Florida Holds on Against Ole Miss
OXFORD, Miss. — Florida’s Kenny Boynton had read his scouting report on Mississippi. The synopsis: The Rebels play defense, but can’t shoot.
That proved true — eventually.
The Gators (No. 13 ESPN/USA Today, No. 14 AP) clawed back from a double-digit first-half deficit to beat Mississippi 64-60 on Thursday night. Patric Young scored 15 points and Boynton added 12 as Florida won for the sixth time in seven games.
“The best thing for us was we never panicked,” Boynton said. “We were playing defense but they hit shots. They hit tough shots and were just killing it. In the second half we guarded the 3-point line a little better, but really, it was just kind of the law of averages.”
Boynton admitted keeping cool was tough when Ole Miss was draining 3-pointers in the first half — hitting all six of its attempts from long range in front of a raucous crowd at Tad Smith Coliseum.
Florida (16-4, 4-1 Southeastern Conference) fell behind 20-4 in the opening minutes and trailed 38-28 at halftime. But the Gators worked their way back thanks to lockdown defense and clutch 3-pointers from Boynton and Mike Rosario.
Young was 7 of 10 from the field off the bench despite playing with tendinitis in his right ankle. Erving Walker had 10 points and nine assists.
“I thought that our guys stayed the course,” Florida coach Billy Donovan said. “I never thought they got rattled or overwhelmed.”
