No Kidding! Billy Donovan Snakebitten by Record in Close Games
March 26th, 2012 - 22:41
The odds were against Florida reaching the Final Four in New Orleans while squandering a double-digit second-half lead in the West Regional final against Louisville. According to the cold hard facts, it simply wasn't going to be easy for the Gators to Geaux to the "Big Easy" because of coach Billy Donovan's anemic record in close games.
It doesn't seem possible for a two-time NCAA championship coach such as Donovan (62-74) to rank next to last in this category. But the only veteran mentor with an inferior tight-tilt mark to Donovan is Arizona State's Herb Sendek. Following are the records of 48 active coaches in major-college games decided by fewer than six points (minimum of more than 125 such games):
| COACH | YEARS | 1-PT | 2-PT | 3-PT | 4-PT | 5-PT | TOTAL | PCT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jim Boeheim | 77-12 | 33-22 | 50-27 | 35-23 | 38-27 | 40-19 | 196-118 | .624 |
| Steve Fisher | 89-12 | 21-8 | 24-19 | 22-20 | 29-10 | 25-18 | 121-75 | .617 |
| Blaine Taylor | 92-12 | 15-8 | 16-6 | 20-17 | 16-15 | 17-9 | 84-55 | .604 |
| Jim Calhoun | 73-12 | 45-26 | 54-42 | 34-30 | 27-21 | 39-19 | 199-138 | .591 |
| Kevin Stallings | 94-12 | 17-11 | 19-13 | 18-18 | 15-10 | 23-13 | 92-65 | .586 |
| Stew Morrill | 87-12 | 26-21 | 21-17 | 20-18 | 31-15 | 26-17 | 124-88 | .585 |
| Dana Altman | 90-12 | 24-13 | 23-19 | 17-18 | 23-19 | 16-12 | 121-86 | .585 |
| Ray McCallum | 94-12 | 10-7 | 10-13 | 19-9 | 18-10 | 10-8 | 74-53 | .583 |
| Gary Waters | 97-12 | 8-9 | 12-15 | 28-8 | 12-8 | 14-14 | 74-54 | .578 |
| Ben Howland | 95-12 | 18-10 | 19-15 | 18-14 | 14-14 | 16-10 | 85-63 | .574 |
| Mike Jarvis | 86-12 | 18-17 | 26-17 | 24-16 | 22-18 | 26-18 | 116-86 | .574 |
| Ronnie Arrow | 88-12 | 11-10 | 18-25 | 14-13 | 24-5 | 23-14 | 90-67 | .573 |
| Tim Floyd | 87-12 | 17-16 | 19-15 | 20-15 | 25-13 | 15-14 | 96-73 | .568 |
| John Calipari | 89-12 | 16-15 | 13-16 | 16-14 | 16-8 | 14-6 | 75-59 | .560 |
| Roy Williams | 89-12 | 17-12 | 17-14 | 22-14 | 16-19 | 19-13 | 91-72 | .558 |
| Steve Alford | 96-12 | 15-13 | 23-19 | 18-22 | 12-6 | 16-8 | 84-68 | .553 |
| Rick Majerus | 84-12 | 13-18 | 20-24 | 20-11 | 19-15 | 27-12 | 99-80 | .553 |
| Bill Self | 94-12 | 13-14 | 16-11 | 14-15 | 14-15 | 16-4 | 73-59 | .553 |
| Tubby Smith | 92-12 | 13-14 | 22-9 | 24-19 | 13-17 | 22-18 | 94-77 | .550 |
| John Beilein | 93-12 | 17-12 | 15-17 | 22-29 | 28-21 | 21-8 | 103-87 | .542 |
| Tom Izzo | 96-12 | 7-8 | 13-19 | 19-12 | 12-10 | 21-12 | 72-61 | .541 |
| Jeff Jones | 91-12 | 11-11 | 16-17 | 27-13 | 17-14 | 14-17 | 85-72 | .541 |
| Oliver Purnell | 89-12 | 21-13 | 22-27 | 21-15 | 19-14 | 23-22 | 106-91 | .538 |
| Larry Eustachy | 91-12 | 10-10 | 20-16 | 13-20 | 16-10 | 19-17 | 94-82 | .534 |
| Mike Krzyzewski | 76-12 | 38-31 | 38-32 | 31-22 | 24-35 | 29-21 | 160-141 | .532 |
| Eddie Biedenbach | 79-12 | 8-12 | 9-10 | 27-10 | 11-9 | 6-7 | 67-59 | .532 |
| Murry Bartow | 97-12 | 11-12 | 12-10 | 18-16 | 11-13 | 16-9 | 68-60 | .531 |
| Mike Montgomery | 79-12 | 24-26 | 31-24 | 26-22 | 19-20 | 22-16 | 122-108 | .530 |
| Bob Huggins | 85-12 | 14-17 | 30-28 | 25-18 | 13-19 | 21-11 | 103-93 | .526 |
| Lon Kruger | 83-12 | 26-13 | 24-24 | 33-29 | 22-22 | 13-18 | 117-106 | .525 |
| Fran Dunphy | 90-12 | 10-12 | 23-19 | 19-17 | 14-20 | 22-13 | 88-81 | .521 |
| Mike Brey | 96-12 | 15-13 | 12-18 | 21-16 | 12-13 | 12-8 | 72-68 | .514 |
| Cliff Ellis | 76-12 | 28-27 | 28-36 | 42-30 | 33-21 | 20-30 | 151-144 | .512 |
| John Brady | 92-12 | 15-18 | 21-22 | 21-27 | 25-13 | 15-14 | 97-94 | .508 |
| Jim Molinari | 90-12 | 13-14 | 16-14 | 22-16 | 11-19 | 19-16 | 81-79 | .506 |
| Frankie Allen | 88-12 | 15-7 | 23-21 | 22-21 | 18-20 | 14-22 | 92-91 | .503 |
| Rick Pitino | 76-12 | 16-30 | 13-20 | 31-17 | 20-14 | 17-15 | 97-96 | .503 |
| Fran McCaffery | 86-12 | 20-13 | 15-15 | 15-15 | 8-12 | 12-15 | 70-70 | .500 |
| Rick Barnes | 88-12 | 17-22 | 18-19 | 27-24 | 21-25 | 23-18 | 106-108 | .495 |
| Jim Larranaga | 87-12 | 21-17 | 27-29 | 22-30 | 18-18 | 21-18 | 109-112 | .493 |
| Jim Wooldridge | 92-12 | 16-18 | 17-24 | 15-13 | 17-15 | 14-12 | 79-82 | .491 |
| Ben Braun | 86-12 | 17-20 | 25-29 | 22-29 | 30-21 | 20-17 | 111-116 | .489 |
| Bruiser Flint | 97-12 | 9-15 | 15-15 | 12-16 | 13-14 | 18-10 | 67-70 | .489 |
| Seth Greenberg | 91-12 | 21-21 | 19-21 | 23-25 | 18-19 | 16-16 | 97-102 | .487 |
| Leonard Hamilton | 86-12 | 13-22 | 16-23 | 17-24 | 21-12 | 19-13 | 97-104 | .483 |
| Jay Wright | 95-12 | 8-18 | 21-18 | 19-14 | 11-13 | 13-14 | 72-77 | .483 |
| Billy Donovan | 95-12 | 11-13 | 10-19 | 15-20 | 15-15 | 11-7 | 62-74 | .456 |
| Herb Sendek | 94-12 | 12-15 | 13-12 | 16-30 | 17-14 | 10-12 | 68-83 | .450 |