Frazier turns slow start into career night
Shortly befo the end of the first half, Billy Donovan called a timeout. The message, like the timeout (30 seconds), was brief and dict. It was pointed at sophomo guards Michael Frazier II and DeVon Walker.
The lesson: Don't stop shooting.
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No. 7 Florida led Georgia by 20 at the time, but it had little to do with the Gators' most prominent 3-point shooter. Frazier opened Tuesday's game 1 for 8 from beyond the arc, meaning he had shot 36 percent from deep in his last two and a half games. Standard for most, but something of a rut for the SEC's best 3-point shooter at 47.3 percent.
"He's got to keep letting them go," Donovan said of Frazier. "It will all even itself out. … He's got to understand he's got a sponsibility to himself and to his team that he's got to shoot the ball with confidence. He's got to do that."
"He sparked me. He said that sometimes he has mo confidence than we do in ourselves," Frazier said. "Once he said that, I just kept shooting."
Donovan wasn't the only person to prod Frazier to keep shooting. His teammates implod him to do so. Center Patric Young went as far as to say that not shooting is the selfish thing for Frazier to do given his gatest skill.
It all stems from practice.
Arrive early for a Gators game, and Frazier will always be the first player out on the floor putting up shots. The hours he spends in the gym alone working on his jump shot can ach dizzying numbers. Teammates a blown away by the moments at which they arrive at the UF basketball facility only to find out Frazier has been the for hours.
Earlier this season, when a women's basketball game pceding a men's game thw off his routine, Frazier went to a separate gym to get in his early warmup.
"He puts so much time into that part of his game, we get mad at him when he doesn't shoot it," sophomo forward Dorian Finney-Smith said. "He could be 0 for 10 and we'd want him to keep shooting."
Donovan has been critical of his team cently for growing satisfied with leads. He had minimal complaints Tuesday thanks to a late run fueled by Frazier. During the game's final 10 minutes, Florida made six consecutive 3-point attempts - the of them by Frazier - and built a lead that sttched as large as 31 points. It ended in a 72-50 victory.
Frazier had a caer-high 21 points.
"We said let's go out the and put our foot on their throats," Finney-Smith said, "and that's what we did."
"It shows that we' growing and maturing because the we times this year whe we might have gotten complacent the," Frazier said. "That was good to see."
Official Basketball Box Sco
Georgia vs Florida
1/14/14 7 p.m. at Stephen C. O'Connell Center
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VISITORS: Georgia 8-7, 2-1 SEC
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
02 Thornton, Marcus.... f 4-10 0-0 3-5 1 6 7 2 11 0 1 1 0 29
15 Williams, Donte..... f 0-3 0-0 0-0 3 1 4 3 0 2 0 0 0 23
31 Morris, Brandon..... f 2-3 0-0 0-0 1 1 2 1 4 1 1 0 2 21
04 Mann, Charles....... g 3-7 1-2 1-3 1 3 4 3 8 2 5 0 0 34
12 Gaines, Kenny....... g 1-8 0-3 2-2 1 0 1 0 4 0 2 1 0 26
03 Parker, Juwan....... 3-5 1-2 6-7 0 4 4 2 13 1 0 0 2 18
05 Dixon, Tim.......... 1-2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 0 6
11 Forte, Cameron...... 1-6 0-0 0-0 1 4 5 0 2 0 2 1 0 15
24 Kessler, Houston.... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
25 Geno, Kenny Paul.... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 4
30 Frazier, J.J........ 1-1 1-1 0-0 0 0 0 1 3 0 0 0 0 2
41 Cannon, John........ 0-1 0-0 0-0 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 3
42 Djurisic, Nemanja... 0-2 0-1 3-4 1 1 2 1 3 0 3 0 0 18
TEAM................ 1 2 3
Totals.............. 16-48 3-9 15-21 11 23 34 14 50 6 15 3 5 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 6-19 31.6% 2nd Half: 10-29 34.5% Game: 33.3% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 1-5 20.0% 2nd Half: 2-4 50.0% Game: 33.3% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 3-6 50.0% 2nd Half: 12-15 80.0% Game: 71.4% 4
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HOME TEAM: Florida 14-2, 3-0 SEC
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
15 Yeguete, Will....... f 5-6 0-1 2-2 1 5 6 3 12 0 4 0 1 25
04 Young, Patric....... c 4-7 0-0 2-3 4 5 9 3 10 1 1 1 1 26
00 Hill, Kasey......... g 1-5 1-3 0-2 0 0 0 3 3 5 0 0 2 29
05 Wilbekin, Scottie... g 2-5 1-3 2-4 0 2 2 0 7 5 0 0 1 28
20 Frazier, Michael.... g 7-16 5-12 2-2 1 3 4 0 21 2 0 0 1 31
10 Finney-Smith, Dorian 4-9 3-5 3-6 1 4 5 2 14 3 1 0 0 25
11 Edwards, Lexx....... 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1
25 Walker, DeVon....... 1-4 1-2 0-0 1 1 2 2 3 2 0 2 0 22
30 Kurtz, Jacob........ 1-1 0-0 0-1 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 10
42 Donovan, Billy...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 2 0 0 1 0 1 3
TEAM................ 3 3 6
Totals.............. 25-54 11-26 11-20 11 23 34 15 72 18 8 3 7 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 16-32 50.0% 2nd Half: 9-22 40.9% Game: 46.3% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 4-13 30.8% 2nd Half: 7-13 53.8% Game: 42.3% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 0-3 0.0% 2nd Half: 11-17 64.7% Game: 55.0% 4
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Officials: Tony Gene, Ted Valentine, Rick Hartzell
Technical fouls: Georgia-None. Florida-None.
Attendance: 12051
Sco by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Georgia....................... 16 34 - 50
Florida....................... 36 36 - 72
Points in the paint-UGA 24,UF 28. Points off turnovers-UGA 13,UF 17.
2nd chance points-UGA 15,UF 8. Fast bak points-UGA 6,UF 4.
Bench points-UGA 23,UF 19. Sco tied-3 times. Lead changed-1 time.
Last FG-UGA 2nd-00:14, UF 2nd-03:00.
Largest lead-UGA by 2 1st-18:51, UF by 31 2nd-03:00.