Florida Gators
Florida A&M
Men's Hoops Hits Season Highs in 88-51 Win Over FAMU
Wednesday, December 1, 2004 | Men's Basketball
Sophomore Mohamed Abukar led the way for the No. 18 Gator men's basketball team as he scored a career-high 22 points in an 88-51 triumph over Florida A&M on Tuesday night. The win tonight in the Stephen C. O'Connell Center improved Florida to 4-0 on the campaign and marked the fifth time in six meetings that the Gators have overcome the Rattlers.
UF posted several season highs against FAMU. In the first half alone, UF eclipsed its previous best in three-point shots by two, nailing 9-of-18 attempts in the first 20 minutes of the game. The Gators also saw the most points scored in the first half this season (47), beating its previous high of 45 points marked against FAU. Nine of 11 Gators scored in the first half, as Florida went on runs of 10-0 and 8-0 against Florida A&M.
Florida began the game strong, shooting 50 percent from the field as opposed to Florida A&M's 36.4 percent. Abukar hit the Rattlers hard and early as he nailed 4-of-5 treys in the first half and ended the game shooting 8-of-10 from the field. Abukar was 50 percent from the free-throw line, shooting 2-for-2. The San Diego, Calif., native set career highs tonight in three-pointers and total points, beating his previous bests of three and 12 set last year.
After the break, UF maintained at least a 30-point lead for the majority of the second half. The Gators went on a 15-0 run to open the second frame and held FAMU scoreless for six minutes, building a 34-point lead against the Rattlers. The Florida bench also out-scored the starters, scoring over half of the 88 points with 49 bench points.
Florida forced 17 turnovers on FAMU and scored 28 points off the Rattler errors. The Gators ended the game with only eight turnovers, a season low for the team and ended the game with a remarkable 56.9 percent from the field.
Just five points shy of his 1,000-career point mark, junior Anthony Roberson poured in 13 points for Florida, the second-highest mark of the night. Roberson shot 50 percent from the field and made 3-of-7 treys. The guard also added one steal, one block and two assists to help the Gators to their victory.
Scoring the game's first points by nailing a three, freshman Corey Brewer ended the game 4-of-5 for 11 points. Brewer recorded four rebounds, two assists and added one block to his ledger.
Leading the boards tonight for UF were David Lee and Al Horford, who both tied for the team high of six rebounds. Lee added eight points to the Florida score while Horford notched two blocks against the Rattler offense. Taureen Green led the game in assists with four, while Matt Walsh dished out three assists for the Gators.
Florida men's hoops will return to the court on Saturday, Dec. 4, as the No. 18 Gators play host to in-state Miami. The tip-off is set for noon.
-UF-
