Kenny Boynton’s 20 point performance led the Gators past Arkansas 75-43 tonight in Gainesville.

Just two nights after an ugly win against Auburn, the Gators bounced back and dominated from start to finish.

The Gators (15-4, 4-1) shot fifty percent from the field and thirty one from behind the arc. A lot better than 28 percent they shot on Thursday night. Everything went their way tonight. Shooting, passing, defense. Just everything. Florida’s defense stepped up big, forcing 13 turnovers and totaled for five block shots. They also out rebounded the Razorbacks 41-26. One of the defensive plays of the game, when freshman center Patric Young came up from behind an Arkansas player and blocked the layup against the back board which led to a fast break to Kenny Boynton that turned into an and-one play.

Florida’s shooting was also a lot better. Boynton stepped up and drained 4-of-7 from the three while Erik Murphy added one himself. I was excited to see unselfishness from the Gators. The extra pass that led into open shots came up big and horrible shooting by Arkansas sure did help. What also caught my eye tonight were the way the Gators crashed the board. They were very physical under the rim and were always crashing the boards and diving on the ground. I remember watching one possession where Erving Walker shot a three pointer and missed and was rebounded by Florida. Walker attempted another three that was unsuccessful and was again rebounded by the Gators and led into an easy bucket. If Florida wants to continue to play like this, they will need to copy exactly how they played tonight. And with a little better shooting from Parsons and Walker will be domination if they can stay hot.

Arkansas (12-6, 2-3) just couldn’t get anything to fall. They missed their first 10 three point shots and struggled a lot underneath the rim. One of the biggest things Florida accomplished on defense tonight was locking Rotnei Clark down on defense. The Gators held Clark scoreless. Boynton never had his eye on the ball when guarding Clark, he made sure to face guard him and deny him the ball the entire game.

Delvon Johnson led Arkansas with 12 points while teammate Marshawn Powell added 10.

Leading behind Boynton in scoring was Vernon Macklink with 13 points and Alex Tyus who also finished with 13 points, 2 blocks and seven boards. Patric Young scored 6 points and recorded 2 blocks while Chandler Parsons chipped in five points and five assists.

With the help from Kentucky’s victory over South Carolina earlier today, the Gators now lead in first place in the SEC east.

Florida is back in action on January 25 as they travel to take on Georgia (14-4, 3-2) at 7:00pm.

Make your March Madness predictions.

(AP Photo/The Gainesville Sun, Matt Stamey)