2004-05 Florida Men's Basketball Season In Review
Wednesday, March 23, 2005 | Men's Basketball
The University of Florida concluded its 2004-05 season on March 20 with a loss to Villanova in the NCAA Tournament. It was a season filled with incredibly memories from winning the school's first SEC Tournament title to taking eight straight games down the stretch, to beating Kentucky in a thriller on Senior Day to rallying from 17 points down on the road at South Carolina. Take a look back at the 2004-05 season:
tipoff
- Florida finished the 2004-05 season with a 24-8 mark and its seventh straight NCAA Tournament appearance… Along the way the Gators won their first SEC Tournament title… The 24 wins for the Gators were the fourth most in school history...With a win over Ohio in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament, Billy Donovan became the first Florida coach to reach double figures in NCAA Tournament wins… Anthony Roberson was the runner-up for SEC Player of the Year and was the only player in the league to average over 20.0 points per game in conference play (20.8 ppg)… David Lee ended his career with a 20-point, 10-rebound effort against Villanova in the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament for his 12th double-double of the season and the 22nd of his career… Lee ended his career at UF with 1,436 points, 14th in school history… Matt Walsh finished second on the Gators in scoring at 14.6 points per game and hit 42.6 percent from three-point range on the year… Roberson earned First Team All-SEC honors from both the AP and Coaches for the second straight year while Lee earned Second Team honors from both and Walsh Second Team honors from the coaches… The trio has a combined 4,242 career points, the highest total of any trio in the SEC… Al Horford finished with 51 blocked shots, the highest total by a UF player since Andrew DeClercq finished with 51 in 1993-94… Corey Brewer started all 32 games for the Gators and finished with a team-high 46 steals… Florida finished 18-1 on the year when holding opponents to under 70 points... Florida finished third in the league in points per game allowed (63.1) a year after finishing 11th in the same category...The Gators led the SEC in points per game scored at 76.2 and margin, +13.1...The scoring margin was the fourth highest in school history as five of the top six all-time marks in that category have come under Billy Donovan...UF scored 80+ points on 16 occasions in 2004-05, all wins...Aside from scoring 80 points against Mississippi State and 70 against Kentucky in the SEC Tournament final, Florida won six games during its late-season eight-game streak without reaching 70 points...The eight-game winning streak by the Gators before the loss to Villanova was the longest since a school record 14-game streak in 2002-03 and was the fifth longest in school history...The Gators blocked 146 shots, the second highest total in school history, as five different Gators reached double figures in the category...Florida knocked down 244 three-pointers, the ninth straight year they've hit 200 or more...The Gators have hit 200+ three-pointesr in all of Billy Donovan's nine years at UF after never reaching the mark prior to his arrival.
gators finish with fourth highest win total in school history
- With 24 wins on the season, UF matched the fourth highest win total in school history, joining the 2000-01 squad...Four of the top five highest win totals in school history have come under Billy Donovan, including his 29-8 squad in 2000 team that reached the Final Four and NCAA title game.
Highest UF Win Totals
Year Wins NCAA Result Coach
2000 29 NCAA Runner-Up Donovan
1994 29 Final Four Kruger
2003 25 NCAA 2nd Round Donovan
2005 24 NCAA 2nd Round Donovan
2001 24 NCAA 2nd Round Donovan
gators post third highest win total heading into ncaas in school history
- With 23 wins heading into the NCAA Tournament, Florida posted its most wins heading into the NCAA Tournament since 2003 when the Gators entered with a 24-7 mark...It was the fourth highest total of wins in school history heading into the NCAA Tournament with the 2000 National Runner-up squad also having 24 wins going into the tournament while the 1994 Final Four team holds the record with 25 wins going into NCAA Tournament play.
Highest UF Win Totals Heading Into NCAA Tournament
Year Wins NCAA Result
1994 25 Final Four
2003 24 2nd Round
2000 24 National Championship Game
2005 23 --
gators experience march success
- Florida jumped out of the gates in the month of March to the tune of a 6-0 mark and within one win of the school record for victories in the month before falling to Villanova in the NCAA Tournament Second Round...The 1994 Final Four squad won seven games in the month of March while the 2000 NCAA runner-up team won six and the school's only victory ever in the month of April.
