Gator Quartet Tabbed AVCA All-Americans

Article posted by Florida Gazette. Photo by Tim Casey

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- AVCA First Team All-American Alex Holston led the way for Florida volleyball’s four 2014 All-America honorees, announced by the American Volleyball Coaches Association Wednesday in advance of the AVCA Convention and 2014 Final Four in Oklahoma City this week.

Florida freshman middle blocker and AVCA Southeast Region Freshman of the Year Rhamat Alhassan was named a Second Team All-America selection, while junior setter Mackenzie Dagostino picked up Third Team All-America honors. Junior middle Simone Antwi was named an AVCA All-America Honorable Mention selection following her third season as a Gator.

UF’s quartet of 2014 All-Americans brings the program’s total to a staggering 34 All-American players who have racked up 82 All-America honors. While Holston was an AVCA All-America Honorable Mention selection as a freshman in 2013, Alhassan, the nation’s leader in hitting efficiency, Dagostino and Antwi all picked up the first All-America honors of their collegiate careers.

It was a record year for Florida, which finished 28-4 overall, notched its 24th consecutive 25-win season and went an undefeated 18-0 in SEC play to claim the program’s 21st SEC Championship the last 24 years. The Gators ran the table in the SEC for the 13th time in program history and led the league in all but one statistical category through conference play.

The Orange and Blue advanced to the Elite Eight for the first time since 2011 and strung together a 23-match win streak from September 21-December 13, the longest win streak in the country in 2014 and longest for a Florida team since 2010. Five Gators were named All-SEC selections, as UF boasted the SEC Player of the Year (Holston), Freshman of the Year (Alhassan), Scholar Athlete of the Year (Holly Pole) and Coach of the Year (Wise). Alhassan, Antwi, Dagostino, Holston and Pole all picked up All-Southeast Region honors, while Wise and Alhassan were the Southeast Region Coach and Freshman of the Year.

Holston, Alhassan and Dagostino will be honored Friday at the 2014 All-America Banquet in Oklahoma City in conjunction with the 2014 AVCA Convention and Final Four.

McElwain Announces Collins as Defensive Coordinator

 Former Mississippi State defensive coordinator Geoff Collins is headed to Florida.

Article by SCOTT CARTER
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Gators head coach Jim McElwain is starting to place his stamp on the program.
McElwain announced Tuesday that Mississippi State assistant Geoff Collins will join his inaugural UF coaching staff as defensive coordinator. Collins has been Mississippi State’s defensive coordinator/linebackers coach the past four seasons.
He was a nominee this season for the Broyles Award, given annually to the nation’s top assistant coach this season.

Mississippi State leads the country in red-zone defense, allowing opponents to score just 60 percent of the time inside the 20. The seventh-ranked Bulldogs (10-2) held opponents to 19.4 points per game this season and finished with 36 sacks, the most since former UF offensive coordinator Dan Mullen took over the program in 2009.
Mississippi State was one of the season’s biggest stories as it reached No. 1 in the national polls for the first time in school history with Collins’ defense – he is nicknamed the ‘Minister of Mayhem’ for his aggressive approach – playing a pivotal role.
“I got to know Geoff personally during my time at Alabama and have stayed in touch with him since and his defenses have been successful everywhere he has been,” McElwain said. "It was important to maintain some of the same philosophies and concepts that have made the defenses around here successful with this hire and our players will continue to progress under his direction.
"Coach Durkin will continue to coach the team through the bowl game,'' McElwain added. "I have the utmost respect for his professionalism and have full confidence in his abilities to lead and coach the team.”
The 43-year-old Collins began his coaching career as a graduate assistant in 1993 at Western Carolina, his alma mater. He worked his way up the ranks and was Nick Saban’s first director of player personnel at Alabama in 2007.
He crossed paths at Alabama with McElwain, who joined Saban’s staff as offensive coordinator from 2008-11.
Collins has strong ties to Florida. He left Alabama to become linebackers coach/recruiting coordinator at UCF from 2008-09, and spent a season at Florida International as defensive coordinator/linebackers coach in 2010.
Collins joined Mullen’s Mississippi State staff in 2011 as co-defensive coordinator and was in full charge of the defense the past two seasons. In his first season, the Bulldogs ranked in the top five in the SEC in total defense, rushing defense and passing defense in 2013.
In 2014 Mississippi State’s 36 sacks rank second in the league behind Missouri’s 40, led by defensive lineman Preston Smith’s nine.
Collins will replace current interim head coach/defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin, who is preparing the Gators for their Birmingham Bowl matchup Jan. 3 against East Carolina.

