Harrow’s first game back could be next Thursday against Notre Dame.
- Vanderbilt went into its game with Davidson on Thursday with a laundry list of items to work on. “We just have to get better at everything,” Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings said. “Our post play in the game the other night was really bad. I mean, just from top to bottom — offensively, defensively, we fouled too much, we didn’t get picked up in transition, we made careless turnovers, we took bad shots. We just did a lot of things you do when you play poorly. It’s a process. These guys are young and eager and they want to do well, but sometimes they don’t know what to do or they don’t do the right thing.” The Commodores’ 48 points last Friday at Oregon was the fewest point total for the squad in more than nine years. Despite the loss to Davidson on Thursday, the ‘Dores limited turnovers to 12 but shot just 44.6 percent from the field.
- And finally we end with Frank Martin doing what Frank Martin does best. We are a little late on this, but it’s never too late to circle back around to one of Martin’s temper tantrums. Just wait until South Carolina jumps into conference play. We haven’t seen Martin mad yet.
Brian Joyce (333 Posts)Brian Joyce is an advanced metrics enthusiast, college hoops junkie, and writer for the SEC basketball microsite for Rush the Court.