All-Time Wins In March
Year Wins
1994 7
2000 6
2005 6
gators' winning streak among best in school history
- Florida's eight-game winning streak from late February to mid-March was among the best in school history, as the Gators came up two wins shy of only the fourth double-digit win streak in school history...The Gators' streak was the longest by a UF club since the 2002-03 team matched the school record with 14 straight wins...Four of the top five streaks in school history have come under Billy Donovan.
UF All-Time Longest Winning Streaks:
Year # of Wins Dates
2002-03 14 12/6/02-2/1/03
2001-02 14 11/16/01- 1/16/02
1951-52 10 12/5/51 -1/5/52
1999-00 9 11/24/99-12/30/99
2004-05 8 2/23/05-3/18/05
gators hot down the stretch
- Florida entered the NCAA Tournament on a seven-game winning streak and one of the hottest teams in the nation...It was the most consecutive wins ever for UF heading into the NCAA Tournament.
Longest Winning Streaks Heading Into NCAA Tournament
Team Streak
Winthrop 18
Gonzaga 12
Louisville 9
New Mexico 9
Wisconsin-Milwaukee 9
Creighton 8
UCF 8
Deleware State 8
Florida 7
Eastern Kentucky 7
roberson reaches 1,500-point plateau
- On a free throw with :26 remaining in the second half on Friday, Anthony Roberson reached 1,500 career points, only the 11th Gator to do so...Roberson moved from outside the top 35 to just outside the top 10 during his junior season...He is 39 points shy of reaching the top 10 in scoring...He is the first Gators to reach 1,500 points since Matt Bonner during the 2002-03 season...He finished the 2004-05 season at 1,505 career points.
seeding history
- Florida's No. 4 seed was the third highest seeding in school history and the first time they were a No. 4 seed...Florida's highest seeding ever was in 2003 when they were a No. 2 seed...They've been a Top Five seed in seven of their 12 appearances...A look at Florida's seeding in the NCAA Tournament:
Year Seed Tournament Finish
1987 6 2-1
1988 6 1-1
1989 7 0-1
1994 3 4-1
1995 10 0-1
1999 6 2-1
2000 5 5-1
2001 3 1-1
2002 5 0-1
2003 2 1-1
2004 5 0-1
2005 4 1-1
florida one of only four schools to be a top six seed each of the last seven years
- For the seventh straight year Florida was at least a top six seed and for the sixth straight year, a top five seed...Florida, Kentucky, Kansas and Duke are the only teams in the country to be at least a top six seed each of the past seven years.
finishing games down the stretch
- The University of Florida learned the subtle art of finishing games off, as seven of their last nine victories came as a result of solid play down the stretch...Against Tennessee on Feb. 12, the Gators trailed 65-64 with 7:43 remaining and outscored the Vols 20-8 over the remainder of the game...Against Vanderbilt on Feb. 23, the Gators trailed 49-48 with 6:35 remaining before outscoring the Commodores 21-12 down the stretch...Against South Carolina on Feb. 27, Florida trailed 57-42 with 11:09 remaining before shocking the Gamecocks with a 24-8 run to close the game...The Gators once again trailed by nine on March 2 against Georgia and went on a 21-2 run, part of a 27-6 stretch to finish the game.. Florida trailed Kentucky by four points with 2:06 remaning and again with 1:09 remaining on March 6 before scoring the final five points of the game to take a 53-52 decision...At the SEC Tournament, the Gators trailed Alabama 36-35 in the semifinals before scoring 33 points over the final 13:08...Most notably, trailing Kentucky 44-40 in the SEC Tournament final, Florida went on a 21-2 run and outscored UK 30-9 over the final 11:53...In the opening round of the NCAA Tournament, despite allowing Ohio to mount a furious comeback, the Gators outscored the Bobcats 7-2 after the game was tied at 60-60.