Eight is Great! Gators Advance to NCAA Regional Final Following Five-Set Thriller Over Illinois

Article posted by Florida Gazette. Photo by Gatorzone.com 

AMES, Iowa -- No. 8 Seed Florida downed No. 9 Seed Illinois in a five-set thriller (25-22, 21-25, 22-25, 25-17, 16-14) at Hilton Coliseum in Ames Friday evening to advance to the program’s 14th NCAA Volleyball Regional Final. The Gators (28-3) meet No. 1 Seed Stanford (32-1) Saturday evening at 9 p.m. ET on ESPNU for a trip to the Final Four in Oklahoma City Dec. 18-20.

The Orange and Blue used double-doubles from freshman middle Rhamat Alhassan (15K, 10B), junior setter Mackenzie Dagostino (51A, 10D) and sophomore right side Alex Holston (18K, 10D) to propel a comeback after Illinois went up 2-1 in the match. Florida took set four, 25-17, to force a fifth and gutted out a 16-14 decision in the final frame to advance to the Elite Eight for the first time since 2011.

Florida’s back row held it down to stifle the Illini attack, as seniors Holly Pole (19) and Maddy Monserez (16) joined Dagostino and Holston in double-digit digs. Illinois became the 22nd UF opponent the Gators have limited to a .197 or lower hitting efficiency this season. Florida improved to 6-2 against ranked opponents this season, including six straight. 

Sophomore Shaïnah Joseph provided a spark for the Orange and Blue off the bench with seven errorless kills on 13 attempts for a career-high .538 hitting efficiency. Joseph added five blocks for 9.5 points towards the Gators’ tally. Alhassan tied a career high with 10 blocks at the net and Holston led the Orange and Blue in slams for the 20th time this season. Holston has had double-digit kill performances in 11 of UF’s last 12 tilts. Dagostino made it two straight 51-assist matches and has had 50+ assists in three of UF’s last four matches.

The Gators added their 23rd straight victory with the five-set win over the Illini, the longest streak in the country. UF will make its 14th Regional Final appearance Saturday evening and will aim for its eighth Final Four berth in program history. UF last advanced to the National Semifinals and played for the National Championship in 2003.

“The eight-nine match-up lived up to its billing. It was an elite level performance by both teams, gutsy, gritty play from the very beginning of the match. If we played 10 times, it would go five and five. I thought Illinois was terrific and we knew that between Birks and McMahon, those are some high heavy arms. We thought yesterday that the match would come down to two-offensive teams and some big time blockers. The difference in the match was that we out-passed Illinois, statistically. I think that the result that comes down to two points in the fifth set.”

Gators Turn Attention to Birmingham Bowl

Interim head coach D.J. Durkin attended a Birmingham Bowl press conference Thursday. (File graphic)

Article by By SCOTT CARTER GatorZone.com Senior Writer

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- The mission for Gators interim head coach D.J. Durkin since the departure of Will Muschamp and arrival of Jim McElwain has been to maintain normalcy.

Easier said than done when the former head coach has left the building, the new head coach has barely been in the building while on the road recruiting, and the current assistants are wondering what's next.

As if that's not enough, the players are in the middle of finals and the holiday break is near.

Normalcy isn't what it usually is but at Thursday's Birmingham Bowl press conference with East Carolina head coach Ruffin McNeill, Durkin said the Gators are staying the course with the Jan. 3 matchup against the Pirates on the horizon.

"We had practice this morning before we headed out, and our guys had great energy and enthusiasm and they are ready to go,'' Durkin (photo, right) said. "There’s a lot of change and a lot going on at our place right now, but the best thing for our guys is to get back on the football field. They really enjoy one another, playing with one another, so they are looking forward to another opportunity."

The Gators (6-5) face an East Carolina (8-4) offense that ranks second in the FBS in passing with an average of 367.2 yards per game. Senior quarterback Shane Carden threw for 4,309 yards and 28 touchdowns and led the Pirates to a win against Virginia Tech -- the only team to beat Ohio State this season -- and a 70-41 rout of North Carolina on back-to-back weekends in September.

Florida's defensive coordinator the past two seasons under Muschamp, Durkin is well aware of the East Carolina's offensive firepower.

"Our guys know the challenge we have ahead of us,'' Durkin said. "Everyone keeps mentioning all the stats and numbers, which are very impressive and eye opening. The most important thing to me, when you turn on the film, is that they have a group of guys who play the game the right way. They play really hard and with great energy. They have great enthusiasm, and you can tell they take great pride in what is going on."

Durkin wants the Gators to do the same, something Muschamp stressed to the players prior to his departure. With McElwain on board and in full evaluation mode, the returning players have a lot to play for heading into next season.

