Colleges

Gators impressive but imperfect

By ANTONYA ENGLISH, Times Staff Writer
Published December 20, 2007

GAINESVILLE - After being forced to rebound from a double-digit deficit against Georgia Southern on Saturday, the most important thing for Florida on Wednesday night was to come out aggressive and get an early lead.

So with a renewed focus on the press, the Gators opened against Charleston Southern with an 18-0 run, then went on to an 89-64 victory over the Buccaneers at the O'Connell Center.

It was just the kind of game coach Billy Donovan wanted for his team as it prepared to travel this weekend to play Ohio State: a strong offensive performance, but just enough mistakes to remind his young team there's still a long way to go.

After going scoreless for the first six minutes and trailing by as many as 20 with 12:48 left, Charleston Southern outscored the Gators 12-3 to pull within 10 on an Omar Carter 3-pointer with 8:36 left in the half.

Eighteen of Charleston Southern's first 20 points were from beyond the arc. For the game, the Buccaneers made 12 of 22 3-pointers, but they were hurt by 15 first-half turnovers.

"We talked about the 3-point line, but we didn't take it that serious," said junior guard Walter Hodge, who had a season-high 16 points. "They were hitting shots, so we have to go back in practice and fix that. It was bad communication, bad rotations late."

It was the area that disappointed Donovan most in a game in which he said he was mostly pleased with the way the team played. The Gators 11-1 had no answer for Charleston Southern freshman Carter, who led all scorers with 20 points and made 6 of 9 3-pointers.

"A lot of these guys were recruited at a high level, a lot of opportunities and a lot of choices," Donovan said. "I wonder how many opportunities Omar Carter had.

"That guy is a great player. Great player. He's as good as any freshman in America. That guy is a competitor, makes shots. ... We talked about trying really to stop him because we felt like he was their most complete player and we had no answer for him. The 3-point line really kept them hanging around, it kept them in the game."

After Charleston Southern (5-6) pulled within 10, the Gators responded with a 9-0 run and eventually took a 45-32 halftime lead. The Buccaneers never got the deficit into single digits.

Five Florida players scored in double figures and the Gators outscored Charleston Southern 42-18 in the paint. The Gators shot 57.6 percent from the field.

Char. So. 64

[Last modified December 19, 2007, 23:51:30]