UF's Late Game Heroics
Opponent Score Time Remaining UF Run Tennessee UT, 65-64 7:43 20-8
Vanderbilt VU, 49-48 6:35 21-12
South Carolina SC, 57-42 11:09 24-8
Georgia UGA, 32-23 16:13 27-6
Kentucky UK, 52-48 1:06 5-0
Alabama Bama, 36-35 13:08 33-26
Kentucky UK, 44-40 11:53 30-9
Ohio Tied, 60-60 2:14 7-2
gators tightening the clamps defensively
- The University of Florida ranked either No. 1 or No. 2 in the SEC in every major offensive category a year ago, leading the league in field goal percentage, three-pointers per game and free throws while finishing second in three-point percentage and assists...Conversely, they were No. 9-12 in nearly every major defensive category...Associate Head Coach Anthony Grant broke down every possible defensive sequence after the season and the Gators' entered the 2004-05 season with a commitment to defending better...The results were remarkable as the Gators went from 11th in the league in points per game allowed to third (63.1 ppg)...Florida held five SEC opponents under 55 points and held eight of 16 opponents to 65 points or less (and all three SEC Tournament opponents)...Florida held Alabama to just 54 points on Feb. 5, Ole Miss to 53 points on Feb. 16, SEC regular season champion Kentucky to just 52 on March 6 and 53 on March 13 and held Georgia to 47 and 38 points respectively in their two victories...Over the Gators' late-season eight-game winning streak they held opponents to just 57.1 points per game.
Florida held eight straight opponents under 70 points
Opponent Points Result
Vanderbilt 61 W
South Carolina 65 W
Georgia 38 W
Kentucky 52 W
Mississippi St. 64 W
Alabama 62 W
Kentucky 53 W
Ohio 62 W
Opponent Avergage PPG During Late-Season Streak: 57.1
florida among elite company
- The Gators made their seventh straight NCAA Tournament appearance, after having only five NCAA Tournament appearances in school history prior to Billy Donovan's arrival...Florida is one of only 11 schools to appear in each of the last seven NCAA Tournaments:
Teams that have made the last seven NCAA Tournaments
Team Record Pct.
Duke 23-5 .821
Michigan St. 18-5 .783
Kansas 17-6 .739
Kentucky 14-6 .700
Arizona 13-6 .684
Oklahoma St. 11-6 .647
Wisconsin 10-6 .625
Florida 10-7 .588
Gonzaga 10-7 .588
Texas 9-7 .563
Cincinnati 7-6 .538
roberson, lee, walsh, earn all-sec honors
- Anthony Roberson, David Lee and Matt Walsh each earned All-SEC honors for the second straight year...Roberson was a First Team All-SEC selection by both the league coaches and Associated Press for the second straight year while Lee earned Second Team honors in each...Walsh earned Second Team honors from the coaches...Roberson was the runner-up for SEC Player of the Year, losing out on Player of the Year by a single vote.
"baby gators" contribute big minutes, stats
- Florida head coach Billy Donovan relied heavily on four freshmen for significant amounts of time for the first time in a number of years...This year the quartet of Corey Brewer, Al Horford, Taurean Green and Joakim Noah performed well beyond its years and will be remembered as one of Florida's best freshmen classes ever under Billy Donovan...Brewer started all 32 games while Horford became a regular in the starting rotation on Dec. 19 and started the final 25 games of the season...Green was the first off the bench 12 times while Noah finished fourth on the team in blocked shots and became a force on the glass...The four averaged a combined 75.8 minutes, 20.5 points and 13.4 rebounds per game.