After not making a bowl game last season, the Birmingham Bowl will be the first postseason game for the majority of Florida's underclassmen. Meanwhile, East Carolina is making its third consecutive bowl trip and is coming off a 32-30 loss to UCF in the regular-season finale.

In his fifth season, McNeill said facing the Gators' defense would be a stiff test for his team.

"We know we’re playing a great team," McNeill said. "D.J. has done a great job there, and I’m not saying that because he’s sitting here. He’s been in it and been at some top places and done a great job on defense as well as running the team.

"That’s one of the hardest positions [interim coach] to be in, and I was in that position at Texas Tech at the Alamo Bowl."

The game will be Durkin's first as a head coach. However, it won't be his first at Legion Field. As a freshman at Bowling Green in 1996, the Falcons traveled to Birmingham to face Alabama in the season opener. The Crimson Tide won 21-7.

Durkin seeks a different outcome this time as the Gators try to clinch a winning season with a victory.

Between now and Jan. 3, he'll try to maintain normalcy as much as possible.

“Change is always a difficult thing, but it is a part of life – not just football, but a part of life," Durkin said. "Our guys are going through the process and responding well to it. I told the team that life does not stop for anyone. You have to keep going, and our guys understand that. We had a great practice earlier today, and they are going to be ready to go.”

Next Gators Coach Inherits a Team with Talent and Some Questions

Freshman quarterback Treon Harris is one of the key players UF's next head coach will inherit. (Photo: Tim Casey)

Article by SCOTT CARTER GatorZone.com Senior Writer 

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – As the search for Florida’s next head coach heats up, the players left in the wake of Will Muschamp’s departure after a 24-19 loss at Florida State on Saturday are wrapping up the fall semester and waiting to hear their bowl destination.

Interim head coach D.J. Durkin (photo, left) will direct the Gators through the yet-to-be-determined bowl.

As for the new coach, what kind of team will he inherit?

The Gators finished the regular season 6-5 and lost three games by five points or less. Florida’s two decisive losses were to SEC West champion Alabama (42-21) and SEC East champ Missouri (42-13).

Despite the close calls, Muschamp could not survive a 10-13 record over the last two seasons and numerous missed opportunities that cost Florida any chance at qualifying for Saturday’s SEC Championship Game in Atlanta for the first time since 2009. The Gators’ five-year absence in Atlanta matches the program’s longest streak (2001-05) since the SEC started playing a championship game in 1992.

For the Gators to earn a trip to Atlanta in 2015, a lot of improvements must be made, especially on offense. The Gators must also learn to close out games when they have an opportunity. Failure to do so in losses to LSU, South Carolina and Florida State ultimately turned what could have been a huge turnaround season into a disappointing one.

In his final address to Florida fans on his Sunday TV show, Muschamp described the kind of team he sees the next coach inheriting.

“They’ve got a good locker room and a bunch of talented players and a bunch of good kids,’’ Muschamp said. “We’ve cleaned up the place and it’s ready for somebody to go take the next step.”

Let’s take a look at each position group on the current roster to determine what factors likely need to come into play for the new coach to take that next step:

DEFENSE

DEFENSIVE LINE: This group is losing starting nose tackle Darious Cummings and junior defensive end Dante Fowler Jr., who announced recently on Twitter that he is going to enter the NFL Draft. While both will be missed, young interior linemen Joey Ivie and Caleb Brantley got significant reps this season and showed drastic improvement. A pair of redshirt sophomore defensive ends, Alex McCalister and Bryan Cox Jr., also came on strong, combining for 10 sacks. McCalister leads the team with six. A big question mark is whether junior Jonathan Bullard will return. Bullard played primarily defensive tackle this season and produced the best results of his career (46 tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks). Still, Bullard could use more seasoning to improve his draft stock and develop as an interior lineman. A group of inexperienced underclassmen includes Jay-nard Bostwick, Taven Bryan, Khairi Clark, Thomas Holley, Jordan Sherit, Justus Reed and Gerald Willis, a talented player who saw time as a true freshman at defensive tackle but also encountered off-the-field issues, most recently being sent to the locker room Saturday for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty while on the sideline.

Junior defensive lineman Jon Bullard could be a key building block next season.

LINEBACKERS: Junior Antonio Morrison had his finest season and led the Gators with 98 tackles during the regular season. Morrison (6-1, 225) is undersized but plays a physical brand of football. If he decides to return for his senior season he gives the Gators a solid anchor at middle linebacker. This unit loses a pair of starters in seniors Michael Taylor and Neiron Ball. Still, there is depth with sophomores Jarrad Davis, Alex Anzalone, Jeremi Powell and Daniel McMillian set to return. In addition, redshirt freshman Matt Rolin has been hampered by injuries and remains a mystery. Besides Morrison, Davis is the most proven of this group. He had 23 tackles in nine games before suffering a season-ending knee injury that cost him the final two games of the regular season.

