Perfect Murphy paces No. 10 Gators
GAINESVILLE, Fla. - Erik Murphy is no longer only an outside threat.
Murphy tied a career-high with 24 points days after dealing with a migraine headache, and No. 10 Florida beat 22nd-ranked Wisconsin 74-56 on Wednesday.
The 6-foot-10-inch power forward made all 10 of his shots, including several in the post and only two from 3-point range, as the short-handed Gators enjoyed a double-digit lead most of the night. He also had seven rebounds.
"That's the one dimension that I told Erik that he needed to add to his game: being able to catch the ball inside against a smaller person and score," Florida coach Billy Donovan said. "Tonight he really did a good job of that."
Murphy became the fourth player in school history and 18th in Southeastern Conference history to take at least 10 shots in a game and make them all.
"Mr. Versatility is what you should call him," teammate Pat Young said. "He knocked down 3s. He knocked down pull-ups. He was in the post. He was making moves. He was getting offensive rebounds and putting them back up. That was just really cool just seeing him play that way."
Mike Rosario added 15 points, four rebounds and four assists for Florida (2-0), and Kenny Boynton scored 10.
Sam Dekker and Jared Berggren had 11 points apiece for Wisconsin (1-1).
The Gators, playing without point guard Scottie Wilbekin (suspension) and forward Casey Prather (concussion), hit 18 of 24 shots (75 percent) in the first 20 minutes and led 50-31 early in the second half. The Badgers never cut the lead below 12 the rest of the way.
"Sometimes you're built with more experience, slashers, more speed at certain positions," Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan said. "There wasn't an advantage we had."