Select Company
UF's Top Freshmen Classes Under Donovan
Year Players Starts MPG PPG RPG
2005 Brewer, Horford 57 75.8 20.5 13.4
Noah, Green
2000 Bonner, Nelson, 17 68.3 27.7 13.4
Hamilton, Harvey
1999 Dupay, Miller, 63 81.5 38.8 13.0
Haslem, Halton
taking care of the ball
- The University of Florida averaged 15.8 assists per game and had a +1.16 assist to turnover ratio in its 24 wins while the Gators averaged just 12.0 assists and are a -1.00 in their eight losses, as they aaveraged four more turnovers per game...When the Gators' backcourt of Anthony Roberson and Matt Walsh spread the ball out effectively, positive results followed...The Gators are 15-1 over his career when Walsh has five-plus assists and are 13-3 all-time when Roberson has five-plus assists.
gators dominated glass
- One of the biggest criticisms of the University of Florida following the 2003-04 season was its inability to rebound the ball effectively against SEC and top level competiton...The Gators completely reversed that trend in 2004-05...The Gators are outrebounding opponents by 5.7 boards per game on the year, a number that escalated to7.2 rebounds per game in SEC play...The tandem of David Lee and Al Horford formed one of the league's top rebounding frontcourts, as the two combined for 18.1 rebounds per game in SEC play as Lee had 17 and 14-rebound games against Vanderbilt and Horford an 18-rebound game against Alabama...Lee had a UF SEC Tournament record 17 rebounds in the SEC title game...The Gators did a much more effective job on the offensive glass and got 36.5 percent of their missed shots back in league play and 11.3 offensive boards per game...A year ago the Gators got only 32.1 percent of their missed shots back...The Gators also grabbed 71.5 percent of their potential defensive rebounds in league play, a six percent improvement over a year ago....In the SEC Tournament the Gators out-rebounded Misssissippi State 41-26 and Kentucky 48-31.
a run to the sec title...
- Trailing 44-40 with 11:53 remaining in regulation of the SEC title game against Kentucky, rather than wilt, the Gators made a run that decided its first SEC Tournament Championship...Matt Walsh drained back-to-back three-pointers to give UF the lead, followed by a lay-up by Roberson and another three-pointer by Walsh for an 11-0 run...The Gators never looked back, putting together a 21-2 run to jump out to a 61-46 lead...The Gators closed the game on a 30-9 run over the final 11:53.
A Run To The SEC Title - Matt Walsh's Stats During the 21-2 Run
FGA-M 3-PTA-M FTA-M Points
4-5 3-4 1-2 12
hard path to the sec title
- Entering the 2004-05 season Kentucky was picked to win the SEC East, while Alabama and Mississippi State were considered co-favorites for the SEC West and the overall SEC title...Florida's road to the SEC Tournament title took it against all three...After defeating Mississippi State by 16 points, Florida defeated the West and East division champions in back-to-back games, taking down Alabama, 68-62, before taking a 70-53 decision in the title game against East and regular season champion Kentucky.
walsh earns sec tourney mvp, lee sec all-tournament team
- Matt Walsh's 26-point outburst in the SEC Tournament final earned him MVP honors, only the second Gator to ever win the award...Walsh averaged 19.3 points per game and hit 13 three-pointers in the tournament...David Lee made the All-Tournament Team after averaging a double-double with 13.7 points and 11.0 rebounds...Lee had a UF SEC Tournament record 17 rebounds against Kentucky in the title game.
gators defeat UK twice in eight days, first team in 85 years to do so twice in less than 10 days
- Florida is the only team to beat Kentucky twice in eight days or less since the Wildcats joined the Southeastern Conference in 1933. Prior to Florida's 70-53 win on March 13, 2005, Vanderbilt was the only SEC team to beat Kentucky twice in less than two weeks (two wins in 13 days, 1972-73 season). Six teams beat the Wildcats twice in seven days or less from 1909-1920. An additional two teams beat the Wildcats twice in 10 days; Georgetown in 1904 and Cincinnati in 1926.