SECONDARY: When the new coach arrives he will be pleased with this collection of players, the most talented of any position group on the roster. Sophomore Vernon Hargreaves III and true freshmen Jalen Tabor and Quincy Wilson are strong cover corners. Safety Jabari Gorman is the only player lost from this group. However, sophomore Keanu Neal will be back as one of the SEC’s most physical defensive backs. Starters Marcus Mayeand Brian Poole also return from a defense that usually played nickel. Freshman Duke Dawson can play safety and corner and has a bright future. Redshirt freshmen Marcell Harris and Nick Washington should factor more into the big picture next season and freshman J.C. Jackson, considered perhaps the best corner of the group, returns after missing this season due to shoulder surgery. Finally, former prep quarterback Deiondre Porter was redshirted and adds another versatile athlete to the mix.

OFFENSE

QUARTERBACK: This position rarely found stability in Muschamp’s four seasons and 2014 was no different as redshirt junior Jeff Driskel opened the season as the starter but was replaced midseason by true freshman Treon Harris. Skyler Mornhinweg and true freshman Will Grier round out the depth chart with Grier considered a potential starter one day. While all four are eligible to return, Driskel could transfer or pursue a professional baseball career; Harris showed flashes of promise and remains a work in progress after going 3-2 as the starter; Mornhinweg is a depth guy; and Grier, a former Parade All-American, redshirted and has four years of eligibility remaining. Regardless, the next Florida coach must create more consistency at quarterback to win more games.

Sophomore running back Kelvin Taylor had a productive second half of season.

RUNNING BACK: The Gators have talent at halfback in sophomore Kelvin Taylor and freshman Brandon Powell. Taylor finished the regular season with 565 yards rushing, second on the team to junior Matt Jones (817 yards, six touchdowns). Jones has a year of eligibility remaining and told team officials this week he will make public his decision whether to return to school after the bowl game. If Jones departs as expected, Powell and redshirt freshman Adam Lane are in line for bigger roles. The Gators lose seniors Mack Brown and fullbacks Hunter Joyer and Gideon Ajagbe. None were factors in their only season in offensive coordinator Kurt Roper’ssystem but they depart as well-respected players in the locker room and by the coaching staff. Junior Mark Herndon suffered a season-ending knee injury on special teams early in the season and returns next season as a potential backup.

RECEIVERS: The most significant loss from this group is fifth-year senior Quinton Dunbar, who was benched at midseason but rebounded at the end to finish with 20 catches for 347 yards. Folk hero Michael McNeely also departs after a memorable finish to his career. Sophomore Demarcus Robinson fulfilled some of his promise with a team-high 47 catches for 774 yards and seven touchdowns. Robinson is the most dangerous receiver on the current roster and a key piece of the offense that Florida’s new coach can build around. Junior Latroy Pittmanshowed signs of improvement as a slot receiver and sophomores Ahmad Fulwood and Chris Thompson remain potential targets if they can continue to improve. True freshmen C.J. Worton and Ryan Sousa, redshirt freshman Alvin Bailey and junior Raphael Andrades are unproven but could have more opportunities under a new coach. Redshirt junior Valdez Showers saw time at slot receiver and caught a touchdown at Alabama. As for tight end, seniors Clay Burton and Tevin Westbrook exit. Burton was third on the team with 17 catches and Westbrook will be remembered for a pair of costly non-catches. DeAndre Goolsby, Moral Stephens and C’yontai Lewis are true freshmen who offer some options at the position moving forward. Meanwhile, fifth-year senior transfer Jake McGee, whose season ended with a broken leg in the first game, would have to be granted a sixth year of eligibility by the NCAA to return.

Roderick Johnson, No. 55, improved under direction of Coach Mike Summers.

OFFENSIVE LINE: First-year offensive line coach Mike Summers deserves a lot of credit for turning this rag-tag group into a productive unit. However, the Gators’ offensive line will have a much different look next season with the loss of seniors Max Garcia, Trenton Brown and Chaz Green. In addition, redshirt junior Tyler Moore, who played tackle and guard in his two seasons, plans to enter the draft. That leaves junior left tackle D.J. Humphries, guard Trip Thurman, redshirt-freshman Roderick Johnson and true freshman David Sharpe among the group of eight who played regularly. Humphries is weighing his options to enter the draft. As for depth, that took a hit this week when junior-college transfer Drew Sarvary announced on Facebook he was retiring from football due to concussion symptoms. While Johnson and Sharpe emerged as building blocks of the future, for the O-line to succeed in 2015, recruiting will be key. In addition, redshirt freshmen Antonio Riles and Cameron Dillard, and true freshmen Andrew Mike, Travaris Dorsey and Kavaris Harkless need to develop into productive players. Another freshman from the 2014 signing class, Nolan Kelleher, redshirted after back surgery and the future of his career is uncertain.

