Florida Gators

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Florida's bench exploded when Jacob Kurtz made his first free throw late in the Gators' 82-54 victory over Mississippi Valley State on Monday night.

It went positively nuts when he sank the second.

The walk-on guard didn't know it, but he just got his teammates a day off. When Kurtz went to the line, UF coach Billy Donovan told the players sitting next to him that he would cancel Tuesday's practice if Kurtz sank both free throws. That's why the Gators celebrated so wildly when Kurtz went 2-for-2.

"He knocked them down like a champion," center Patric Young said. "We were excited for him anyway, but once he [Donovan] put that [no practice] on the line, we got even more excited."

Kurtz, a freshman from Oviedo, Fla./Hagerty, was making his collegiate debut in the blowout. He was dressed because guard Mike Rosario (lower back) and forward Cody Larson (strep throat) did not play. With the game well in hand, Donovan wanted to give the former manager a chance to get on the court. Kurtz checked into the game with 3:01 to play and went to the line with 2:06 remaining after getting fouled while grabbing a rebound.

"I was glad we were able to get him in there at the end of the game," Donovan said. "These kids [walk-ons] are great kids. They’ve worked hard. They don’t get the glory. They don’t even get a chance to put a uniform on a lot of times."

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Kenny Boynton, Bradley Beal and Erving Walker combined to make nine 3-pointers to help the 12th-ranked Gators roll past over-matched Mississippi Valley State 82-54 at the O'Connell Center on Monday night.

Boynton went 3-for-6 from 3-point range -- and had the worst night of the three. Beal made 3-of-5 and Walker made 3-of-4. The rest of the team went 1-for-5 from 3-point range.

Walker led all scorers with 19 points. Boynton added 16 and Beal had 13.

The Gators (9-2) play host to state rival Florida State on Thursday night.

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GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Florida's Will Muschamp has learned a lot of things during his first season as a head coach.

In fact he's got a notebook full of ideas, reminders and reasons why he made certain decisions. He will do some of those same things or make those same decisions in his second season. Some of the things most certainly will change, such as the way he conducted training camp.

It wasn't tough enough, and Muschamp said that's probably the decision he regrets the most.

"Probably the most disappointing thing or poor decision I made was training camp, not having a more physical camp because of numbers," he said. "You get nervous about injuries. You get nervous about situations with guys, as far as having a more physical camp to prepare our team for the season. If I had one thing to say I wish I could change, that would be it."

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GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- It's not easy keeping up this time of year. There are college football bowl games on every day and night, great non-conference basketball clashes, recruiting news and rumors galore ... and the holidays. Oh yeah, try not to forget to shop for your loved ones. Let GatorNation and The AggreGator take care of keeping you up to date on everything else.

Blogger debate: Big Ten vs. SEC in bowl games
SEC blogger Chris Low takes on Big Ten blogger Brian Bennett in a thorough discussion of all the bowl collisions. The SEC has obviously had its way with the Big Ten in recent years, but this year's Gator Bowl could be part of a turnaround. The bloggers agree the game could be a bit hard on the eyes. They predict a 6-6 tie in regulation and a field goal to win it in overtime. Riveting.

Which conference gets the best bowls? (Insider)
Ryan McGee looks at one of the overlooked facts about college football -- the degree to which the politics of bowls determine the public perception of conferences. It’s no wonder so many consider the SEC a better conference than, say, the Pac-12, when the bowl agreements the conference has lined up assure even lesser teams appear to be playing for higher stakes. Ryan ranks the tie-in arrangements.

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GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Florida has gained a commitment from Walnut (Calif.) Mt. San Antonio College defensive tackle Visesio Salt.

Salt confirmed to ESPN.com via text message that he committed to the Gators after officially visiting Florida this weekend. He joins Quinteze Williams, Dante Phillips and Jafar Mann as the other Florida defensive tackle commits.

"It just felt right," he said.

At 6-foot-3 and 340 pounds, Salt will be used as a nose tackle in Florida's 3-4 defense. He visited Cal last weekend and some thought the Golden Bears were his leader. But after visiting Gainesville, Salt decided to make his pledge to Florida.

With the addition of Salt, Florida now has commitments from 17 prospects, including seven from the ESPNU 150.

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Four-star cornerback Tracy Howard (5-11/175, Miramar, Fla./Miramar) and his teammates suffered a tough defeat to Tampa (Fla.) Plant 31-20 in the FHSAA class 8A state championship game on Saturday night.

Howard, who had an interception in the game, led a Miramar defense that held Plant to 47 yards passing.

After the game, Howard went in depth about the latest in his recruitment.

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