Gainesville, FL (Sports Network) - After their season opener was cut short at
halftime, the 10th-ranked Florida Gators will take on the Alabama State
Hornets at the O'Connell Center in their second attempt at a season opener.
Alabama State actually got to play a whole game on Friday, but the results
weren't what it was looking for as it fell on the road to Middle Tennessee,
97-53. The Hornets picked up right where they left off following a
disappointing 12-19 campaign a year ago.
Florida took to the outdoor court aboard the U.S.S. Bataan in Jacksonville on
Friday night to play Georgetown, and things went smoothly for the first 20
minutes, but the game was canceled at the half once the court became
unplayable due to slippery conditions because of condensation. It was one of
two outdoor games on the east coast on Friday that needed to be canceled
because of the same situation.
The Gators defeated the Hornets, 87-60, on Nov. 28, 2005 in the only previous
meeting between the two. Florida is 6-0 all-time against teams from the
Southwestern Athletic Conference.
Alabama State came out of the gates strong against Middle Tennessee,
connecting on 10-of-21 field goal attempts, including 4-of-8 from three-point
range in the first half, but by game's end it finished with a woeful .362
field goal percentage. In fact, the Hornets committed five more turnovers (22)
than field goals made (17). If that wasn't bad enough, they could not stop the
Blue Raiders, who made 33-of-68 field goal attempts and went to the foul line
29 times. Only one player tallied double digits for Alabama State as Joshua
Freelove scored 12 points in 29 minutes of action. It was his first game as a
Hornet following a transfer from Lewis and Clark Community College. Luther
Page contributed seven points and three blocked shots, and he is expected to
have an increased role this season after averaging just 3.1 ppg during the
2011-12 campaign.
Although in the end none of the statistics from the canceled game will count,
Florida showed plenty of promise on Friday night, shooting 45.5 percent from
the field while holding Georgetown to 35.7 percent as it took a 27-23 lead
into halftime. Will Yeguete put up a team-high eight points, which was nearly
double his scoring average from last season, and Kenny Boynton scored six
points and dished out three assists, but he also had four turnovers. Boynton
(15.9 ppg in 2011-12) is one of the best players in the SEC and is expected to
be a huge factor in whether or not the Gators make another deep run in the
NCAA Tournament. Erik Murphy (10.5 ppg), Patric Young (10.2 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 61.8
FG%), Mike Rosario (6.6 ppg) and Yeguete will continue to be mainstays in the
starting lineup. Braxton Ogbueze (6-0, 182) was one of the top point guard
prospects in last season's recruiting class, but he saw just four minutes of
action in the opener, and it appears for now that the team will go forward
with Boynton as the primary ball-handler.
The Sports Network