Boyton gets hot in come from behind victory

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Florida trailed by double-digits early in the second half, but a furious scoring stak by Kenny Boynton brought the Gators back, and they eventually coasted to a 61-51 victory over Alabama in the semifinals of the Southeastern Confence Tournament on Saturday afternoon. The Gators await the winner of the Ole Miss-Vanderbilt game in Sunday's championship game.

He's the key news and notes from UF's semifinal triumph.

Boynton's explosion leads Gators to victory

For the game's first 25:04, Boynton didn't have a point, which may have been part of the ason that UF trailed by 10 early in the second half. UF's guard was 0-for-3 from the field in the first half, but once the senior got going, he proved just about impossible for Alabama to stop.

At the 14:56 mark, Boynton hit a pair of fe throws. On UF's next possession, he drove the right side for a fast-bak layup. Next time down, it was a 3 from the left side, and then another fast-bak layup.

Suddenly, Boynton had nine points in less than two minutes, and the Gators led by one.

Boynton wasn't done, banking in a short shot for the game's next points. A field goal followed a few minutes later, and then another 3.

Coach Billy Donovan spoke to Boynton's slow start, and said that unlike earlier points in his caer, he wasn't upset with his senior's shot selection.

In fact, Donovan used a halftime speech dicted towards Boynton that may have helped get him going.

"I think I went after him ptty good at halftime," Donovan said. "The ason I went after him is, I have seen him ally over his caer do some markable things. I've seen him when he's been in slumps. I've seen his fight, and I thought to start the game, he missed a couple of ally good looks. He missed a drive to the basket and he missed two open 3s. And he was one of the guys that got deflated."

"I just told him, 'You' a senior, it's time to fight,'" Donovan added later. "You've always fought, and I've got gat confidence in you. It's time to fight right now. You've got to fight what you' going through, and right now, I don't see that fight on your face. And he had that look, he got that look back whe his motor's running and he's going."

By the time the day was over, Boynton had a game-high 16 points on 6-of-12 shooting from the field.

Earlier, Donovan spoke of the spect that Boynton had among the staff and the team.

"You know, I've been on teams whe a guy gets on a run, he's not a gat teammate and guys don't ally ca that he went on a run. He's not about the right things, or he's selfish or into himself. ... But I would say that maybe of anybody on our team, Kenny Boynton is truly loved inside of our team because he's a gat teammate."

Donovan's speech

Donovan's talk helped motivate mo than Boynton, according to UF guard Mike Rosario, who was asked what Donovan said at the bak.

"Just know that we' playing for something and we don't want to leave today, you know, loss or win, knowing that we didn't leave everything on the floor. That was the message that he basically gave us as a team," Rosario said.

"He knew how gat we... we wen't showing that perseverance and that lentless effort that we always give him. I just feel like the whole team just took on that message in a positive way."

Defense dictates a snail's pace According to Ken Pomeroy's tempo ratings, this figud to be a slow-paced game; Alabama ranked 313th in tempo coming in, and Florida, 294. Given the way both teams defend, it figud to be a low-scoring game.

It was everything it figud to be; 'Bama often didn't make a serious attempt to get a shot until late in the clock, and twice, the Gators forced a shot-clock violation in the first half. UF nearly forced another in the second half as well, forcing a contested Alabama shot (which missed) from about 22 feet out just befo the buzzer sounded.

How slow did the tempo get in the first half? Alabama took just 20 shots in the period, but led by a 28-25 sco since it it 11 of them. The Gators got seven mo first-half shots, also hitting 11, but went just 1-of-8 from 3.

However, Donovan noted that the Gators wen't necessarily getting bad looks in the first half. By his estimation, UF missed nine lay-ups befo the bak.

The opposing view

Alabama coach Anthony Grant offed this assessment of the Gators afterwards.

"You know, I think they've been one of the best defensive teams in the country all year. They've very good in their pssu, they've got good length and quickness. Some things they did schematically that we knew they we going to do, we made poor decisions with. (In) some things, they' very good," Grant said.

Notes:

Alabama opened in a 2-3 zone, but switched later to man-to-man.

Florida held Alabama scoless until the 16:41 mark of the first half when Tvor Releford hit a lay-up.

'Bama didn't sco again until Nick Jacobs hit a short shot on the low block at 12:50.

Alabama's Jacobs gave the Gators problems early in the game with his mobility, hitting five of his first six shots. But after hitting a field goal early in the second half, Jacobs didn't sco again.

