The No. 8/10 Florida men's basketball team notched an 88-58 win over Bethune-Cookman in its home match-up at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center on Friday night. With the win, the Gators moved to 9-0 for the season, the first time in 54 years a Florida squad has reached that mark, and now sit just one win away from tying the 1951-52 squad for the best start in school history (10-0).
Sophomore center Al Horford (Puerto Plata, D.R.) led the Orange and Blue scoring attack, as five Gators reached double figures. Horford finished the game a perfect 8-for-8 from the field with 17 points, seven rebounds, two steals and two blocks. Junior guard Lee Humphrey (Maryville, Tenn.) added 13 points, nine of which came from behind the arc. Sophomore forward Joakim Noah (New York, N.Y.) put up12 points, and also chipped in five rebounds, one assist and one block.
Freshman guard Walter Hodge (Guaynabo, P.R.) finished the contest with 11 points, making three shots from three-point range and going 2-for-2 from behind the charity stripe. Hodge also recorded five assists on the day. Junior forward Chris Richard (Lakeland, Fla.) shot 5-for-6 from the field to notch 11 points, and also added seven rebounds and three assists to the Gator win.
Sophomore Corey Brewer (Portland, Tenn.) scored nine points for the Orange and Blue and tied his career high for assists with six to lead the Gators in that category. Brewer also led the team in steals, with three against the Wildcats.
The Gators shot the lights out in the first half, hitting 71.4 percent from the field. Horford and Brewer were both perfect in the first frame, with 5-for-5 and 3-for-3 efforts, respectively. Florida opened up the game with a 13-2 run, en route to a 26-10 lead in the first 10 minutes. The Bethune-Cookman offense traded shots with the Orange and Blue until a late 10-0 run sent UF to the locker room with a 48-26 advantage at the break.
In the second half, the Gators kept the game in hand, stretching their halftime lead to 30-points and winning the contest with a final score of 88-58.
UF finished with a 66.0 percent field goal percentage, making 35 of 53 shots from the field. Florida also notched a 47.1 percent mark from behind the arc, shot 76.9 percent from the free throw line and capitalized to score 22 points off Wildcat turnovers. The Gators' stifling defense held Bethune-Cookman to 43.6 percent shooting from the field, and just 25.0 percent from the three-point line on 3-for-12 shooting. Bethune-Cookman was paced offensively by Antonio Webb, who led all scorers with 19 points.
The Gators return to the court Dec. 18 for a 1 p.m. match-up against the Jacksonville University at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center.
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