CINCINNATI — During the eight-day hiatus leading up to Friday’s game, the Gators were focused primarily on correcting their two biggest weaknesses: shooting and ball movement.
That work paid major dividends, as Florida (10-3) snapped Xavier’s 30-game home winning streak with a 71-67 victory in the Cintas Center.
“It’s a big win,” said senior Alex Tyus, who was playing his first game since shaving his trademark dreadlocks. “Coach used (Xavier’s streak) as motivation, and we did a good job of changing that.”
The Gators recorded the upset thanks to their physical play, strong passing and uncharacteristically solid shooting.
Xavier coach Chris Mack also attributed the loss to the first 6:49 of the second half, over which the Gators scored 19 points on 8-of-12 shooting and extended their lead from four to 15.
“It felt good to get a little lead, a little cushion,” sophomore Kenny Boynton said. “But like every team, they ended up making a run and coming back.”
Florida led by 13 before a Mark Lyons layup with 4:32 remaining ignited the Musketeers’ offense and sparked a 14-5 run.
The efforts of junior Tu Holloway — who had 26 points and scored or assisted on 18 of Xavier’s final 22 — brought the Musketeers to within four with 1:21 to go.
But that would be as close as they would get, as UF’s usually suspect free-throw shooting carried it to the victory.
“Free throws win championships,” Walker said. “We knew we had to come in here in a tough environment and hit our free throws.”
For the game, Florida connected on 19 of 25 free throw attempts — a percentage more than 10 points better than its season average.
Thirteen of those makes came over the final 4:04, which proved to be crucial as the Gators failed to hit a single field goal in the last 7:02.
“Down the stretch what really counted was our free throws,” Boynton said.
Florida’s shooting was improved not just from 15 feet but also from beyond the arc, as the Gators posted a season-high in three-point shooting percentage by connecting on 6 of 13 attempts, including 5 of 6 in the second half.
Three of those baskets came from Walker, who hit shots from as far as six feet behind the three-point line on his way to a team-high 18 points.
“I didn’t even realize I was that far out,” Walker said. “It seems like when I’m farther out I get more lift on my jump shot, so I was just fortunate to be open and I knocked it down.”
Ball movement also played a major role in the Gators’ offense returning to form, as the team recorded 17 assists and cracked the 70-point barrier for the first time in its last seven games.
“Offensively we played well,” coach Billy Donovan said. “We had really, really good ball movement, we passed it pretty well, I thought we were working it inside to out and the player movement was good.”
For the 12th time in 13 games the Gators outrebounded their opponent, as they beat Xavier 39-31 on the glass.
Senior Chandler Parsons led the way with 11, while senior Vernon Macklin chipped in seven of his own before leaving with a shoulder injury.
“They have a lot of size but we just felt like we jumped higher and we’re more athletic inside,” Tyus said.
