Florida Gators
Western Kentucky
Gators beat W. Kentucky, advance to 2nd round NCAA
Friday, March 16, 2001 | Men's Basketball
The Gators fell behind 17-6 but recovered to tie the game 26-26 at the half. In the second half, the Gators trailed 36-30 before going on a 14-0 run to take a 44-36 lead with about 10 minutes to play in the game. Nelson keyed the explosion with a pair of three's.
"The whole game we were trying to make the game go up and down the court," said Nelson. "I think they got tired in the second half. I got a few open looks. My teammates got me open looks and, fortunately, I knocked them down. That kind of put us on a little run, there, and we never really looked back after that."
Haslem scored 18 of his 24 points in the second half. He says he wasn't fazed by his slow start nor by a couple of blocked shots by Western Kentucky's 7-1 center Chris Marcus. "I hurt my team if I don't take those shots right under the basket," said Haslem. "He (Marcus) was fortunate enough to block it. I just kept doing the same thing later on in the game, obviously I was able to get free from the basket and make some jumpers." Marcus was held to just 4 points in the first half. He finished with 14 points.
Gator coach Billy Donovan said he was impressed with his team's poise after they fell behind by 11 in the first half. "They kept their composure and character together," said Donovan. "We went on a big run about the last 10 minutes of the first half. We didn't get off to a good start in the second half, but after the first three or four minutes of the second half we really played good basketball.
Florida's record improved to 24-6. Western Kentucky ends its season with a 24-7 record.
The Gators will move on to play Temple on Sunday in the second round of the South region. Temple beat Texas 79-65 with five players socring in double figures. Temple and Florida tip-off Sunday at 2:30 p.m. EST at the Superdome in New Orleans.
