'Billy Ball' returns to Gainesville as Florida takes care of business
GAINESVILLE, Fla.-- It was the under-12 timeout in the second half when several former Gators paraded onto the court.
Joakim Noah, Al Horford, Bradley Beal all filed onto the newly minted 'Billy Donovan Court' for a photo, while Mike White was talking to his team on the other side of the court.
"I looked up and saw Chris Chiozza in our huddle," Gators head coach Mike White said. "We almost called a play for him.
"I love Chris Chiozza," added a smiling White. "Our guys know how much I love Cheese."
Cheese's late game heroics were not needed on Saturday night, however. Noah Locke was on hand with a little three-ball rain. The sophomore drained four three-pointers in the first half, shooting 4-of-5 in the first period and finishing with a team high 19 points and six three-pointers at the end of regulation - helping the Gators secure the 84-66 win over Vanderbilt.
"Just being confident in my shot, just taking a shot when I'm open," said Locke about his success shooting the three. "Not trying to do too much, When the ball is moving I touch the ball a few times before I take the shot. It definitely helps."
"I think that he is the recipient of the connectivity and the movement and the selflessness improvement of the whole team," said White. "A lot of those possessions the last couple of games just resulted in pretty good movement. When Noah Locke is open and you can make the right pass, it's not my play, it's our play, it's our shot and thats a good shot."
It seemed fitting that on the day that Florida (16-9, 8-4) honored Gator great Billy Donovan, Gators basketball was inspired to play some 'Billy Ball.'
"Honestly, we were fired up from the jump tonight," said freshman guard Tre Mann. "Coach White told us that we had to get all the outside stuff out of the way and nothing else mattered but winning the game."
It took a bit to warm up but soon UF raced ahead to a 48-19 first half lead against Vanderbilt to the eventual 18-point win over the visitors.
Florida held Vandy to just 19 points on 21.7 percent shooting from the field, 0 percent from three-point range in that first period - despite sophomore leaders Andrew Nembhard and Keyontae Johnson sitting out most of the period due to foul trouble.
Despite those leaders not playing, the Gators showed off the crisp ball movement we saw in Florida's previous match up against Texas A&M.
Florida drained seven three-pointers in the win with Nembhard netting the first in the game's opening shot, while Tre Mann finished things off before the half by swishing a three-pointer and then turning to the row of former players and blowing them a three-fingers raised kiss.
"It was kind of cool. Bradley Beal is one of my favorite players," explained Mann. "I saw him right there before the game and the shot just happened to go in right there so I knew they were behind us. I just did something to show them a little love."
"When you look down and see that name on the court, see your name as well," Donovan told Gators fans at the O'Dome at halftime. "Because you're just as much a part of it."
Donovan credited his assistants, his players, his staffers and of course the community for the successes.
This group of players will now look down to see the name of the man that literally built the program's foundation every day.
Although Vandy did manage to net a quick 15 points to start the second half, the Gators did not fold.
Florida led by as much as 32 points in this game and finished the game by dominating Vandy by 18 points behind 51.9 percent shooting and 50 percent shooting from distance - the first time this season the Gators had been plus-50 in both.
In addition to Locke's 19 points, two other Gators finished in double digits: Kerry Blackshear (15) and Keyontae Johnson (11).
"I'm just so glad, on a night the University of Florida and Gator Nation is honoring Billy Donovan that we were able to get a win. Absolutely," White said. "This was a big night for our athletic department and coach's legacy, so for us to simply win this game was really big. I'm glad we played so well the first 20.''
White and company will discuss the second 20 on Sunday as they prepare for Arkansas. The Razorbacks and the Gators will face each other on Tuesday with tip off set at 7 p.m. ET.