SPECIAL TEAMS

KICKERS: The duo of senior Frankie Velez (12 of 14 field goals) and redshirt sophomore Austin Hardin (7 of 10) combined to make 79.1 percent of their attempts compared to 54.5 percent (12 of 22) in 2013. Hardin finished the season as the starter and made four field goals in Saturday’s loss at FSU – including a career-long 52-yarder – before missing his final two attempts that would have given the Gators the lead. Hardin returns next season and appears to have regained the confidence he lost by missing eight of 12 attempts as a freshman.

Kicker Austin Hardin missed his final two kicks at FSU but showed off leg earlier.

PUNTERS: Senior Kyle Christy departs after a comeback season in which he averaged 44.4 yards per kick on 56 attempts. After losing his job in 2013 to true freshman Johnny Townsend, Christy regained the job as a senior and got the job done. Townsend is expected to take over next season.

RETURNS: Sixth-year senior Andre Debose never developed into the next Percy Harvin at Florida, but Debose was a threat in the return game each time he touched the ball. Debose returned four kickoffs for touchdowns in his career and averaged 24.7 yards per return this season. As a punt returner, Debose averaged 14 yards and added a 62-yard return for a touchdown in his final season. Showers, Powell and Hargreaves are among those who have return experience with Debose gone.

SNAPPER/HOLDER: Last but not least, senior long snapper Drew Ferris and holder Kyle Crofoot will be difficult to replace. Why is that? Well, they rarely were mentioned in game reports, which means they did a good job and not candidates for “SportsCenter.”

The Gators picked up the No. 8 overall seed in the 2014 NCAA Tourney, will host Alabama St., UCF and Miami Dec. 5-6.

Article and Photo by Gaztorzone.com

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- The SEC Champion Gators picked up the No. 8 overall seed in the 2014 NCAA Volleyball Tournament, announced Sunday evening on ESPNU, marking the 24th consecutive season the Gators are going dancing. The Orange and Blue (25-3) will play host to Alabama State (20-18), UCF (25-7) and Miami (Fla.) (21-8) Friday and Saturday, Dec. 5-6, in the NCAA First & Second Rounds at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center.

UCF and Miami will get the action started Friday at 4:30 p.m., while the Gators and Alabama State Lady Hornets take to the court in the nightcap at 7 p.m. The winners of each first round match square off Saturday at 7 p.m. for a shot to advance to the Ames, Iowa, Regional site at Hilton Coliseum Dec. 12-13.

Gators keep settling for field goals in their annual rivalry showdown.