Season Team Two-win Time-span over UK
2004-2005 Florida 8
1972-1973 Vanderbilt 13
1926-1927 Cincinnati 10
1919-1920 Tennessee 3
1916-1917 Tennessee 2
1915-1916 Vanderbilt 2
1915-1916 Marietta 2
1914-1915 Tennessee 2
1909-1910 Central 7
1904 Georgetown 10
roberson offense ignites gator success
- Anthony Roberson completed his best SEC season in a Gator uniform, a huge compliment to a player that has earned SEC Freshman of the Year and First Team All-SEC honors each of the last two years...He led the SEC in scoring in league play at 20.8 ppg and was the only player in the league to average 20+ points in SEC action...He's been criticized at times for taking too many shots but what's lost at times is that he's doing exactly what head coach Billy Donovan is asking of him...There is a direct correlation between Roberson's offensive output and the Gators' success - over his career when he hits 4+ three-pointers, the Gators are an astounding 27-5...He has 31 20-point games in his career and the Gators are 23-8 in those games...Also critical is his ability to get to the line...A career 86.4 percent free throw shooter (best in school history), his ability to get to the basket and draw contact is vital - the Gators are 14-4 in his career when he gets to the line 5+ times.
roberson comes up big again
- With 34 points against Auburn on Jan. 12 and 30 points against Vanderbilt on Jan. 15, Anthony Roberson recorded the second and third 30-point games of his career...His 34 points against Auburn were the most points by a Gator on an opposing team's court since 1986...He became the first Gator to record back-to-back 30-point games since Andrew Moten in 1986 and the first to do so on the road since Andy Owens in 1970...Roberson has eight games of 25+ points for his career including three this season...Roberson had four games of 25+ points last season and had a 26-point game against Coastal Carolina his freshman year....Three of his eight games of 25+ have come against Vanderbilt, as he is averaging 28.3 ppg in his last four meetings with the Commodores.
Roberson's Big Nights
Date Opponent FGA/M 3-Pt. Points
3/12/04 Vanderbilt (SEC) 12-15 7-8 35
1/12/05 at Auburn 11-19 6-10 34
1/15/05 at Vanderbilt 10-17 6-10 30
1/3/04 Florida State 8-14 7-11 28
11/23/02 Coastal Carolina 7-14 3-8 26
1/27/04 at Alabama 9-16 6-12 26
1/19/04 Tennessee 9-26 5-18 26
2/7/04 Vanderbilt 7-19 5-12 25
walsh adds to mvp collection
- With 26 points, including 12 in the deciding 21-2 run in the SEC Tournament Final, Matt Walsh earned the fifth MVP award of his three-year careeer...Earlier this season he won his third straight Orange Bowl Classic MVP award in Miami after scoring 21 poitns in the Gators' win over Providence...Add his MVP showing at last year's MassMutual Tip-Off Classic Springfield, Mass., when he torched Arizona for 27 and Walsh has earned the last five possible MVP awards for Gator players.
walsh offense sparks gators
- Matt Walsh has gone for 15+ points 46 times in his career and it usually means success for the Gators...Florida is 35-11 when Walsh goes for 15+ points, including 14-2 this season...Walsh went for 15+ in nine of the last 13 games.
lee steps it up in SEC play
- David Lee posted his 11th double-double of the season and his ninth in SEC play against Kentucky on March 6, scoring 11 points and adding 10 rebounds...Lee has double-doubles in nine of his last 16 games...Included in that stretch was a career-high 17-rebound performance against Vanderbilt on Jan. 15...Since a four-point performance against Florida State, Lee has taken his game to another level and averaged a double-double...In SEC play Lee averaged 13.9 points per game and 10.3 rebounds per contest...He hit 51.3 percent from the floor and had 40 assists in league play, second on the team...He became the first Gator since Dwayne Schintzius in 1990 to average a double-double in SEC play.
David Lee's Stats In SEC Play
FGA/M Pct. Reb. Assists Blocks Pts.
77-150 .513 10.3 40 12 13.9
horford registers second best rebounding performance by a UF freshman ever, sets UF freshman block record
- Al Horford grabbed an eye-popping 18 rebounds against Alabama on Feb. 5, the second highest total ever by a UF freshman...He matched his father Tito Horford among others with the fourth best rebounding performance ever at the O'Connell Center, just three shy of the record of 21 by former Gator Eugene McDowell...Andrew DeClercq had 20 rebounds while Shaquille O'Neal had 19 rebounds at the O'Connell Center during his playing days at LSU...On Feb. 16, he blocked seven shots, a UF freshman record and the second best performance in school history overall.
