GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Everyone went home Thursday
night raving about the Florida freshmen. Billy Donovan left the
O'Connell Center grumbling about his upperclassmen.
Freshman
guard Michael Frazier II (pictured above) scored a game-high 21 points,
making five of six shots from 3-point range, as UF's four-man rookie
class accounted for nearly half the team's points in a 101-71 exhibition
win over Division-II Nebraska-Kearney before 7,121 at the O'Dome.
Frazier,
the Tampa kid who honed his game last year at prep powerhouse Montverde
(Fla.) Academy, went 8-for-10 from floor, while fellow freshmen guards
Braxton Ogbueze (Charlotte, N.C.) scored 15 points on 4-for-5 shooting
and Dillon Graham (Orlando) hit all four of his field goals for 12
points. Throw in two from forward DeVon Walker and that makes 50
freshman points on 17-for-24 shooting.
And then there were the veterans.
Aside
from junior forward Will Yeguete's 20 points and 11 rebounds in an
encouraging return from a season-ending broken foot, the combination of
junior center Patric Young, senior forward Erik Murphy, senior guard
Mike Rosario and junior point guard Scottie Wilbekin totaled 15 points,
10 rebounds and eight assists.
That the young guys out-shined the
experienced guys was something Donovan wasn't ready for; not after a
preseason of talking effort, defense and rebounding.
"I was much,
much more pleased with our freshmen. After coaching those guys for
three weeks, they in a lot of ways do not know what they're doing, but
they're committed to working hard, trying to get better and being
committed to the game," Donovan said. "I question our older guys
commitment to defending and rebounding like we need to. That was the
disappointing thing to me. I'd rather have the young guys out there
making mistakes, really getting after it, giving all they have."
That's why Donovan went with a lineup of one senior, guard Kenny Boynton
(14 points, 6-for-9 shooting), alongside Frazier and Graham in the
backcourt, and 6-foot-5 Walker and 6-7 Yeguete up front -- energy over
size -- and watched the Gators turn an eight-point lead four minutes
into the second half into a 22-point lead four minutes later.
"I
think we played really hard, and that's all Coach Donovan asked of us;
to go out there and give it our best effort," Frazier said. "The shots
just fell."
They dropped for Yeguete too, who was delighted not
only with his performance (8-for-10 from the floor), but more so for the
opportunity to be back on the court in a game-situation -- in front of
fans -- for the first time since breaking his foot Feb. 21 against
Auburn.
"Oh my gosh, I was just excited to be out there and back
on the court," said Yeguete, who finished second on the team in
rebounding last season. "I just wanted to be play hard and play
aggressive and crash the boards."
He did, grabbing five offensive
rebounds. Collectively, though, the Gators won the rebound battle
against the undersized Lopers by a slim -- and unacceptable, according
to Donovan -- margin of 32-29.
That won't cut it next week in the 2012-13 season opener against Georgetown.
Not
on a battleship, in a coliseum or any playground, for that
matter."We'll have to rebound and play hard from the start in that
game," Boynton said. "We got off to a slow start tonight."
As far
as the coach was concerned, they finished slow too. "I was really
disappointed in our defense," Donovan said after Nebraska-Kearney shot
45.8 percent for the game (41.2 from the arc), including 51.9 percent
after halftime.
"Clearly, from a talent standpoint and size
standpoint, we had a huge advantage [but] time and time again I saw our
older guys getting beat off the dribble and not rebounding the
basketball."
Wonder where the focus will be during practice the next few days.