Article and Photo by the University Of Florida.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Florida is hanging with top-ranked Florida State in their annual rivalry showdown, but the Gators keep settling for field goals.
They made the first four, but have missed the last two.
Meanwhile, Seminoles money kicker Robert Arguayo's 37-yard field goal with 3:37 remaining has put FSU up 24-19 in their rivalry game Saturday at Doak Campbell Stadium.
Austin's Hardin's fourth field goal of the game, a 32-yarder early in the third quarter, pulled UF within 24-19, but FSU quarterback Jameis Winston, shaking off three first-quarter interceptions, threw a pair of second-quarter touchdown passes to tight end Nick O'Leary to rally the Seminoles to help rally the Seminoles from an early 9-0 deficit.
Hardin isn't the only member of the UF special teams with significant contributions tonight. The Gators got a huge lift just before intermission their punt coverage team it stormed FSU's Cason Beatty and smothered him while in his kicking motion, thwarting the kick, forcing a loose ball and taking over at the Seminoles 15-yard line.
On first down, freshman quarterback Treon Harris threw a perfect wheel-route pass to tight end Clay Burton for a 15-yard touchdown with 47 seconds to go before halftime. Burton, with the first touchdown of his career, was being covered by 275-pound defensive end Mario Edwards, who had no chance.
That play, along with Hardin's field goal to open the second half, accounted for UF's 10 straight points to pull the Gators back within two.
Florida had a great chance to retake the lead late in the third quarter when defensive back Brian Poole made his second interception of the game and his 27-yard return gave the ball at the FSU 33. But two plays later, wideout Latroy Pittman was called for holding, then got a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty arguing the call. The play cost UF 25 yards in field position and eventually Hardin missed a 52-yard field goal just wide to the right.
FSU attempted a fake punt on the next possession, but linebacker Alex Anzalone was there to thwart it and giving the ball back to the Gators.
Demarcus Robinson's spectacular leaping, toe-tipping reception gained 41 yards to the FSU 25. From there, though, it was a penalty, a negative-yardage run and a 42-yard attempt by Hardin that was again wide right and not even close.
Another chance, another missed opportunity.
The Gators' defense got it done early, but its offensive counterpart couldn't take advantage of turnovers and field position. Instead, Hardin kicked field goals of 52, 39 and 43 yards for a 9-0 Florida lead.
Field goals, though, don't hold up well against an offense as explosive as the Seminoles.
Sure enough, FSU turned the game -- and all the momentum -- just after Winston's third pick gave the Gators a first down at the Seminoles 9. Instead of padding the score and going up 12-0 or 16-0, Harris' short pass to Tevin Westbrook bounced off the tight end's shoulder pads and into the arms of FSU linebacker Terrance Smith at the 6-yard line.
Smith went 96 yards for a game-altering touchdown.
After a Seminoles defensive stop, Winston drove his team 93 yards in 12 plays, hitting O'Leary on third-and-goal to give FSU its first lead of the game.
The Gators could not mount anything offensively on the ensuing series and Winston again took advantage. Aided by a 15-yard unsportsman conduct on freshman defensive lineman Gerald Willis -- who wasn't even playing and yet threw a forearm at Winston after a scramble play carried him into UF's sideline -- Winston finished an eight-play, 83-yard drive with a 6-yard TD pass to O'Leary.

Gators Pull Off A Win Against UAB 56-47

Article by Chris Harry GatorZone.com Senior Writer Photo by University Of Florida

PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas -- Talk about trouble in paradise.

Florida trailed Alabama-Birmingham by two points with just over three minutes to play. The 18th-ranked Gators weren’t hitting shots, weren’t making free throws and weren’t doing much of a job stopping the Blazers either, as UAB’s confidence exuded both on the floor and on the bench.

UF appeared on the verge of Paradise Island Lost.

But something happen. The Gators sprinkled in a series of stops with a couple baskets and seven straight free throws to score the game’s final 11 points and stave off what could have been a really, really bad defeat and instead pull away for a 56-47 victory in the loser’s bracket of the Battle 4 Atlantis.

Six different UF players accounted for those 11 points, with Chris Walker, Jon Horford, Michael Frazier and Kasey Hill combining to go 7-for-8 down the stretch from the free-throw stripe, both Hill and Dorian Finney-Smith converting field goals and Horford coming up with a huge blocked shot when the UAB was down four with a minute to go.

Basically, the Gators made plays down the stretch on a night when few were made in the 36 minutes leading up to the decisive flurry; and they were made by some guys who didn’t make them in numbing late-second losses to Miami last week and Georgetown less than 24 hours earlier at Imperial Arena.

“That was huge tonight for us,” said Frazier, who had 14 points and eight rebounds, of the his club’s collective finishing act. “I think we took a step. As a team, just getting stops when we needed to get stops, we’d been struggling with that. So I was happy to see us do that tonight.”

Happy just to get a win, especially the way things went the night before -- with Georgetown guard D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera bombing in a 21-footer with three seconds left in overtime for the win -- and giving the Gators (3-2) a date against No. 5 North Carolina (4-1) Friday night at 8.

With junior Eli Carter sidelined by soreness in the left foot he sprained last week, freshman guard Chris Chiozza sparked UF off the bench with 13 points, three assists and six steals, while helping pace an offense seemingly grinding its way between first and second gear. Horford had eight points, eight rebounds and his huge blocked shot, while Walker tallied seven points, six rebounds and a block in just 11 minutes.

In fact, let’s talk about two of Walker’s points.

The Gators trailed 47-45 when the 6-foot-11 center made a move to the basket and was raked back to the floor. At that point, Florida was 6-for-15 from the line for the game. So here came Walker, just a 46-percent shooter there for his collegiate career, stepping up with a chance to tie the game.

He swished both.

On UAB’s ensuing series, Florida played great defense and forced a desperation 3-pointer as the shot-clock expired. It missed, Chiozza rebounded and Horford was fouled in the halfcourt. He knocked down both his free throws to give the Gators a two-point lead.

Once again, more great defense hurried the Blazers (2-4) into a late-clock situation and an errant shot. At UF’s end, Hill made a nice baseline move and finish to push the margin to four.

Another Florida stop led to a Finney-Smith dunk with 50 seconds to go for a six-point lead, and the Gators went on to complete the deal.

