Gators Back in AP Top 25, Beat Arkansas at Home

Written by Ryan Collins, Gatorsfirst.com Staff Writer

On Saturday in the O’Connell Center, the Gators defeated the Arkansas Razorbacks 80-65. I was not able to attend the game, I chose surfing in Arctic conditions and watching the terrible Raycom Sports coverage on DVR. 

This was a game of two halves, both jam-packed with Gators lofting three-pointers. Luckily, the second half was a three-ball napalm attack on the Razorbacks.

Led by Nick "Wonderboy" Calathes's (28-points) and his career-high six 3-pointers, Erving Walker (official player of this blog: “OPOTB”) also had three huge 3-pointers.

Walker played 10 minutes more than both Alex Tyus and Dan Werner despite coming off the bench, and may play his way to a starting spot come seasons-end.  Tyus played strongly and grabbed four offensive rebounds, most from errant three-pointers.

Kenny Kadji had two very fine plays; one saw him make an acrobatic catch on a Calathes zip-pass and convert an old-fashioned three-point play, in the other he saved an out-of-bounds pass and handed it to "Wonderboy" for a perfect swish from three-land. 

SEC Football fans may be interested to hear that former Razorback wide receiver Marcus Monk is contributing points for the Hogs off of the bench. Apparently the thought of having to catch more passes from Casey Dick drove him to round-ball.

It is clear how this team will play against the rest of the SEC (the schedule has mainly SEC east opponents from here out). Whipping the ball around the arc, launching an often-open three-pointer and hope it falls, or else that Tyus or Werner can grab the long rebound.

All three of the opening SEC games have seen contrasting halves, but despite the disparity the Gators have been prevailing. A great majority of the points in the Arkansas game came off of fast-breaks and defensive pressure.

The defense has impressed me in the first three games. The defense has been adequate enough to not lose any games, even in the face of a half with no three-pointers. This trend must continue because this defense has faced heavy criticism in the non-conference play.

The Gators next travel to Colombia, South Carolina for an SEC East battle with the Gamecocks. Wednesday’s game (1/21) can be seen on FOX Sports Network (FSN) at 7pm.  South Carolina (12-4, 1-2 conference) has lost on the road to LSU and Tennessee.

They have also lost to College of Charleston and highly ranked Clemson. This may be the toughest game of the young conference play. If the three ball-goes cold and crowd jumps on the Gators, they may face an insurmountable deficit. Projected score: UF 68, USC 67.

Side note:
I would like to formally apologize for not writing a recap of Wednesday’s road win at Auburn. However, with about four minutes remaining in that game I became so frustrated and hoarse from yelling at my television that I vowed not to write a recap.

The Gators needed to lean on young Erving Walker for two late crucial three-pointers to bail out a 20-point rally by the Tigers.

Any Thoughts??

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