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UF

Donovan striving to keep it fresh

GAINESVILLE -- This is the time of year when basketball coaches in America try to keep their teams motivated -- and healthy -- for the rest of the season. Florida coach Billy Donovan is no different.

With two freshman starters and other issues facing his veterans, Donovan is doing everything from impromptu practice cancellations to five-on-five pickup games to keep the Gators fresh and ready for the stretch run.

"It's tough this time of year because you're dealing with school where you're in the middle of the semester, exams are piling up, games, the pressure of wanting to play, there's a lot of things mentally that are being thrown at them," Donovan said. "And outside of maybe Justin (Hamilton), Brett (Nelson) and Matt Bonner, there's a lot thrown on these other guys' plates for them to handle right now. It's tough for everybody."

Florida next heads to Auburn and Georgia, then hosts Kentucky on March 8 to close the season. Two wins in those games and the Gators will have a bye in the SEC tournament, further securing their chances of playing in the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa for the first round of the NCAA Tournament. But that won't be easy. Still, Donovan likes the way it's coming together.

"I think it's great," he said. "I think our guys understand that this is the time of year that whoever we're playing against, we need to be playing as well as we possibly can to put ourselves in a position to win. I'm hoping the level of competitiveness we have for our last four games we understand that going into the SEC tournament and going past that."

LAST SHOT?: Winless in a dozen conference games, the Florida women's basketball team has two more chances to avoid becoming the first without a regular-season SEC win since 1987. Florida has lost a school-record 13 straight.

The Gators (8-17, 0-12) host Mississippi in their final home regular-season game at 7 p.m. Thursday. Florida closes the season Saturday at Georgia. Ole Miss is having an equally tough season; its conference win came over Florida last month. Coach Carolyn Peck missed Monday's media session because of illness, but assistant Matthew Mitchell said the Gators aren't approaching this game as their last shot at victory.

"The way we approach it, it's their only shot, because it's the (next) game on the schedule," Mitchell said. "I would have to think (we) have some confidence coming into this game, because we played Ole Miss so close up there, and we certainly feel that we're a better team now."

NATIONAL HONORS: C.J. Smith, a redshirt sophomore first baseman, was named national player of the week Monday by Collegiate Baseball. He led No.23 Florida to a season-high five-game win streak and an 8-1 record heading into Tuesday's night's game against South Florida.

Smith batted .667 (8-of-12) with eight runs, nine RBIs and five extra-base hits. He also slugged 1.583 with 19 total bases and had an on-base percentage of .778. For the season Smith is batting .480 (12-of-25) with 13 runs, three doubles, five homers and 15 RBIs. He also has a 1.200 slugging percentage.

-- Antonya English covers Florida athletics. She can be reached at (813) 226-3389 or english@sptimes.com.

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