“We put ourselves in position to win,” UAB coach Jerod Haase said. “[But] there were defining moments late in the game.”

The Gators did the defining.

“One of the things you want to see in an event like this with a quick turnaround -- after an emotional loss yesterday -- is could we play better today? And I thought we improved in some areas,” Donovan said. “Some times, offensively, we’re getting bogged down, but other times we’re getting good looks.”
Most of the time, they're not going in.
UF shot just 34 percent for the game and at one point just before the late flurry was at 27 for the second half. Given the Gators problems putting the ball in the basket, Chiozza’s contributions off the bench all the more critical. Not only did he bomb a 28-footer as the shot-clock expired for one basket in the first half, he also had a steal earlier in the game that led to a driving layup where he faked a behind-the-back pass, cuffed the ball and laid it in with a defender on him.

“I just did what Coach Donovan told me to do before the game,” said Chiozza, who swiped all six of his steals in the first half, coming two shy of Clifford Lett’s 25-year-old school record of eight in a game. “Just go out there and play defense and have a defensive mentality and try to anticipate on defense.”

His teammates, eventually, took his cue.
Just in time.

UAB was hitting at a 59-percent clip until going on that 0-for-7 finish to the game.
“We’re 3-2 right now, but we could have won every single game ... and we could have lost every single game,” Donovan said. “That’s the reality of it.”
Another reality is another game -- against the Tar Heels, no less -- in 20 hours.

Gators Heart breaking 66-65 OT Defeat

Article Chris Harry GatorZone.com Senior Writer

PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas -- Billy Donovan keeps talking about how his young basketball team needs to be scarred and dealt some painful lessons to find out what it takes to be successful.

Well, a few more games like the Florida Gators have had this season -- and losses like Wednesday night’s gut-punch in the Battle 4 Atlantis -- they may need plastic surgery to repair the gashes.

Georgetown guard D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera buried a 21-footer jumper from the top of the key with 3.5 seconds left to hand 18th-ranked UF a knifing 66-65 overtime defeat before a raucous crowd of 3,200 crammed inside the Atlantis Imperial Arena.

Smith-Rivera’s shot came eight seconds after Florida point guard Kasey Hill, mired in a dismal shooting slump to open the season, was fouled throwing in high, arching, off-balance bankshot and made the free throw to give his team the lead with 11.5 seconds to go, making the final sequence all the more frustrating.

“You can focus on the last play, but I wouldn’t have felt great even if Rivera’s shot was off,” Donovan said. “Sometimes, winning is delusional because sometimes it does away with what is actually real. Not that I want to see them go through pain and suffering, but these guys need to be hardened. They need to understand what goes into it and what it really takes, so hopefully a night like tonight will harden them a little bit.”

Those words echoed the coach’s post-game remarks of nine days earlier when Miami guard Angel Rodriguez nailed a 3-point shot in the final seconds to halt UF’s 33-game home winning streak; and a little bit like five days ago when Louisiana-Monroe, out of the Sun Belt Conference, erased an eight-point deficit in the final two minutes at the O’Connell Center, forced overtime and threw a wicked scare at the home team before the the Gators inched away for a win.

Maybe the reality of playing a second straight late-night tip will be a kick in the head; especially one in the loser’s bracket. Florida (2-2) will take on Alabama-Birmingham (2-3), which was waxed by No. 3 Wisconsin 72-43 in the early evening game, Thursday night at 9:30.
Happy Thanksgiving, guys.

“It’s tough,” senior center Jon Horford said after carding a double-double of 10 points and 11 rebounds. “You have to play to the end. We’ve go to get more intense. We can’t let [opponents] get comfortable. And that’s on all of us.”

The late-game letdown spoiled the return of junior forward Dorian Finney-Smith and junior guard Eli Carter, both of whom were sidelined for games due to injuries. Finney-Smith (above right), out since suffering two hairline fractures in his left hand, came off the bench to score a team-high 16 points and grab six rebounds. Carter (below left), who missed the ULM game after spraining his left ankle, had six points on just 2-for-14 shooting, but his ability to penetrate and draw help defenders spaced the floor and led to offensive rebounds and put-backs.
"We were going in not knowing what we would get from them," senior walk-on forward Jake Kurtz said. "But they obviously provided a pretty good lift for our team."

There were 21 lead changes, plus 10 ties, including a big one Florida had an opportunity to break and get out of the converted ballroom about 15 minutes earlier.

It was Carter who had the ball in his hands and a chance to win the game in regulation with the game tied at 34.3 seconds left, meaning the Gators could hold for the final shot. After a few handoffs, Carter rocked and drove into the meat of the collapsing Georgetown defense, where forward L.J. Peak packed the in-traffic shot attempt with two seconds to go, sending the game into the extra period.

