Florida Gators
Stetson
Gator Men's Hoops Take the Stetson Hatters 94-66
Friday, December 28, 2001 | Men's Basketball
The Gators (10-1) opened the game with a 16-0 run to fuel a 53-27 first half lead. With the exception of two Brett Nelson free throws, all the points during the run were scored.
"Against New Orleans we came out, and of our first seven shots, six were threes," head coach Billy Donovan said. "We just wanted to establish Udonis (Haslem) and Matt Bonner, and if you noticed, the first eight or 10 points were all dump-down passes inside. It softened up the perimeter."
Haslem and Bonner each scored six points during that opening barrage. Nelson got free on the outside and made three shots beyond the arc in the first half. All 17 of his points came before halftime.
In the second half, the Gators didn't have quite the intensity they had in the first half and that didn't please Donovan.
"I thought we came out flat and uninspired in the second half," Donovan said. "Give Stetson credit. I thought that they came with great intensity and great emotion in the second half. Their kids kept playing, they kept fighting."
A Haslem slam dunk with 9:30 to go in the second half put the Gators up 79-51 and gave the senior center his season-high 23 points. He also grabbed 10 rebounds for his SEC-leading fifth double-double of the season.
Bonner, who was held below double figures for the first time this season in the previous game against New Orleans, got back to double digits with 13 points. Reserve Bonell Colas came off the bench to score a career-high 12 points in just 16 minutes.
"Bonell has given us very good minutes," Donovan said. "He's given us quality time and he's done some very, very good things."
Freshman David Lee was the fifth Gator in double figures with 11 points.
Florida shot 55 percent to Stetson's 42 percent and outrebounded the Hatters 43 to 25. Both teams turned the ball over 23 times. For the Gators, that's the most in a game this season. It's the ninth straight game in which Florida has forced their opponent into 20 or more turnovers.
Florida has won a school-record nine straight games. The Gators face Belmont Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. in the O'Connell Center.
