Gators look to rebound versus Air Force in Sunrise

#14 Florida Gators (8-2, 0-0 SEC) vs. Air Force Falcons (8-2, 0-0 Mountain West)

BB&T Center (capacity: 20,000), Sunrise, FL 4:30 p.m.

Broadcast Information

 TV: Fox Sports Net; Rich Waltz (play-by-play) and Mark Wise (analyst)

Radio: Gator IMG Sports Network; Mick Hubert (play-by-play) and Steve Woodard (sideline)

Head Coaches

University of Florida: Billy Donovan (394-160, 17th season at Florida; 429-180 overall, 19th season)

Air Force: Dave Pilipovich (10-8, first full season at Air Force/overall)

Probable Starters

Florida Gators

#5 Scottie Wilbekin (6’2”, 176 lbs JR) Season stats: 8.6 ppg, 4.5 apg

#1 Kenny Boynton (6'2", 190 lbs SR) Season stats: 12.4 ppg, 4.0 rpg

#3 Mike Rosario (6'3", 183 lbs RS-SR) Season stats: 12.1 ppg, 2.5 rpg

#33 Erik Murphy (6'10", 238 lbs SR) Season stats: 11.2 ppg, 4.5 rpg

#4 Patric Young (6'9", 249 lbs JR) Season stats: 10.9 ppg, 7.2 rpg, 2.1 bpg

Bench

#15 Will Yeguete (6'7", 240 lbs JR) Season stats: 6.7 ppg, 6.3 rpg

#24 Casey Prather (6’6”, 208 lbs JR) Season stats: 5.7 ppg, 3.0 rpg

#20 Michael Frazier II (6’4”, 200 lbs FR) Season stats: 6.1 ppg, 2.8 rpg

Air Force Falcons

#10 Todd Fletcher (6’2”, 183 lbs SR) Season stats: 10.2 ppg, 4.2 apg

#25 Kyle Green (6’2”, 182 lbs SR) Season stats: 6.9 ppg, 1.8 rpg

#14 Michael Lyons (6’5”, 193 lbs SR) Season stats: 20.5 ppg, 5.3 rpg

#5 Mike Fitzgerald (6’6”, 215 lbs SR) Season stats: 7.3 ppg, 3.6 rpg

#34 Taylor Broekhuis (6’10”, 220 lbs SR) Season stats: 11.2 ppg, 4.6 rpg

Bench

#15 Cameron Michael (6’5”, 185 lbs FR) Season stats: 5.7 ppg, 1.9 rpg

#22 Max Yon (6’4”, 195 lbs SO) Season stats: 4.3 ppg, 1.2 rpg

#21 DeLovell Earls (6’5”, 220 lbs SO) Season stats: 3.4 ppg, 3.0 rpg

#01 Tre’ Coggins (6’2”, 185 lbs FR) Season stats: 3.2 ppg, 1.3 rpg

Team and Game Notes

·         Senior guard Kenny Boynton will spend more time off the ball, moving back to his more comfortable position of shooting guard.  The amount of responsibilities that come with being the point guard were probably too much for Boynton.  With the switch, he’ll be in a more positive frame of mind and hopefully his shooting percentages will improve.

·         Boynton recently became the fifth-leading scorer in school history, but he’s made just 25.4% of his shots and 16.1% of his three-pointers during a five-game shooting slump.

·         Boynton plays at home in South Florida for the final time in his collegiate career.  He attended American Heritage School in Plantation, FL.

·         Junior guard Scottie Wilbekin is third in the SEC in assist-to-turnover ratio at 3:3 (36 assists and 11 turnovers)

·         With his 19-point, 11-rebound performance in the loss to Kansas State, junior Patric Young had his fourth double-double of the season.  That equals the total number of double-doubles from his first two seasons combined.

·         Senior guard Mike Rosario leads the SEC in free-throw percentage at 88.3% (25/28)

·         Air Force ranks seventh in the nation in 3-pointers made (9.1 per game), 15th in the nation in field goal percentage (49.2 percent) and 28th in the country in assists (16.5 assists per game)- Kevin Brockway, Gators beat writer.

 Last Game for Both Schools

Florida: Lost to Kansas State (neutral) on Saturday, 67-61

Air Force: Defeated UC Riverside (away) on Saturday, 61-53

Gators All-Time Versus Air Force

 Florida is 1-0 all-time versus Air Force.  The Gators defeated the Falcons 74-68 in the Gator Bowl Tournament on December 27, 1963.

What I’m Wondering    

After a forgettable loss on Saturday against Kansas State, the Gator players went home for three days for Christmas. After some quality time with family and friends, they returned to campus on Wednesday for a series of grueling practices in the lead-up to today’s game against Air Force. The Orange Bowl Classic has been kind to the Gators over the years, with only a defeat versus Richmond in 2009. Can the Gators continue their good play in Sunrise?

2. Kenny Boynton is playing in front of his home fans for the final time in his collegiate career. This would be the perfect opportunity to dig himself out of his shooting slump. I feel that playing at home will do wonders for him going forward, even if it’s only for one game. Will we see the early-season Kenny?

3. Patric Young commanded the paint versus Kansas State and wound up with 19 points and 11 rebounds. If the Gators had continued to feed him the ball down low, the outcome might’ve been different. He needs to continue to have a presence in the post and command the ball. He’s a matchup nightmare when he plays like he did against KSU. Will Patric build on last game?

4. Air Force is a perimeter-oriented team and Florida has struggled defending the three in their losses to Arizona and Kansas State. Coach Donovan will undoubtedly have them prepared and I expect an improved effort in three-point defense. How will the Gators defend the perimeter?

 Records to be Broken in the Near Future

Kenny Boynton (1,713 points) needs 65 points to pass Erving Walker for fourth on the all-time scoring list



· Boynton (279 three-pointers) needs seven threes to pass Walker for second on the all-time list (Lee Humphrey leads with 288)



· Boynton (1,406 field goal attempts) needs two attempts to pass Dwayne Schintzius for fourth on the all-time list

 

Final score prediction: Florida 84 – Air Force 66