Donovan said afterward he would have preferred a kick-out pass in that sequence.

“He’s got to find the open man on that play,” he said.

After Hill’s basket, Hoyas coach John Thompson III took a timeout.

“This felt like a middle-of-the-season or end-of-the-season game,” he said. “Both teams could have packed it in.”

Neither did, but the Hoyas finished it.

With 11.5 on the clock, Peak inbounded under the Hoyas' basket to guard Paul White, who dribbled up the left sideline until he could get a pass to Smith-Rivera in the frontcourt. The 6-foot-3 junior, took two dribbles until his feet were just inside the 3-point line at the top of the key, rose up over UF defender Michael Frazier, who was a tad off balance, and rained his shot.

Swish.
“I was just thinking of getting to the spot I was most comfortable on the floor," said Smith-Rivera, who led all scorers with 17 points on 7-for-14 shooting, despite going 0-for-5 on 3-point attempts. "And that’s where I ended up getting to."

“We came up one play short,” Kurtz said. “That’s something we have to do better.”

That and a lot more, according to the coach, who pointed to 16 turnovers versus just 10 assists and just as well could have mentioned 35.9-percent shooting for the game and 9-for-28 from the 3-point line (32.1 percent). Georgetown (4-0) also shot 49 percent for the game, including 5-for-6 in overtime.

“We don’t play the right way. We don’t,” Donovan said. “We’re not an overly talented team and we don’t have a lot of size. We’re a team that can be hard-working and unselfish team, but we need to move and pass the basketball.”

Evidently, they need to be scarred, too.
This one had to hurt.

Process converts human waste into rocket fuel

 

Pratap Pullammanappallil, a UF associate professor of agricultural and
 biological engineering, poses with an anaerobic digester
used in a process he developed at NASA’s request to turn human waste
into rocket fuel. Photo by Amy Stuart, UF/IFAS Communications.

Article by Brad Buck.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. --- Buck Rogers surely couldn’t have seen this one coming, but at NASA’s request, University of Florida researchers have figured out how to turn human waste -- yes, that kind -- into rocket fuel.

Adolescent jokes aside, the process finally makes useful something that until now has been collected to burn up on re-entry. What’s more, like so many other things developed for the space program, the process could well turn up on Earth, said Pratap Pullammanappallil, a UF associate professor of agricultural and biological engineering.

“It could be used on campus or around town, or anywhere, to convert waste into fuel,” Pullammanappallil said.

In 2006, NASA began making plans to build an inhabited facility on the moon’s surface between 2019 and 2024. As part of NASA’s moon-base goal, the agency wanted to reduce the weight of spacecraft leaving Earth. Historically, waste generated during spaceflight would not be used further. NASA stores it in containers until it’s loaded into space cargo vehicles that burn as they pass back through the Earth’s atmosphere. For future long-term missions, though, it would be impractical to bring all the stored waste back to Earth.

Dumping it on the moon’s surface is not an option, so the space agency entered into an agreement with UF to develop test ideas.

Pullammanappallil and then-graduate student Abhishek Dhoble accepted the challenge.

“We were trying to find out how much methane can be produced from uneaten food, food packaging and human waste,” said Pullammanappallil, a UF Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences faculty member and Dhoble’s adviser. “The idea was to see whether we could make enough fuel to launch rockets and not carry all the fuel and its weight from Earth for the return journey. Methane can be used to fuel the rockets. Enough methane can be produced to come back from the moon.”

NASA started by supplying the UF scientists with a packaged form of chemically produced human waste that also included simulated food waste, towels, wash cloths, clothing and packaging materials, Pullammanappallil said. He and Dhoble, now a doctoral student at the University of Illinois, ran laboratory tests to find out how much methane could be produced from the waste and how quickly.

They found the process could produce 290 liters of methane per crew per day, all produced in a week, Pullammanappallil said.

Their results led to the creation of an anaerobic digester process, which kills pathogens from human waste, and produces biogas -- a mixture of methane and carbon dioxide by breaking down organic matter in waste.

In earth-bound applications, that fuel could be used for heating, electricity generation or transportation.

The digestion process also would produce about 200 gallons of non-potable water annually from all the waste. That is water held within the organic matter, which is released as organic matter decomposes. Through electrolysis, the water can then be split into hydrogen and oxygen, and the astronauts can breathe oxygen as a back-up system. The exhaled carbon dioxide and hydrogen can be converted to methane and water in the process, he said.

The study was published last month in the journal Advances in Space Research.