UF’s Dorian Finney-Smith suspended indefinitely

Dorian Finney-Smith's dunk in the final seconds at Alabama helped UF to a win several weeks ago.

Dorian Finney-Smith’s dunk in the final seconds at Alabama helped UF to a win several weeks ago.

Published on Thursday, 2/19/15, at 2:03 p.m. Eastern.

The nightmare season in Gainesville continued Wednesday when Florida announced the indefinite suspension of star forward Dorian Finney-Smith, who was the SEC’s Sixth Man of the Year last season.

This smells like a three-gamer similar to the ones recently served by Kansas St.’s Marcus Foster and Boise St.’s Mikey Thompson. (Hint: Students’ rights to privacy are protected, but these suspensions are nearly always a result of a positive test for a green substance.)

Therefore, Billy Donovan’s team will be without both of its double-figure scorers for Saturday’s game at LSU. Michael Frazier II, who averages a team-best 13.2 points per game, missed his third straight game last night vs. Vanderbilt and won’t be ready for the trip to Baton Rouge. UF is optimistic that Frazier can return from a high ankle sprain sustained against Kentucky for Tuesday’s game at Missouri.

Finney-Smith is probably UF’s best overall player. The junior forward leads the team in rebounding (5.8 RPG) and field-goal percentage (47.5%). ‘Doe-Doe’ also averages 12.9 points and 1.1 steals per contest.

Without the DFS-Frazier combo, the Gators could be looking at their first game as double-digit underdogs in several years when they get to the Pete Maravich Assembly Center this weekend.

Despite those absences, UF was able to manage a victory in a  close game last night. Despite going scoreless for the final 8:33 of the first half, the Gators beat Vandy thanks to a Devin Robinson dunk off a sweet pass from Kasey Hill with 2.1 ticks remaining to halt a four-game losing streak.

Nevertheless, Florida failed to cover the number as a 6.5-point home favorite. Donovan’s team is now an atrocious 5-14 ATS when favored this season.

**B.E.’s Bonus Nuggets**

–You can check out my UConn-Memphis preview and some other quick-hit notes in today’s rant over at VegasInsider.com.

–GatorZone’s Chris Harry was the first to report the suspension of Dorian Finney-Smith yesterday.

Derrick Marks has Boise St. in contention for a second NCAA Tourney berth in the last three years.

Derrick Marks has Boise St. in contention for a second NCAA Tourney berth in the last three years.

–Boise St. won for the ninth time in its last 10 games thanks to Derrick Marks’ clutch basket at crunch time last night at UNLV. It was the Broncos’ first-ever win at Thomas & Mack. Marks is likely in line for winning Mtn. West Player of the Year honors and if he continues to play well the next two weeks, the Chicago product should be in consideration for a spot on the second or third-team All-American squad.

–Oregon St, a 7.5-point home underdog tonight vs. Utah, is unbeaten at home with an incredible 11-2 spread record.

–Dayton is also undefeated at home this year and has covered the number at a 5-1 ATS clip in its last six home outings. The Flyers, who are 10-point home ‘chalk’ vs. St. Joe’s tonight, might be without Kendall Pollard, who suffered a concussion this past Saturday. Pollard, who averages 11.6 points and 5.3 rebounds per game, hasn’t practiced yet this week.

–Sportsbook.ag currently has Kentucky with +220 odds to stay unbeaten and win it all (risk $100 to win $220). For gamblers wanting to bet against the Wildcats going undefeated, they can lay a -300 price (risk $300 to win $100).

–Sportsbook has the following future odds today for the top contenders…

Kentucky -130
Wisconsin +750
Duke 9/1
Arizona 12/1
Gonzaga 14/1
Virginia 14/1
Kansas 25/1

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