Chandler Parsons woke up Sunday morning on the right side of the bed.
Still distraught three days after missing a free throw that cost UF the game at South Carolina, his roommate on the road, Dan Werner, suggested a change when they arrived at the team hotel prior to playing Vanderbilt.
"I usually get the bed by the vent. He's from down here, so he's kind of a wuss with the air and stuff, so I gotta go by the vent," Werner said. "I was the first one in the room and I said, 'No, we're going to switch it up.'"
The next day, a well-rested Parsons had the best game of his college career, scoring 27 points, shooting 7 of 8 from 3-point range and grabbing eight rebounds in the Gators' 94-69 rout of the Commodores.
"I don't know if that had something to do with it, but we're going to keep that going," Werner said.
Even Werner couldn't have predicted the kind of offensive outburst Parsons had against Vanderbilt.
"Any time a guy hits his first five threes, you're always surprised," Werner said. "I don't think you always expect a guy to go out and hit four threes a game, but to go 2 for 5 or something is what I kind of expected."
The Gators (17-3, 4-1 Southeastern Conference) have relied on point guard Nick Calathes and not much else on the offensive end of the floor this season.
Parsons showed he may be the second scoring option UF coach Billy Donovan has been looking for.
"I think that in order to really grow and get better, you have to go through a lot of pain and suffering. I think that's the case in life," Donovan said. "Anything that's important to you, there's going to be a level of pain and suffering that goes into it."
Pain is something Parsons became all too familiar with following UF's loss to South Carolina.
The sophomore's Facebook page was littered with insults in the days following the game.
"Anything you can think of from blowing the game, to 'Work on free throws.' Things like that," Parsons said.
But Donovan believes missing the free throw against the Gamecocks may have been the turning point Parsons needed.
"People say, 'Enjoy the process, enjoy the process,'" Donovan said. "The process can be miserable and tough and relentless and overbearing and can weigh you down mentally and physically, and I'm sure with Chandler, he was at a crossroads with himself on Wednesday.
"We all were, with how we were going to handle this. I really just tried to talk to him about it in terms of what is really important to him, and what kind of player does he want to be, and how does he handle this going forward."
Forward is the one place Parsons seems to be moving.
The sophomore was back in the gym late Sunday night after the team returned home from Nashville, Tenn.
He shot 300 free throws.
"I think it shows you how everything can move so fast," Parsons said. "How last week I went from crying in the locker room to coming out and playing like I did (Sunday)."
WERNER INJURED: The junior has an avulsion fracture on his right middle finger, which occurs when a part of the bone tears away from the main mass of the bone.
He said he thinks the injury happened during the Mississippi game.
Werner refused to blame the injury for his poor shooting in recent games.
"I don't want to make excuses," he said.
