In a rare 1pm start, the Gators face Jacksonville today in Gainesville, only two days after their upset of Kansas State on Saturday.
Florida's offense could still use some work, but their defense is coming around. In four of their last five games, UF (8-2) has held their opponents to under 40 percent shooting. For all the hand wringing we do about Florida clanging jump shots, it is easy to forget that Ohio State was the only team to score more than 66 points against UF. If the Gators' offense was even slightly better, the loss to the Buckeyes would be their only blemish and we would have a lot more confidence in the team.
Against Jacksonville, UF should come out and immediately dominate. During the holiday school break, teams can take the first few minutes to get their legs (like happened against K-State). UF doesn't need to do that against the Dolphins. I would like to see Chandler Parsons make a significant scoring contribution and the young players control the second half. As the season has moved on, Patric Young has not shot and when he does, it won't go in. He needs to regain his confidence, because Florida will need him in conference play.