Florida Gators
Louisville
Gator M. Basketball Falls In 74-70 Loss to Louisville
Saturday, December 11, 2004 | Men's Basketball
The University of Florida men's basketball team fell to 5-2 after a heartbreaking 74-70 loss to the No. 13/14 ranked Louisville Cardinals, Saturday, at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center. The Cardinals' victory over the Gators moved the series to 7-1, with UL in the lead.
UF ended the match-up this afternoon with four Gators finishing in double-figure scoring. Senior David Lee led the pack with 18 points and nine rebounds, both team highs for Florida. Junior Matt Walsh was perfect from the charity stripe, making all eight shots, and went on to finish the game with 14 points. Anthony Roberson was 6-of-11 from the floor and nailed three treys to add 15 points. Freshman starter Corey Brewer, also perfect from the free-throw line, chipped-in 11 total points for UF.
The Gators kept the game close, trailing both halves by four points. Florida went on a run of 10-3 in the first half to keep the Orange and Blue alive. For over six minutes in the first, Florida held the Cardinals to just three baskets and eight points. Lee shot four of five from the floor, while Roberson and Walsh both added six points. The half ended, 37-33, with Louisville in the lead.
The key to Florida's first half was Louisville's fouls. The first half ended with 10 Cardinal fouls and only three for the Orange and Blue. Both Walsh and sophomore Lee Humphrey were perfect from the line the first half and helped UF to its 73.3 percent from the line as the Gators made 11-of-15 free throws.
After the break, UF trailed Louisville by as much as 12 points, but came back with a 13-3 run to bring the score within two points with nine minutes still remaining in the game. The Gators and Cardinals went back and forth for the remainder of the half. UF was able to bring the game within three points with 41 seconds left in the clock. Louisville was up one basket with only six seconds remaining, but the two made free-throw shots by UL forward Juan Palacious sealed the Cardinal win.
Louisville ended the game with a 51.1 percent from the floor, out shooting Florida by almost 10 percent as the Gators ended the contest with a 41.5 shooting percentage. A big key in the game for the Cardinals, now 5-1, was the three-point line. UL ended the game shooting 43.5 percent, while Florida finished 18.2 percent from the arc.
This was Florida's first meeting with a ranked opponent this season. The Gators have over a week off as the student-athletes prepare for finals. UF will compete again when Georgia Southern enters the O'Connell Center on Dec. 19, for a 1 p.m. tip-off. The game will be carried by the Sunshine Network.
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