Macklin comes through at right time

<p>Vernon Macklin wasn't in the game for the last four nail-biting minutes of Florida's important 69-62 victory over Mississippi State on Saturday afternoon. It was crunch time with a lead where ballhandlers and free-throw shooters only need apply.</p><p> So he watched from the bench as the Gators made clutch shots from the line and overcame some late ugly turnovers. His damage had already been done.</p><p> Going up against a guy who will later this season likely become college basketball's all-time leading shot-blocker, Macklin schooled Jarvis Varnado.</p><p> "I didn't look at it personally," he said.</p><p> But you know he did.</p><p> Every big man wants to go up against the best, the guy who can't be scored on. All Macklin did was score 20 points, a career high. And he did it on a day where he had to do it.</p><p> Florida's guards, dealing with the combination of fatigue and long defenders, couldn't carry the Gators the way they have all season.Erving Walker and Kenny Boynton combined to make one field goal in the first half and shot 4-for-25 in the game. </p><p> The guy has been stepping up as a third option — Alex Tyus — was 3-for-12. </p><p> "When Vernon has his feet in the paint," said Chandler Parsons, "we definitely want to get him the ball."</p><p> There was plenty of motivation for Macklin going against Varnado but there was also the inspiration of back-to-back mediocre performances for Florida's big man. He looked soft at times against Tennessee and Alabama, scoring only 13 points in the two games.</p><p> "Vernon didn't have a very good game at Alabama," UF coach Billy Donovan said. "He wanted to do something positive (Saturday). He knew we were going to need his presence around the basket."</p><p> To quote the legendary Nuke LaLoosh in "Bull Durham", Macklin announced his "presence with authority."</p><p> Especially at the start of the second half.</p><p> With Florida down two, Donovan made a strategical move to allow his post players more room in the lane. The result? Macklin scored the first 10 Florida points.</p><p> "He's very capable of doing that," Tyus said. </p><p> Donovan had explained to Macklin that points in the paint are scored before the post player ever touches the ball. You do your work to get position, to pin the defender down low and making the shot is the easy part.</p><p> "I thought Vernon worked," Donovan said.</p><p> Macklin is like a lot of big men who enter college basketball with raw skills and no idea what it takes to be effective. We knew that his presence would help Florida because it allowed the other players to be at their more natural positions.</p><p> That has been a plus for the Gators this season, but there was nothing we had seen in his game to expect a game like this one. It wasn't just on offense.Macklin made points hard to come by for Varnado on the other end. The big center finished with 16 but needed 16 shots to get those points (along with eight free throws). </p><p> Florida's plan Saturday was to take the ball right at Varnado rather than allowing him to come off the ball for his blocks. He finished with only one after blocking nine in his previous game against Vanderbilt.</p><p> This game was about more than Macklin. Parsons had a sparkling line — 18 points, 12 rebounds and six assists. For all his struggles, Walker made a big basket late overVarnado's outstretched arm. Florida outrebounded the Bulldogs by 11. </p><p> But more than anything, Saturday's game showed this is a different team than the one that has been floundering outside the NCAA bubble the last two seasons.</p><p> This team knows how to win tough games, the grind-it-out battles that require toughness more than finesse. </p><p> "It's a whole different feeling this year," Parsons said.</p><p> There is still work to be done, but Florida showed Saturday that it doesn't have to rely on one, two or three players.</p><p> It's a team again.</p><p>Contact Pat Dooley at 352-374-5053 or at dooleyp@gvillesun.com.</p>