Gators tame the Dawgs on beard night

Last night wasn’t just any typical night down in the Stephen O’Connel center. It was Patric Young ‘beard’ night. Dozens of fans and students rocked the orange beard for the game against Georgia.

As usual, the Gators do their normal stretching routines every pregame out on center court. Last night, Patric Young looked up into the student section and found every orange bearded student stretching at the same time.

“They make me laugh,” Young said.

And they must make Florida play good as well I’d say. Florida destroyed Georgia 72-50, a game that was never close the entire time. The Gators also set their streak for most consecutive home wins.

Students also decided to give the Tim Tebow statue the orange beard look.

But focusing back on last nights game, Florida played as if they were making a final-four run. Their offense played outstanding despite shooting terribly from beyond the arc in the first half. Michael Franzier found his rhythm in the second half stroking just about any shot he took from three. If Frazier continues to have a hot hand like he did last night, you can expect this Gator team to make a deep run into the tournament this year. Frazier also set a career high with 21 points last night.

“Any time you can get hot like that, catch fire, it feels good,” Frazier said. “My teammates had great confidence in me, coaches told me to keep shooting. That always feels good to have my teammates and my coaches behind me.”

Dorian-Finney Smith scored 14 points for Florida, while Will Yeguete added 12 and Young 10.

“I’m really, really proud of our guys,” Gators coach Billy Donovan said. “That’s great. The guys that had won that many in a row obviously did some really special things. These guys haven’t won national championships, but they’ve done some special things as well, and I’m proud of them. It’s a good milestone.

“I think any time you can do something for the first time in school history, it’s always nice.”

Florida looks to continue their streak as they travel to Auburn (8-5, 0-2 SEC) on Saturday.