No. 5/6 Florida Gators basketball (7-0) thrashed the Florida State Seminoles (4-4) by 25 points on Wednesday in Tallahassee, FL. Florida head coach Billy Donovan met with the media and shared some of his thoughts after the game.

Also included in this special post-game report are animated GIFs and thoughts from former players on UF’s blowout victory over FSU.

HISTORY / STREAKS / STATS

» Florida has now won four-straight against Florida State, increasing its all-time record to 42-22 including 11-6 under Donovan and 5-3 in Tallahassee under Donovan. UF’s true seniors have never lost to FSU.

» The Gators swept the Seminoles in football, basketball and baseball (5-0) in the 2012 calendar year for the first time in school history.

» Florida has now held five of seven opponents to 49 points or fewer. The Gators have only given up 26 points or more in a single have twice in 14 halves.

» UF is 32-1 since the beginning of the 2011-12 season when holding opponents under 71 points in a game.

» Florida had 15 assists on 27 baskets and outscored FSU in the paint 34-14.

» The Gators out-rebounded the Seminoles 34-26, forced 22 turnovers (for 32 points) and registered 14 steals.

» The 47 points scored by Florida State tied for the second fewest against Florida in series history. It is also the lowest point total FSU has registered at its home arena.

» Florida had a game-high 37-point lead during the game.

PLAYER NOTES

» Senior guard Kenny Boynton scored 14 points in the game and now has 1,690 for his career, passing Stacey Poole (1,678) for fifth on the school’s career scoring list. He led the Gators offensively despite going just 1-for-8 from downtown. Boynton is now 1-for-13 from three-point land over the last two games.

» Redshirt senior G Mike Rosario had his best offensive game of the season, matching Boynton with a game-high 14 points and doing so while going 2-for-4 from downtown and 6-for-10 from the field.

» Junior center Patric Young continued to display his improved energy, scoring 10 points and adding a game-high eight rebounds. He missed all three of his foul shots.

» Junior forward Erik Murphy (hip pointer) did not start but played quite well off the bench, scoring nine points and adding seven boards.

» Freshman G Michael Frazier II once again played exceptionally well in his reserve role. He scored 14 points on 4-of-5 shooting (2-for-3 from long range) and now has 31 points over the last two games.

» Junior point guard Scottie Wilbekin‘s defensive effort was noticable throughout the contest. He registered five steals, dropped five dimes and scored five points.

» Seminoles G Michael Snaer was held scoreless in the first half but finished the game with a team-high 10 points to go along with five rebounds and four assists.

Read what Donovan had to say and see much more…after the break!



ANIMATED: CASEY PRATHER THROWS IT DOWN

Junior G/F Casey Prather has made highlight dunks a habit over the last two seasons. He had another one with about six minutes left in the first half on Wednesday when he capitalized on a steal and perfect pass by Young for a one-handed jam.





Animated GIFs created for OnlyGators.com by photekxl.

PLAYERS, ANALYSTS REACT TO FLORIDA’S PLAY ON TWITTER

Sports Illustrated/CBS analyst Seth Davis (@SethDavisHoops): “BREAKING NEWS: Florida’s good.”

CBSSports.com senior basketball writer Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanCBS): (1) “The more I see this Florida team, the more the Gators impress me. No lottery pick, but a lot of really good players.” (2) “Gators don’t need Kenny Boynton to hoist 20 shots. Have enough weapons. Boynton & Wilbekin may be as good a defensive backcourt in nation.” (3) “Florida has now pounded Wisconsin, Marquette and Florida State in Tallahassee. None of the three games were even close.” (4) “I am really looking forward to going to Tucson next weekend for the Florida-Arizona game. Should be a terrific matchup.”

ESPN analyst Dick Vitale (@DickieV): “Right now best team in SEC is FLORIDA & I am not talking football – check out their score vs FSU – yes even die hard BBN fans would agree .”

Vernon Macklin (@vernon_macklin): “Great workout done at my old high school see my Gators Smashed them FSU boys HA…..”

Former head coach/ESPN analyst Bruce Pearl (@coachbrucepearl): “How bout those [Gators]! Might be the best defensive team Billy has ever had! Does anybody know how to attack a 2-3 zone?”

Former safety Ahmad Black (@ahmadblack35): “hold on wait…..gators are beating FSWHO by like 30 on the court? Lol guess they’re not “back” on the court yet #GatorNation”

Former point guard Taurean Green (@TaureanJGreen): (1) “These #gatorboys out here locking up! Their press reminds me of when I was there!” (2) “My man Coach Larry Shyatt would be proud of this Gator defense. I know I am #loudandproud”

Former center Marreese Speights (@Mospeights16): (1) “My two years at UF I never beat FSU !!! Fact” (2) “This gator team is special !!!” (3) “They need Stop this game lol”

Former forward Chandler Parsons (@ChandlerParsons): “25 point blowout? Gators are serious this year. And FSU is awful.”

NOTES AND QUOTES

» Donovan on Rosario’s standout performance: “I was happy for him. I think the one thing with Mike is he can be streaky sometimes. This just happened to be one of those games where he shot the ball well. I thought he gave us a very good lift offensively in the first half.”

» Rosario on his first half: “It meant a lot. My whole mindset coming into this game was to get aggressive from the jump, from the start. I thought we did a great job as a whole team being locked in and on edge. I think we took care of business in the first four minutes and that’s what really determined the game when it first started.”

» Boynton on Rosario’s play: “That’s the Rosario I’m used to seeing. Scoring, he was executing today great. He made shots; he finished plays. I think he did a great job tonight. He’s going to be more consistent throughout this year.”

» Donovan on where Florida fell short on Wednesday: “If there was one thing that I was disappointed with our team, I thought at times in different periods we got a little careless with the ball. Other than that, defensively and offensively, we tried to do the things we talked about doing [in practice].”

» Donovan on the Gators playing well despite a suspension, benching and two big injuries: “We’ve had to individually battle through our own adversity as a team, so to speak. … Our sum, our total, is maybe bigger than one or two individuals. I think that’s a good sign of a team. Collectively, as a group, we all complement each other very well. I still think we can get better. I still think we can improve.”

» Donovan on having 10 days until the Arizona game: “[The players] probably don’t like it because we have a chance to practice a lot.”

» Rosario on the importance of beating Florida State: “It meant a lot to our school and to our football team. I spoke to our football team before this game started and those guys were just pressuring me, putting a lot of pressure on me. So I felt like the whole team, we had a lot of pressure on us coming into this game. We took care of business.”

» Boynton on he and Murphy being undefeated against FSU: “I just told the team, me and Murphy, we’re 4-0. It feels great to come in here, no Seminoles fans can ever say I lost. We came in here, four wins in a row, it felt great.”