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UF Shows Grit In Win

The Associated Press

Florida guard Erving Walker is tripped up by Vanderbilt guard Jamie Graham. Walker finished with 17 points.

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By MICK ELLIOTT | The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 27, 2009

GAINESVILLE - There are a number of ills - experience, rebounding and defense in the paint among a few - that may ultimately short-circuit the Florida Gators men's basketball team, but grit is not an issue.

Whether the underclassman-heavy Gators have enough savvy to continue compensating for obvious weaknesses is still in question, but by overwhelming Vanderbilt on Sunday afternoon on the road they certainly suggested it's possible.

A 94-69 thrashing of Vandy (12-7, 1-4) on its home court, a funky elevated stage-like playing surface that is an ultimate home advantage, is always impressive, but doing it only a few days after a last-second, one-point loss at South Carolina - a game Florida seemed to have already won - should earn the Gators a boatload of respect.

"The first thing you have to understand is how hard you have to work to be successful," Florida coach Billy Donovan said. "Last year, we had no concept of that. Once you start to work hard, now you have a foundation of what every team in the country is doing. The next thing you have to understand is how committed do you become.

"I think we are understanding and learning how to get more committed. We've laid some steps, but in no way are we there emotionally and mentally."

The Gators, however, are 17-3, 4-1 and winners of 11 of their last 12 games - even though the loss to South Carolina did drop them out of this week's Top 25.

"There are definitely some deficiencies and things we have," Donovan said. "Every team has it. There's no pure team that has no weaknesses. But the good teams identify what their problems are and what they've got to do to mask them or overcome them or really confront them in a way that they say, 'There's a commitment where we're not going to let this happen.'

"Some of the things on our team have been exposed, but now do we really confront those things? We have to find a way to confront them."

What Florida does do very well is play hard with extremely good ball movement.

"We've got a whole bunch of unselfish guys that really like to pass the ball and find the open man," sophomore forward Chandler Parsons said. "And when you have a guy open, he's going to knock the shot down."

When that happens, Florida will scare anybody. Just ask Vanderbilt.

Against Vandy the Gators hit 15 3-point baskets. Parsons, who had not hit more than four 3s in a game all year, nailed seven, including his first five. He finished with 27 points. Freshman guard Erving Walker added 17, Nick Calathes chipped in 15 and Walter Hodge scored 10 as Florida shot 57.4 percent from the field and connected on an astounding 15 of 25 from beyond the arc.

"We just caught fire," Donovan said. "Erving Walker had a great first half. Chandler Parsons got some decent looks. Walter Hodge got a couple of looks. And before you know it, guys started making shots from different positions. I think for any team, when you are making shots, it changes the complexion of your team."

And all things seem possible.

UF SHORTS

•The indoor track team produced 10 NCAA Championship provisional-qualifying marks and 24 individual top-five finishes during the second annual Tom Jones Memorial Invitational in the O'Connell Center. Gators highlights included a first-place performance by the men's 4x400-meter relay team anchored by Lutz junior Calvin Smith II (Freedom High). Senior pole vaulter Natalie Moser (Wharton) won with an NCAA qualifying leap of 12 feet, 11.5 inches.

•The seventh-ranked women's tennis team opened its season with a 7-0 win against UCF, extending the team's regular-season home winning streak to 66.

•The No. 1-ranked gymnastics team lost its first meet of the year after two wins, falling at Arkansas 196.375-195.425. Florida owned a 0.525 lead heading into the final rotation, but in balance beam competition the Gators' final three performers all recorded falls.

•The softball team will open its season Feb. 6 as the preseason No. 1-ranked team, in front of No. 2 Arizona State, the defending national champion.

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