Frazier shoots UF to victory
Sophomore scores 37 at South Carolina
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Florida sophomore guard Michael Frazier II had one of those nights shooters dream about, when the ball feels good coming off your hand and the basket looks as wide as an ocean.
Frazier scored a careerhigh 37 points on a schoolrecord 11 3-pointers, lifting the No. 1 Gators to a 72-46 win over South Carolina at Colonial Life Arena on Tuesday.
Behind Frazier’s big day, Florida (28-2, 17-0 SEC) won its 22nd straight and ninth straight on the road.
“The ball felt good [shooting] in warmups, and in the game my teammates just did a great job of finding me,” Frazier said. “I was able to get in a zone there, but I didn’t really feel anything. I was there. The ball just went in.”
Frazier made 11 of 18 3-pointers, surpassing the previous school mark of nine 3-pointers set by Joe Lawrence on Dec. 27, 1986, versus California. Frazier’s 37 points also were the most for a Gator since former center Joakim Noah, now with the Chicago Bulls, scored 37 against Georgia on March 1, 2006.
The Gators needed Frazier’s big day because his teammates went 0 of 13 from beyond the arc. Overall, Florida went11of 21(35.5 percent) from 3-point range against a South Carolina defense packed in to stop drives inside.
“The way South Carolina defends, it’s really, really hard to get to the basket,” Florida coach Billy Donovan said. “It just is. They converge. They challenge you at the rim. Nothing is easy. Everything is contested.”
Forward Mindaugas Kacinas led South Carolina (11-19, 4-13 SEC) with 12 points, with freshman guard Duane Notice adding 11.
South Carolina senior guard Brenton Williams blamed Frazier’s big day on South Carolina’s inability to recognize him on different spots on the floor.
“It was all about miscommunication,” Williams said. “The communication was not there on finding where he was at on the court. There were a couple of times we didn’t even communicate when he subbed in the game. That’s one thing Coach tells us, when players sub in the game and personnel. There were times he subbed in the game and got wide-open 3s on out- of-bounds plays. That’s just something that’s totally on us.”
With the game tied at 28 early in the second half, Florida took control with an 11-0 run and never trailed the rest of the way. Senior center Patric Young added nine points for the Gators, who also forced 19 turnovers on 17 steals.
“You get nothing easy on either side of the floor when you play them,” South Carolina coach Frank Martin said. “They make no mistakes defensively. Theydon’t give you points off their offense. They take good shots. Credit them. They’re really good.”