OMAHA, Neb. – When Billy Donovan met with the rest of his staff Thursday night to discuss stopping one of the best big men in the country, he already knew which Florida player could get the job done.
The only problem was the only Gators forward he had in mind wasn’t even available. Will Yeguete’s season ended more than three weeks ago when he broke his foot on against Auburn.
Ahead of No. 7 seed Florida’s second-round clash with No. 10 seed Virgina and 6-foot-8 senior Mike Scott on March 16, Donovan had three distinct options left on his roster to use against the Cavaliers’ leading scorer at 18.1 points per game.
Each required Donovan to roll the dice on personnel matchups in a tournament where one loss would send the Gators back to Florida.
“If there was ever a game that we played this year that we could have used Will, it was this game because he was a better match-up against Scott,” Donovan said. “I didn’t feel like we had anybody that could guard him one-on-one.”
Florida could have attempted to match the 6-foot-8 Scott’s height with redshirt sophomore Cody Larson, or even play him small with first team All-Southeastern Conference freshman Brad Beal, who is just 6-foot-3.
In Donovan’s gut though, he wanted to give the opportunity to Casey Prather.
The 6-foot-6 swingman has been lauded for his practice habits by both UF’s coaches and his teammates, but the product from all of his hard work hasn’t before shown up on court in his 24 previous games this season.
“We agreed that we needed to give Casey a shot because we felt he could do the best job guarding him,” Donovan said.
Prather did not disappoint.
Coming off the bench he helped hold Scott to more than three points below his season average, while also getting the Atlantic Coast Conference’s runner-up for player of the year in foul trouble in the first half.
In sequences reminiscent of Yeguete’s energetic defensive play, Prather drew an over-the-back foul midway the first half on Scott before forcing him to the bench with a charge call for the final 3:45 of the first half.
“He's that missing piece,” guard Kenny Boynton said. “He can be what Will was.”
Even more surprising during the Gators’ 71-45 win in Omaha, Neb., was Prather’s emergence as a scoring threat throughout the entire game – a skill Yeguete had yet to master this season.
On 6-of-7 shooting, Prather tallied a career-high 14 points, including nine in the final half, to go along with his four rebounds.
Prather’s teammates said his work ethic has never slipped this season, despite averaging just 1.5 points per game in his second year at Florida.
In the final 20 minutes against Virginia's highly touted, pack-line defense Prather sent in an electric alley-oop dunk in transition from point guard Erving Walker and even hit a 3-pointer – even though he has attempted just three of all season.
"He's been working on that,” said freshman Brad Beal, who also scored a team-high 14 points. “He's always in the gym – first one in, last one out – he's always been working hard and in practice he really shows it. It's really paying off. It was just a matter of time before his moment coming in a game.
Beal said the biggest difference in Prather’s game was his confidence on the floor.
In his previous games he has played in this season, Prather has compiled a 0-to-13 assist-to-turnover ratio.
"Once he does one thing right, it's going to all start clicking for him,” Beal said. “But then you can see him get tense sometimes whenever he makes a mistake and then he's afraid to make another mistake so as long as he forgets about that and just keeps playing ball like he did [Friday] he'll be fine.”
While turnovers have been a chronic struggle for Prather all year, on Friday, giveaways were a nonexistent concern with zero coming in 22 minutes on the court.
Following the win, Donovan said Prather can expect to see even more minutes if his mistake-free basketball continues. After No. 2 seed Missouri was upset in its second-round game, Florida is set to face No. 15 seed Norfolk State on Sunday.
“As long as he’s not turning the ball over, Casey is going to play more,” Donovan said. “He played within himself aggressively, instead of getting out of himself playing aggressively. That was the encouraging thing.”
Contact John Boothe at jboothe@alligator.org.
Florida's Casey Prather (24) dunks against Virginia during an NCAA college basketball tournament game at CenturyLink Center in Omaha, Neb., Friday, March 16, 2012. Florida won 71-45. (AP Photo/The Kansas City Star, David Eulitt)
