For the second straight year, the Florida Gators rebounded from a home loss against Georgia to beat the Bulldogs in Athens. Sparked by Udonis Haslem and Brett Nelson, the sixth-ranked Gators rallied from their biggest deficit of the season to whip the Bulldogs 85-70 Tuesday night.
The Gators outscored the Bulldogs 50-29 in the second half and improved to 19-4 overall and 8-3 in the SEC. The win moved Florida 1 1/2 games in front of Georgia (18-7, 7-5 SEC) and Kentucky in the Eastern division.
The Gators fell behind by 10 points in the first half and trailed Georgia 41-35 at the intermission. But Nelson and Haslem heated up in the second half. Nelson scored 14 of his 17 points in the second half that gave the Gators a 59-54 lead and ignited an 11-3 run. Haslem dominated inside and contributed seven points during that stretch. He scored 20 of his season-high 26 points in the second half.
"Once Jonas Hayes got into foul trouble, I told our guys you are not allowed to shoot until the ball goes inside," Gator head coach Billy Donovan said. "Udonis (Haslem) or Matt (Bonner), someone's got to touch the ball first. They had no answers for Udonis, certainly in the second half."
Bonner, the SEC's Player of the Week, scored just 12 points, 10 below his average for the previous three games. But the junior forward gathered a team-leading 14 rebounds, which is one shy of his career high. Justin Hamilton scored 11 points and made seven assists.
Donovan said he was not worried when the Gators went into the halftime locker room trailing by six points. "One thing I tried to sell to our guys was we're in great shape. It's a process of wearing people down. I don't know if Georgia got wore down or not, but I thought our basketball team showed great poise and great toughness physically and mentally."
The Gators picked up their defense in the second half, holding Georgia to just 30 percent shooting. They added to the Bulldogs' woes by shooting a blistering 61 percent in the second half. The Gators also made 10-of-25 three pointers.
Jarvis Hayes led Georgia with 19 points, but only four came in the second half. The Bulldogs played without starting center Steve Thomas, who was serving a one game suspension for fighting.
"It was a total team effort," Donovan said. "They're a good basketball team, and for us to come in here and win the way we did says a lot about our team."
It was the fourth straight year that Florida has beaten Georgia in Athens. The win was the Gators' fourth straight. Florida faces Ole Miss in Oxford Saturday, Feb. 16 at 3 p.m. ET.
