Gators (11-9) teething

Florida coach Billy Donovan watches during the first half of his team's NCAA college basketball game against Mississippi State on Saturday, Jan. 10, 2015, in Gainesville, Fla. Florida defeated Mississippi State 72-47. (AP Photo/The Gainesville Sun, Matt Stamey)
Florida coach Billy Donovan watches during the first half of his team's NCAA college basketball game against Mississippi State on Saturday, Jan. 10, 2015, in Gainesville, Fla. Florida defeated Mississippi State 72-47. (AP Photo/The Gainesville Sun, Matt Stamey)

FAYETTEVILLE -- It figured that Florida Coach Billy Donovan would have won his 500th career game by now.

Donovan, 49, averaged 25 victories in his first 18 seasons with the Gators and, including two seasons at Marshall, was 486-189 entering his 21st season as a college basketball coach.

UP NEXT

Arkansas at Florida

WHEN Noon Saturday

WHERE O’Connell Center, Gainesville, Fla.

RECORDS Arkansas 16-4, 5-2 SEC. Florida 11-9, 4-3.

RADIO Razorback Sports Network

TELEVISION CBS

SERIES Florida leads 16-11

But the performance of the Gators (11-9, 4-3 SEC) has Donovan closer to 200 losses than 500 victories heading into Saturday's game against Arkansas at noon in the O'Connell Center.

Yes, Florida lost four senior starters from a 36-3 team that made it to the Final Four, but the Gators were expected to reload quickly with juniors Michael Frazier and Dorian Finney-Smith back to lead the team, McDonald's All-Americans in sophomores Kasey Hill and Chris Walker, and experienced transfers Jon Horford, a senior from Michigan, and Eli Carter, a junior from Rutgers.

Plus, Donovan, who won back-to-back national championships in 2006 and 2007, is so respected by the media and his peers that Florida opened the season ranked No. 7 nationally in both The Associated Press and USA Today coaches' polls.

The Gators aren't ranked anymore, and they needed a 52-50 victory at Alabama on Tuesday night to avoid falling to ninth in the conference standings.

None of it is a surprise to Donovan, who discussed his team's struggles earlier this week on the SEC coaches' teleconference.

"Just knowing what we had coming back and what we had coming in," Donovan said.

Donovan said he never bought into Florida being a top-10 team because he expected returning players and newcomers to struggle when asked to play primary roles with the losses of Scottie Wilbekin -- the SEC Player of the Year -- along with Patric Young, Casey Prather and Will Yeguete.

None of those four were NBA Draft picks -- not even second-rounders -- but all were seniors who knew how to play Donovan's style and win close games, going 7-1 in games decided by five points or fewer, including an 84-82 overtime victory at Arkansas.

The Gators are 3-5 this season in those kind of tight games this season.

"Maybe they thought they were better than they were," Donovan said of this season's Gators after a 79-61 loss to LSU at the O'Connell Center. "None of these guys had to do any heavy lifting, and now they're doing heavy lifting and they're finding out that what these guys did in the past was maybe a lot harder and a lot more challenging than it appeared just being on the team."

Arkansas Coach Mike Anderson remains respectful of Donovan and wary of the Gators.

"They've played a tough schedule," Anderson said. "The thing about Billy, he hasn't downgraded his schedule. He is always going to play people. He just came up short on some of those games."

Florida has lost nonconference games to Miami, Georgetown, North Carolina, Kansas and Connecticut by an average of 4.2 points.

"We've been forced to confront some of the things we've got to get better at a lot sooner rather than later," Donovan said.

Ole Miss Coach Andy Kennedy said the Rebels were fortunate to beat Florida 72-71 last Saturday, when the Gators hit 60 percent (15 of 24) of their free throws.

"They obviously had some personnel changes from the great runs that they've had over the years," said Kennedy, who referred to Donovan as a first-ballot Hall of Famer. "Like all of us at this stage, they're a work in progress. But I see a Florida team that is still very, very capable, and I have no doubt Billy will have that team playing to their potential."

Georgia Coach Mark Fox said there is no question Donovan will have Florida playing better.

"I don't think it will be to anyone's surprise when Florida is playing really well to end conference play," Fox said.

Donovan sounds like he might be surprised if the Gators get back to playing like Florida's NCAA Tournament teams of the past.

"Right now do I see that necessarily happening?" Donovan said of Gators, who are 83rd in the Ratings Percentage Index, a gauge used by the NCAA Basketball Selection Committee when evaluating who makes the 68-team field. "No, I don't, until I see some changes. I think our guys are working hard trying to change those things, but we've got to be able to do it inside the course of a game."

Sports on 01/30/2015

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