Florida Gators
Wake Forest
Green Scores 23 In M-Hoops' Win Over No. 18 Wake Forest
Friday, November 18, 2005 | Men's Basketball
(AP) -- Sophomore Taurean Green (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) almost doubled his career high with 23 points as Florida beat No. 18 Wake Forest 77-72 on Thursday during the semifinals of the 2K Sports College Hoop Classic Benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer.
The Gators (3-0) advanced to Friday's championship game against the winner of the semifinal between No. 16 Syracuse and Texas Tech at 9 p.m.
“Taurean hasn't had that kind of game and he's not always going to score 23," Florida coach Billy Donovan said. "We're just a team that's going to have different people step up on different nights."
Green, whose previous best was 13 points as a freshman against Providence, hit a 3-pointer in the 8-1 run that gave Florida a 72-62 lead with 2:06 to play. His long jumper was the Gators' first field goal in a 5:36 span but Wake Forest had its own shooting slump at the same time. Eric Williams scored down low for Wake Forest (2-1) with 1:49 left to make it 72-64. It was the Demon Deacons' first field goal in 5:54. What made it worse for them was that during the drought from the field they also missed four free throws, including the front end of two 1-and-1s.
Green, who had five assists and three steals, was 4-for-8 from 3-point range and 7-for-8 from the free throw line.
"It was like my old running days," Green said. "It just happened in the flow of the game. They were taking away the 3 from Lee Humphrey, so we just took what the defense gave us. It just happens."
Corey Brewer (Portland, Tenn.), who led the Gators in scoring in their first two wins, had 15 points and Al Horford (Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic) added 11. Lee Humphrey (Maryville, Tenn.) was 3-for-7 from 3-point range and had nine points.
"They weren't going to let Lee shoot but he got a couple of looks and made three of seven," Donovan said. "Lee going 3-for-7 most nights would be good for us."
Justin Gray hit two 3s in the final 25 seconds for Wake Forest, but Florida went 3-for-5 from the free throw line during that span. Williams led Wake Forest with 20 points, while Gray had 19 and Trent Strickland 18. The Demon Deacons shot 42.1 percent (24-for-57), well off the 62.1 percent they shot in their first two games, and committed 22 turnovers, seven by Gray.
The win was the Gator's sixth versus Wake Forest in the overall series and their first victory over a ranked team this season.
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