Florida Gators
Syracuse
M. Basketball Defeat No. 16 Syracuse 75-70 In New York
Saturday, November 19, 2005 | Men's Basketball
(AP) -- Florida coach Billy Donovan is learning more each game about his young Gators.
Taurean Green (Ft. Lauderdale., Fla.) had 23 points and keyed a late second-half run in Florida's 75-70 victory over No. 16 Syracuse on Friday night in the championship game of the 2K Sports College Hoops Classic on Friday night.
"They are young and eager just to be out there playing," Donovan said. "There's a lot of unselfishness with them."
Florida (4-0) trailed 62-60 with 6:43 left before going on a 12-0 run. Green, named MVP of the tournament, had eight points during that span, including a 3-pointer with 1:52 left to cap the spurt and give the Gators a 72-62 lead, their biggest of the game.
"Taurean Green made some great plays," Florida coach Billy Donovan said.
Green matched his career-high set in the semifinals on Thursday night against Wake Forest.
"It's a great feeling winning," Green said. "We just wanted to move the ball and get open shots."
This should have been a transition season for the Gators, having lost David Lee, Anthony Robertson and Matt Walsh, who supplied 60 percent of the offense on last year's SEC Tournament championship team to the NBA draft.
Instead, the Gators left New York unbeaten.
The defending champion Orange (3-1) were led by Demetrius Nichols, who had a career-high 24 points. He hit five 3-pointers and had five rebounds.
"He's been shooting the ball really well and he got his looks tonight," Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said. "It's not surprising and it should help his confidence."
Florida opened the second half with a 13-3 run to take a 56-47 advantage and get Syracuse out of its 2-3 zone defense.
Al Horford (Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic) and Joakim Noah (New York, N.Y.) had 10 of the points during that run.
"Our frontcourt people did a great job," Donovan said. "Noah, Holford and (Chris) Richard altered shots in the paint."
Syracuse answered with a 15-4 run of its own as Terrence Roberts had eight points to give the Orange a 62-60 lead.
The run didn't worry Donovan.
"We have a short-term memory," he said.
Gerry McNamara continued to struggle from the field. He was 5-for-19, including going 3-for-11 on 3-pointers. He is just 7-for-32 from behind the arc this season. McNamara finished with 13 points and 10 assists.
"Gerry's doing a tremendous job of getting the ball to people. He's just not making shots," Boeheim said.
Lee Humphreys (Maryville, Tenn.) added 13 points and Noah had 12 for the Gators.
Roberts had 12 points and seven rebounds for Syracuse.
Nichols had 18 points in the first half to give Syracuse a 44-43 lead. His previous career high for a game was 17 against Providence in 2003-04.