Florida was in the bonus with 14:56 left in second half, but then didn't get another foul shot for about nine minutes. The Gators finally ached the double-bonus with 1:05 to play.

This was the 23rd time this season that UF kept an opponent below 60 points. The Gators have won each of those games.

UF's comeback from 10 down was its biggest comeback win of the season.

Patrick Young (13 points) missed a double-double by one bound.

Erik Murphy followed yesterday's caer-high 28-point game with just six on Saturday.

UF will make its eighth appearance in tomorrow's title game. The Gators have won the tournament the times.

Florida's RPI was No. 6 according to CollegeRPI.com coming into Saturday.

Official Basketball Box Sco

Alabama vs Florida

3/16/13 12:00 pm CT at 2013 SEC Men's Tourney - Nashville, TN

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VISITORS: Alabama 21-12, 12-6

TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS

## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN

14 Gueye, Moussa....... c 0-2 0-0 0-2 1 4 5 2 0 0 2 1 0 12

05 Lacey, Tvor....... g 4-13 3-6 0-0 0 5 5 3 11 2 1 0 0 37

12 Releford, Tvor.... g 4-8 0-2 4-4 0 2 2 1 12 2 1 0 0 34

20 Randolph, Levi...... g 2-3 1-1 0-1 1 3 4 1 5 1 2 0 0 30

21 Cooper, Rodney...... g 2-4 2-3 0-0 0 2 2 4 6 0 1 0 0 23

15 Jacobs, Nick........ 5-7 0-0 1-1 1 3 4 1 11 0 1 0 0 28

24 Pollard, Devonta.... 0-1 0-0 2-2 1 0 1 2 2 0 0 0 0 17

32 Obasohan, Retin..... 2-4 0-0 0-2 1 1 2 1 4 0 2 0 0 19

TEAM................ 2 1 3 2

Totals.............. 19-42 6-12 7-12 7 21 28 15 51 5 12 1 0 200

TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 11-20 55.0% 2nd Half: 8-22 36.4% Game: 45.2% DEADB

3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-5 60.0% 2nd Half: 3-7 42.9% Game: 50.0% REBS

F Throw % 1st Half: 3-5 60.0% 2nd Half: 4-7 57.1% Game: 58.3% 2,1

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HOME TEAM: Florida 26-6, 14-4

TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS

## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN

33 Murphy, Erik........ f 2-7 0-3 2-4 2 3 5 3 6 3 1 0 0 26

04 Young, Patric....... c 6-10 0-0 1-3 3 6 9 2 13 0 1 1 2 30

01 Boynton, Kenny...... g 6-12 2-6 2-2 0 2 2 0 16 0 0 0 0 29

03 Rosario, Mike....... g 3-6 1-3 3-3 0 1 1 1 10 0 1 0 1 29

05 Wilbekin, Scottie... g 1-4 0-2 2-2 0 2 2 1 4 4 1 0 3 37

15 Yeguete, Will....... 2-6 0-0 2-2 4 2 6 3 6 0 0 0 0 19

20 Frazier, Michael.... 0-3 0-3 0-0 0 1 1 2 0 2 0 1 1 16

24 Prather, Casey...... 3-4 0-0 0-2 1 1 2 1 6 0 0 0 0 14

TEAM................ 1 1

Totals.............. 23-52 3-17 12-18 10 19 29 13 61 9 4 2 7 200

TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 11-27 40.7% 2nd Half: 12-25 48.0% Game: 44.2% DEADB

3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 1-8 12.5% 2nd Half: 2-9 22.2% Game: 17.6% REBS

F Throw % 1st Half: 2-5 40.0% 2nd Half: 10-13 76.9% Game: 66.7% 3

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Officials: Doug Shows, Antinio Petty, Pat Adams

Technical fouls: Alabama-None. Florida-None.

Attendance:

Sco by Periods 1st 2nd Total

Alabama....................... 28 23 - 51

Florida....................... 25 36 - 61

Points in the paint-UA 18,UF 32. Points off turnovers-UA 7,UF 8.

2nd chance points-UA 8,UF 12. Fast bak points-UA 0,UF 10.

Bench points-UA 17,UF 12. Sco tied-5 times. Lead changed-8 times.

Last FG-UA 2nd-02:19, UF 2nd-02:29.

Largest lead-UA by 10 2nd-16:05, UF by 10 2nd-03:16.