Florida Gators
Vanderbilt
Gator men hold on to beat Vanderbilt 95-85
Saturday, January 12, 2002 | Men's Basketball
The Gators (14-1) won despite All-American center Udonis Haslem saddled with foul trouble for the second straight game and starting guard Justin Hamilton sidelined with a shoulder injury.
Junior forward Matt Bonner hit a pair of three's in the final minute of the first half to give the Gators a 46-29 halftime advantage. He finished with a game-high 28 points and 12 rebounds.
The Gators scored eight of the first 11 points of the second half to move in front by 24 points. It was when they got their biggest lead of the afternoon that Hamilton got hurt. He suffered a shoulder seperation after getting fouled on a play. Hamilton couldn't shoot his free throws, so LaDarius Halton took his place and sank a pair of foul shots to give the Gators a 62-37 lead with 15:49 to go.
Vandy (10-6, 0-3 SEC) took advantage of Hamilton's absence. The Commodores went on a 24-9 run to cut the Gator lead to 71-61.
"I was happy with the win," said Gator coach Billy Donovan in his postgame radio interview. "But, certainly, in the second half, right when Justin got hurt, I would have liked to see us play a little better."
The closest Vandy got was within eight points when Matt Freije hit a three-pointer to make the score 75-67 with seven minutes to play. Freije ended up with a team-high 21 points.
But Bonell Colas made a free throw and David Lee scored a basket and converted a free throw to put the Gators up by double figures, for good, 79-67, with 6:08 to play.
"I thought David Lee gave us good minutes and so did James White," Donovan said. "The two freshmen played very well. They shot the ball well and made good decisions."
Lee scored 11 points, while White scored 10.
Donovan was proud with the way the team overcame adversity to record its 10th-straight SEC victory.
"Udonis Haslem was a non-factor and Justin Hamilton got hurt, and we were still able to go on the road and win."
Haslem played just 18 minutes and was held to just 2-of-6 shooting for 10 points. Brett Nelson, who fouled out with 55 seconds to play, scored 20 points.
The Gators return home for a game versus LSU Wednesday night at 7 p.m.
