Florida center Patric Young (4) is congratualted by his teammates after passing the 1,000th career point mark during the second half of an NCAA college basketball in Gainesville.Eight Southeastern Conference basketball teams have attempted to defeat Florida this season, and eight have failed.
The bigger challenge lately has been trying to score 50 points. The Gators, who have four senior starters, improved to 8-0 in league play this past Saturday with a 69-36 trouncing of Texas A&M.
“It’s probably been a process over a period of time,” Florida coach Billy Donovan said Monday when asked about his defense. “Most freshmen who come into college don’t understand how good players are at this level and how a breakdown can lead to something that’s very difficult to defend. Our younger guys have been able to learn from our older guys as it relates to that, and I think our older guys have an understanding of the importance of it.
“We have our good days and bad days in practice like anybody else, but for the most part they’ve invested in trying to improve and get better on both ends of the floor.”
Florida’s last six foes have averaged just 50.1 points. The Gators lead the conference in scoring defense (57.4 points per game) and field-goal defense (38.4 percent), and they have a plus-6.1 in rebounding margin per game.