The Gators will be in need of a comfortable flight home from Arkansas, as the trip back will be their only chance to rest during the next three days.
Tonight’s matchup against the Razorbacks (8-9, 1-1 SEC) at 9 in Bud Walton Arena will kick off a hectic period for UF, which will then have just one day to prepare for its 6 p.m. home game against South Carolina on Saturday.
The Thursday-Saturday schedule is new to the Southeastern Conference this year, as the league signed a deal with ESPN in order to get more conference games on the network, ESPN2 and ESPNU.
UF (12-5, 1-2 SEC) will have to get used to the quick turnaround, as the team will repeat this schedule two more times this season.
“It’s going to be different for everyone in the league. It’s almost like an NCAA Tournament situation where you have one day in between to prepare,” UF coach Billy Donovan said. “The only difference in that situation is in the NCAA Tournament, if you’re fortunate enough to advance, you’re at least staying at the same site.”
But Florida will be without the luxury of staying put this weekend, as the team will have to fly back from Fayetteville early Friday morning and prepare for South Carolina on its only day off.
“Because of a lack of depth for us, how quickly we can get them back physically and the balance of preparation going into the next game … that is difficult, and that is challenging,” Donovan said. “But that’s what comes with the TV package that the league was able to put together, so everyone’s going to have to deal with it.”
UF’s players are much less concerned with the new Thursday-Saturday schedule.Freshman guard Kenny Boynton pointed to the team’s early season success in Atlantic City, N.J., when the Gators beat then-No. 2 Michigan State and Rutgers on consecutive nights.
“We did it before when we played the back-to-back games in New Jersey,” Boynton said. “We did it before, so it’s just a mental thing.”
Boynton and sophomore point guard Erving Walker will have to recover quickly after matching up with the talented Arkansas backcourt of Courtney Fortson (17 points, 7.3 assists per game) and Rotnei Clarke (18.4 points per game, 48.8 three-point percentage) on Thursday.
But Walker played off the responsibility as no big deal for him and Boynton, who are first and second on the team in minutes played this season at 32.4 and 32.3, respectively.
“We’re young. We’ll have Friday,” Walker said. “We’ll just do South Carolina on Friday. We’re not going to look ahead to them. It’s all Arkansas now.”
Florida will have plenty to prepare for, as four Arkansas starters are averaging more than 13 points per game this year.
The Razorbacks’ sub-.500 record is indicative of their struggles early in the season, when they were dealing with injuries and Fortson’s suspension. But Donovan pointed to the team’s last three games as a sign of Arkansas’ potential: a 96-85 loss to then-No. 2 Texas, a two-point loss at Mississippi State and a 71-59 win against Alabama.
“I don’t think they’re a team whose record speaks to where they’re at right now,” Donovan said.
