GatorBait.net - Gators get back on track with victory

February 18, 2009

Adam Gorney
GatorBait.net Assistant Editor

To give his team an extra shot of motivation, coach Billy Donovan showed them Al Pacino's speech from Any Given Sunday before the game. It worked, even though sophomore guard Nick Calathes said his favorite sports movie is Love & Basketball.

"He said Love & Basketball?" asked sophomore forward Chandler Parsons, who added Remember the Titans is his favorite flick. "That's crazy."

Coming off two straight close losses, Calathes helped Florida bounce back as he finished with 22 points, six assists and five steals and Alex Tyus added 16 points and seven rebounds in the Gators' 83-74 win against Alabama Wednesday in front of 12,120 at the O'Connell Center.

With Florida's victory and South Carolina's loss at Mississippi State and Tennessee's loss at Ole Miss, there is a four-way logjam again atop the SEC standings.

"We came in and had to get a win," Calathes said. "We weren't thinking if we lose this our season is over but home court and we were ready to play."

Not exactly Hollywood quotes even if Calathes could have walked off the set of Hoosiers right onto the Florida basketball team. He fits the part of fictional legend Jimmy Chitwood well although Donovan was hardly as fiery as coach Norman Dale, probably because the Gators played so well.

When things got tight and Alabama (13-12, 3-8 SEC) cut the lead to five points with 14:26 left it was Calathes who answered with a 3-pointer from the top of the key.

Tyus was especially active midway through the second half with a dunk, a putback and two free throws that put the Gators (20-6, 7-4) ahead 64-53. The sophomore forward, who has played center all season because no one else has been consistent enough, scored Florida's final field goal with 5:46 left and quality free throw shooting did the rest.

Florida, which had a 16-point lead late in the first half, hit its last nine foul shots over the final 4:20 and freshman guard Erving Walker, who took a questionable shot in the final seconds of the Georgia loss, canned the last four to seal the win. Alabama trimmed the lead to seven multiple times but would get no closer.

"I don't think we're a great team and (when) I say team I'm talking about the chemistry particularly when you have five freshmen," Donovan said. "They're trying to figure out am I doing good? Am I doing bad? How am I going to get on the floor? What am I doing wrong? You have a tendency to forget you're a part of the team because there is so much being thrown at you, you're trying to figure out so much.

"I've been trying to talk to these guys about coming together as a team. We try different things, do things to constantly make points, do things to try to help them get better. Tonight it was pretty effective. Other times I say, 'Why did I do that? It was awful.'"

The Gators looked anything but awful early especially after Walker and Calathes hit back-to-back 3-pointers to make it 19-7. Florida's lead swelled to 45-29 when Walker drilled a 3-pointer with 2:32 left. He finished with 13 points.

Parsons and senior guard Walter Hodge each scored nine and Hodge tied a team-high with six assists. Kenny Kadji finished with eight points and eight rebounds.

Alonzo Gee, who torched the Gators for 32 points in Tuscaloosa last season, led the Crimson Tide, still winless on the road this season, with 17 points and seven rebounds. JaMychal Green had 12 points and a game-high 15 boards and Senario Hillman scored 15. Alabama has lost four in a row and six of its last seven.

It gets no easier for Florida, which still has games against Vanderbilt, LSU, Tennessee, Mississippi State and Tennessee before the conference tournament. Even if the players say they're not focused on it, there are NCAA Tournament implications.

"It was a must-win," Parsons said. "Our schedule is only getting harder and teams are only going to play better, the scouting is going to get more precise. We have to come out and play every game like it's our last."

Calathes said: "We have to get pumped up when coach doesn't show a movie or anything like that. We're playing basketball at the University of Florida. That's not a trick at all. We'll be ready to play."


Official Basketball Box Score
Alabama vs University of Florid
2/18/09 7 p.m. at Stephen C. O'Connell Center

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VISITORS: Alabama 13-12, 3-8
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
32 JaMychal Green...... f  5-12   0-0    2-6    8  7 15   3  12  2  0  2  0  32
40 Justin Knox......... f  3-6    0-1    0-0    3  3  6   1   6  0  2  1  0  16
02 Mikhail Torrance.... g  3-8    2-4    1-2    0  2  2   2   9  3  3  0  0  25
12 Alonzo Gee.......... g  6-11   0-3    5-8    2  5  7   2  17  3  2  1  0  34
21 Senario Hillman..... g  6-12   2-4    1-2    0  1  1   5  15  3  4  1  1  33
01 Anthony Brock.......    3-5    0-2    0-0    0  2  2   3   6  2  1  0  4  20
04 Brandon Hollinger...    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   2
23 Demetrius Jemison...    1-1    0-0    0-0    0  2  2   0   2  0  0  1  0  12
25 Andrew Steele.......    2-4    0-0    0-0    2  0  2   0   4  0  0  0  0   7
34 Yamene Coleman......    1-3    0-0    1-2    0  4  4   1   3  0  1  1  0  19
   TEAM................
   Totals..............   30-62   4-14  10-20  15 26 41  17  74 13 13  7  5 200

TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 14-26 53.8%   2nd Half: 16-36 44.4%   Game: 48.4%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  4-8  50.0%   2nd Half:  0-6   0.0%   Game: 28.6%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  3-4  75.0%   2nd Half:  7-16 43.8%   Game: 50.0%    7


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HOME TEAM: University of Florid 20-6, 7-4
                          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  2-6    2-3    0-0    2  2  4   3   6  2  0  1  3  32
25 Parsons, Chandler... f  4-9    0-3    1-3    1  2  3   2   9  2  0  0  3  25
23 Tyus, Alex.......... c  5-9    0-0    6-8    4  3  7   3  16  0  3  0  0  27
15 Hodge, Walter....... g  3-13   1-9    2-2    2  0  2   3   9  6  0  0  0  33
33 Calathes, Nick...... g  7-12   4-7    4-5    0  3  3   2  22  6  4  0  5  33
01 Vargas, Eloy........    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   1
03 Shipman, Ray........    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  3  3   0   0  0  1  0  0  10
11 Walker, Erving......    3-10   3-7    4-4    2  2  4   2  13  1  1  0  0  25
30 Kadji, Kenny........    3-8    0-0    2-2    3  5  8   1   8  0  0  2  0  14
   TEAM................                         3     3             1
   Totals..............   27-67  10-29  19-24  17 20 37  16  83 17 10  3 11 200

TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 17-34 50.0%   2nd Half: 10-33 30.3%   Game: 40.3%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  6-13 46.2%   2nd Half:  4-16 25.0%   Game: 34.5%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  7-10 70.0%   2nd Half: 12-14 85.7%   Game: 79.2%    2


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Officials: Doug Shows, Tracy Woodson, Anthony Jordan
Technical fouls: Alabama-None. University of Florid-None.
Attendance: 12120
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
Alabama.......................   35   39  -   74
University of Florid..........   47   36  -   83
ID-728081
Alabama #21 fouls out at 39 seconds of second half