Florida Gators
Alabama
MBB Advances To Semis On Humphrey Buzzer Beater
Saturday, March 13, 2004 | Men's Basketball
Florida's Lee Humphrey made the shot that officials took away from Anthony Roberson.
Humphrey hit his only field goal of the game, a 17-foot buzzer-beater from the left baseline, to give the Gators a 75-73 overtime victory over Alabama in the quarterfinals of the Southeastern Conference tournament Friday night.
Roberson, who led Florida with 22 points, attempted to win the game in regulation with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer, but his basket was nullified when officials ruled the horn sounded before the shot left his hand.
The Gators (19-9) will play Vanderbilt, which upset No. 4 Mississippi State 74-70 in overtime, in the semifinals Saturday. It marks the first semifinal appearance for the Gators since 2001 when they fell to Ole Miss in Nashville. They will attempt to make their first final since 1994 and only their fourth in school history.
The Gators trailed by as many as 13 points to overcome their largest deficit of the season. It was the first buzzer beater by Florida since Roberson hit a game-winning three-pointer against Georgia on Jan. 11, 2003.
Roberson's 3-pointer with 3:10 left in regulation cut Alabama's lead to 66-65, but he missed his next trey attempt with 56.6 seconds remaining. Matt Walsh redeemed him, though, by getting the rebound and making a long bounce pass that David Lee took for a dunk, putting Florida on top 67-66 with 42.9 seconds left.
Alabama (17-12) led 66-60 after Earnest Shelton's 3-pointer from the right wing, but the Tide failed to score on its next four possessions. Antoine Pettway ended the scoring in regulation with a pair of free throws to make it 68-68.
Shelton scored 27 points for Alabama, which got 12 apiece from Chuck Davis and Emmett Thomas but still lost to Florida for the seventh time in eight games.
Florida improved to 5-1 following the departure of sophomore swingman Christian Drejer.
The Gators now look to Vanderbilt a team they split two meetings with earlier this season. The Gators fell 86-72 in Nashville on Jan. 17 before taking a 81-71 decision in Gainesville on Feb. 7. Florida is 4-2 all-time in the SEC Tournament against Vanderbilt, the most victories by the Gators over any SEC school in tournament play.
