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Friday, March 29, 2024

Walker becomes Gators’ go-to guy late in games

Chandler Parsons may have come up bigger than anyone against the Commodores, but Erving Walker proved Tuesday this is his team.

Sure, Parsons walked out the hero. He led the team in scoring and rebounds. He showed why he’s the best pro prospect.

And yeah, he knocked down two huge free throws with 15 seconds left. But make no mistake: In crunch time, the Gators look to Walker, who finished tied for second on the team with 15 points.

Last week against Georgia, Walker stepped up at the end of the first overtime, hitting a 30-footer as time expired to keep UF alive. While he won’t show up on any highlight reels for his effort Tuesday, Walker was just as big.

With less than a second left in the first half and Florida trailing 24-22, coach Billy Donovan drew a play for Walker. It’s moments like those when a team reveals who it will lean on with the game on the line.

Walker fielded the inbounds pass just beyond the arc and knocked down a trey between a pair of Commodores, giving the Gators the lead and momentum headed to the locker room.

People won’t remember that shot years from now, but in an overtime game, that was as big as any.

When a pair of free throws by John Jenkins tied the game with 23 seconds left in regulation, Florida again turned to Walker.

Holding the ball for the last shot, Walker drove right, pulled up and missed a potential game-winner off the back rim.

If he makes that shot, Walker receives the same attention Parsons did a year ago when his buzzer-beating three-pointers against N.C. State and South Carolina earned him a recurring role on SportsCenter.

But Walker didn’t make it, and he isn’t a candidate for Dickie V’s all-onions team.

Yet.

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The fact that the team looked to him in that moment, however, is huge.

“He’s the point guard, so we expect everything to run through him,” sophomore guard Kenny Boynton said. “He isn’t afraid to hit big shots. He’s shown he can, and we have confidence in him.”

And in overtime, Walker stepped up again, hitting one of two free throws, scoring on a coast-to-coast layup and setting up Boynton for his wide-open three-pointer that gave the Gators a 63-61 lead.

Knowing the Gators, they will find themselves in a few more tight games between now and the NCAA Tournament. And if you happen to watch some of those nail-biters, keep an eye on No. 11.

Also, look at the rest of the team. If they act anything like they did in the closing seconds of regulation Tuesday, you will see a lot of players setting picks and standing out of the way.

For whatever reason, some would brand Walker a ball hog. But he’s not. Every team needs one player willing to step up at the end of games.

That is as much a part of a team’s identity as anything. And while the Gators still have plenty to figure out (Should they use that small lineup more? Will Vernon Macklin ever get off the bench in tight games?), they at least have the most important element in place.

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