GatorBait.net - Parsons' late shot keeps record intact

November 15, 2009

Adam Gorney
GatorBait.net Assistant Editor

The cheering was louder than normal and Chandler Parsons didn't know why until after the game when athletics director Jeremy Foley told him he kept a long-standing school record intact, one that was dangerously close to falling.

Parsons hit Florida's only 3-pointer with 31.2 seconds left and continued a 580-game streak dating back to Jan. 11, 1992 against Kentucky in which the Gators have hit one from long distance and they defeated Stetson, 74-46, Sunday in front of 10,077 at the O'Connell Center.

Parsons had a team-high 14 points and six rebounds but turned it over five times and Alex Tyus finished with 12 points and 13 rebounds.

"I had no idea but Jeremy Foley came up to me after the game," Parsons said. "That's what Mr. Foley said to me but I noticed it got a little louder than usual. ? I'm honored to keep the streak alive."

Florida missed its other 12 3-point attempts with five-star freshman Kenny Boynton (12 points) missing four, Dan Werner and Erving Walker missing three apiece and Ray Shipman misfiring on both of his attempts. The Gators were 1 of 13.

"I was thinking about that when Chandler made the shot, I said, 'Wow, this will be the first time in a long, long time we didn't make a 3,'" coach Billy Donovan said. "Every game I've coached here we've made a 3.

"At the end of the day, what difference does it make? Eventually it's going to probably end. There will be a game here, who knows when, there will be a game where Florida doesn't make a 3-point shot. I hope it's not the end of the world in Gainesville."

Other than the poor outside shooting, Florida looked solid in its opener albeit against a lackluster opponent with no high-major players.

Clearly, the Gators' backcourt is more aggressive and athletic than last season especially in full-court pressure. Walker and Shipman each had two steals and pestered Stetson's backcourt.

Even with the backcourt pressure, Stetson didn't have easy buckets after breaking the press or in transition. Florida's frontcourt stayed home and didn't let the Hatters have anything easy in the lane.

Vernon Macklin, average in two exhibition blowouts, finished with 13 points, eight rebounds and three blocks for the Gators, which led by 22 points at halftime.

He played calmer but more aggressively and didn't make as many mistakes as he had against Saint Leo and Webber International. Still, he has not been challenged by an SEC-caliber center.

"It was a game where our intensity was very good, we were solid all the way through, I don't remember here the last couple years ever having as many shot-clock violations in this game maybe all of last year," Donovan said.

"That was great to see just that we were able to force them to go deep into the shot clock, we didn't give up any easy baskets coming out of the press or give up easy baskets early in transition."

Nation's top player at game: Five-star point guard Brandon Knight from Fort Lauderdale Pine Crest attended the Florida-Stetson game and continues to list the Gators as one of his favorite schools.

Florida, Kansas and Kentucky are Knight's top teams. Rivals.com rates him No. 1 in the 2010 class. Signee Patric Young was also seen in the stands. Young said he has faxed in his letter-of-intent.


Official Basketball Box Score
Stetson vs Florida
11/15/09 4 p.m. at Stephen C. O'Connell Center


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VISITORS: Stetson 1-1
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
05 GRAHAM, Ridge....... f  1-5    0-0    2-2    1  5  6   3   4  0  1  0  1  28
13 RADFORD, Graeme..... c  0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  4  0  19
02 SMITH, A.J.......... g  5-17   0-5    2-5    1  4  5   1  12  1  3  1  0  29
03 WILLIAMS, Brandon... g  2-5    1-4    2-3    1  1  2   1   7  0  3  0  1  22
15 LOHUIS, Mark........ g  1-6    0-4    0-0    0  2  2   2   2  0  0  0  0  24
04 OLIVER, Sheldon.....    1-3    0-0    0-0    2  2  4   0   2  1  3  0  0  13
10 BOWEN, Shawn........    0-2    0-1    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   8
11 DUPITON, Olivier....    0-5    0-0    0-0    0  1  1   1   0  0  1  0  2  16
12 NABURGS, Joel.......    0-1    0-0    0-0    0  1  1   3   0  0  2  0  0  11
22 PATTERSON, Tyshawn..    6-11   1-3    6-6    1  0  1   2  19  1  2  0  1  18
24 McINERNEY, Liam.....    0-1    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   1   0  0  0  0  1   4
33 WESTON, J.R.........    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   2   0  0  1  0  0   8
   TEAM................                         4  3  7             2
   Totals..............   16-56   2-17  12-16  10 19 29  16  46  3 18  5  6 200

TOTAL FG% 1st Half:  6-28 21.4%   2nd Half: 10-28 35.7%   Game: 28.6%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  1-11  9.1%   2nd Half:  1-6  16.7%   Game: 11.8%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  4-4  100 %   2nd Half:  8-12 66.7%   Game: 75.0%    1


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HOME TEAM: Florida 1-0
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
21 Werner, Dan......... f  1-5    0-3    0-0    0  2  2   1   2  0  0  0  1  19
23 Tyus, Alex.......... f  6-8    0-0    0-0    3 10 13   1  12  1  1  1  0  27
32 Macklin, Vernon..... c  6-9    0-0    1-3    4  4  8   3  13  1  3  3  1  23
01 Boynton, Kenny...... g  5-11   0-4    2-2    0  2  2   4  12  2  3  0  1  29
11 Walker, Erving...... g  4-9    0-3    0-0    0  2  2   3   8  3  1  0  2  32
03 Shipman, Ray........    2-7    0-2    1-2    1  2  3   1   5  0  1  0  2  23
25 Parsons, Chandler...    4-5    1-1    5-6    2  4  6   2  14  1  5  0  0  24
30 Kadji, Kenny........    1-2    0-0    0-0    1  0  1   1   2  0  1  1  0   6
33 Murphy, Erik........    2-3    0-0    2-2    1  1  2   1   6  1  3  0  1  14
42 Tishman, Rod........    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  1  1   1   0  2  0  0  0   3
   TEAM................                         1  5  6
   Totals..............   31-59   1-13  11-15  13 33 46  18  74 11 18  5  8 200

TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 16-31 51.6%   2nd Half: 15-28 53.6%   Game: 52.5%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  0-7   0.0%   2nd Half:  1-6  16.7%   Game:  7.7%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  7-8  87.5%   2nd Half:  4-7  57.1%   Game: 73.3%    0


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Officials: Doug Shows, Mike Nance, John Hampton
Technical fouls: Stetson-None. Florida-None.
Attendance: 10077
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
Stetson.......................   17   29  -   46
Florida.......................   39   35  -   74
ID-860678

Points in the paint-STET 18,UF 42. Points off turnovers-STET 11,UF 28.
2nd chance points-STET 3,UF 18. Fast break points-STET 2,UF 10.
Bench points-STET 21,UF 27. Score tied-1 time. Lead changed-1 time.
Last FG-STET 2nd-01:08, UF 2nd-00:06.
Largest lead-STET by 3 1st-17:59, UF by 28 2nd-00:06.