Breaking the record is one thing, but breaking it by 1,000. Wow! On Thursday, January 9, 2014 10:09:13 AM UTC-6, Oliver Barry wrote: > > *FREE THROWS:* Florida had 4,182 students show up for Wednesday’s win, a > school record. The student attendance surpassed the previous record by more > than 1,000. > > > > How do you get more students at your basketball games? Have a crappy > football season. > > > > Oliver Barry, CRS, GRI > > Bob Parks Realty, LLC > > REO Department > > 1517 Hunt Club Blvd > > Gallatin TN 37066 > > Phone: 615-826-4040 > > Mobile: 615-972-4239 > > [email protected] <javascript:> > > > > *From:* [email protected] <javascript:> [mailto: > [email protected] <javascript:>] *On Behalf Of *Shane Ford > *Sent:* Thursday, January 09, 2014 7:24 AM > *To:* GatorNEWS > *Subject:* [gatornews] [SUN]: Gators win 24th straight at home to open > SEC play > > > Gators win 24th straight at home to open SEC play > > > > Florida forward Casey Prather celebrates after a dunk against South > Carolina during the first half at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center on > Wednesday. > > *Matt Stamey/Staff photographer* > > By Kevin Brockway <http://www.gatorsports.com/personalia/kevinbrockway> > Gainesville SUN Staff writer > Published: Wednesday, January 8, 2014 at 8:59 p.m.Last Modified: > Wednesday, January 8, 2014 at 11:28 p.m. > > > > > > It had all the makings of a joyous Southeastern Conference opener. Florida > was up by more than 20 points late against South Carolina before a > near-packed O’Connell Center ready to celebrate a convincing league win. > > But senior point guard Scottie Wilbekin’s ankle sprain in the closing > minutes put a damper on UF’s 74-58 win before 12,147 at the O’Dome. > Wilbekin suffered the injury when he rolled his ankle on a drive to the > basket with 2:50 remaining. Florida coach Billy Donovan said Wilbekin is > questionable for UF’s next game Saturday at Arkansas. > > “They took him off the floor and iced it immediately,” Donovan said. > “Right now, he’s probably out (Thursday’s) practice. We’ll see where he is > Friday.” > > Wilbekin scored a team-high 17 points as the No. 10 Gators (12-2, 1-0 SEC) > matched a school record with their 24th straight home record. But at issue > was whether the 6-foot-2 senior point guard from Gainesville should have > been in the game with Florida ahead by 23 points. > > Donovan had a substitute ready to check in for Wilbekin when he was hurt > and South Carolina coach Frank Martin still had the majority of his > starters in the game. > > “It was hard,” Donovan said. “When you have older guys and you get into a > situation where I think we got outscored the last two minutes 11-3. You > want to get guys off the floor, but you put some of those guys in the bench > in there, it’s difficult. Obviously, South Carolina, Frank’s teams, the way > he teaches and coaches, he’s going to play those guys for 40 minutes and > get after it and play hard.” > > Donovan also said Wilbekin may have caused the injury himself by shooting > in the lane off of one leg. > > “He never really makes that shot, and he did such a good job all game > long,” Donovan said. “But it’s a matter of him listening.” > > Other than Wilbekin’s injury, Florida had plenty to feel good about during > the game. Florida jumped to a 14-1 lead and scored 15 points off 15 South > Carolina turnovers in the first half to build a 34-21 halftime lead. UF’s > press was effective, frustrating South Carolina (7-7, 0-1) into ill-advised > passes and rushed shots. > > “The young kids were tight and nervous,” said South Carolina coach Frank > Martin, who started three freshmen. “My biggest concern going into this > game was that first five to six minutes. Exactly what I was hoping didn’t > happen, happened.” > > South Carolina whittled UF’s lead to eight points in the second half > before a final UF surge. After going 1-of-10 from 3-point range in the > first half, Florida went 4-of-9 from beyond the arc in the second half to > finish 5-of-19 for the game. > > Casey Prather added 13 points for the Gators and Patric Young had 13 > points, seven rebounds and three steals. The Gators outscored South > Carolina 40-22 in the paint and 20-5 in fast-break points. > > Young felt like the Gators led down at points during the game instead of > sustaining their intensity for a full 40 minutes. > > “We allow that human nature to kick in and us having that mindset of > relaxing a little bit instead of having that killer mindset,” Young said. > > Florida’s 24-game home winning streak, which started Nov. 11 2012 with an > 84-35 win over Alabama State, is the third longest in Division I. Stephen > F. Austin currently holds the longest home win streak at 26 games. Duke is > next at 25 straight at home. Missouri had its 26-game home win streak > snapped with a stunning 80-74 overtime loss to Georgia on Wednesday night. > > Florida will go for the school record when it next plays at home on Jan. > 14 against Georgia. Florida last won 24 straight at home from March 1, 2006 > to Nov. 23, 2007, a stretch that covered the second of its back-to-back > national title seasons. > > “We’ve been here for a minute, and it would be nice to do something > special and keep that streak going,” Florida senior forward Will Yeguete > said. > > Florida will face an Arkansas team on Saturday that has won 23 straight at > home. If Wilbekin can’t go, McDonald’s All-American Kasey Hill will start > at point guard for the Gators. Hill had a solid SEC debut with five points, > two assists and two steals. > > But Young thinks Wilbekin will find a way to get on the court Saturday for > UF’s first SEC road game. > > “He went to the basket hard and it was a minor ankle sprain,” Young said. > “I think he’s going to be alright. We’ve got the best trainers here, the > best doctors. He’ll work hard to try to get back.” > > *FREE THROWS:* Florida had 4,182 students show up for Wednesday’s win, a > school record. The student attendance surpassed the previous record by more > than 1,000. … South Carolina senior Brenton Williams, a Santa Fe College > transfer, finished with 10 points and three steals. Junior guard Tyrone > Johnson led the Gamecocks with 12 points. > > Donovan wins FIBA award > > Florida coach Billy Donovan was named a co-recipient of the 2013 USA > Basketball National Coach of the Year. > > Donovan led Team USA to a 9-0 record and gold medal at last summer’s 2013 > FIBA Under-19 World Championships in Prague, Czech Republic. > > He shared the award with Miami women’s basketball coach Katie Meier, who > led the USA under-19 women to a gold medal as well. > > "I'm very thankful to USA Basketball for the opportunity to coach this > team and appreciative of this honor," Donovan said. > > > > -- > -- > GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY! > 1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions > 2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions > 2008 National Football Champions | > Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996), > Tim Tebow (2007) - Visit our website at www.gatornet.us > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "GatorNews" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected] <javascript:>. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. >
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