Florida Gators
South Florida
Men's Hoops Defeats South Florida 68-52
Monday, December 9, 2002 | Men's Basketball
Freshman guard Anthony Roberson came off of the bench to score 19 points as the University of Florida men's basketball team improved to 6-2 with a 68-52 win over South Florida Sunday evening at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center.
"I thought in the first half that we played with great energy and built a pretty good lead," head coach Billy Donovan said. "I could see after the first two minutes of the second half, when I called a time out, we had no gas left in us at all. We didn't really press the way we normally do, but I thought our guys gutted it up and they found a way to win the game at the end."
Roberson shot a perfect 4-of-4 from three point range in the first half and finished the day 5-of-8 from behind the arc. Roberson also contributed three assists and a career-high four steals.
In the first half, the Gators shot 16-of-26 from the field and 5-of-10 from three point range. Sophomore center David Lee scored eight of Florida's first 14 points, all coming off of dunks. Lee finished the game with 16 points (7-of-9), five rebounds and four blocked shots.
The Gators biggest run came in the last eight minutes of the first half. With 5:41 left to go Roberson stole the ball from South Florida's Will McDonald and was then flagrantly fouled by Bull's forward Terrance Leather. Roberson made both foul shots and hit two back-to-back three point baskets to help the Gators to a 10-2 run.
Florida had only one personal foul called on them in the first half and only four fouls during the entire game. The Gators also had assists on 21 of their 25 made baskets. Senior guard Justin Hamilton led Florida with six assists.
"I think the thing that was most impressive to me was the unselfishness," Donovan said. "I think we had 21 assists, we moved the basketball, we passed it very well."
Senior forward Matt Bonner added 14 points, six rebounds and a season-high four assists. Freshman center Adrian Moss added three blocked shots for Florida.
With the win over the Bulls, Florida has now won its last 16 straight games against in-state rivals and 19 of the last 20.
The Gators will travel to College Park, Md. to take on the University of Maryland Saturday, December 14 at 2 p.m. The game will be televised live on CBS.
