Florida Gators
Vanderbilt
No. 4/5 Gators Down Vanderbilt in a Come-From-Behind 81-58 Victory
Saturday, January 28, 2006 | Men's Basketball
In front of a sold-out crowd of 12,001 at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center, the No. 4/5 University of Florida men's basketball team out-scored Vanderbilt 46-20 in the second half to collect a 23-point win Saturday afternoon. With the 81-58 victory, the Gators move to 18-2 overall and 4-2 in the Southeastern Conference and matched their school record with their 19th consecutive win at the O'Connell Center.
Sophomore center Al Horford (Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic) led a quartet of Gators in double figures with 16 points and pulled down a season-high 16 rebounds in his double-double effort. He also dished six assists, a game-high.
Junior Lee Humphrey (Maryville, Tenn.) contributed 14 points and led the team with three steals, while sophomore guard Taurean Green (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) chipped in 12, as well as five assists, four rebounds and one steal. In just 14 minutes on the court sophomore Joakim Noah (New York, N.Y.) added 10 points.
Freshman Walter Hodge (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico) made his first career start against the Commodores, and put up nine points, notched four rebounds and had one steal. Senior Adrian Moss (Houston, Texas) came off the bench to score eight points and grab five boards.
The two teams started out the game trading baskets until Vanderbilt slowly pulled away to lead by as many as 10 points with 5:57 remaining in the half. The Gators battled back, eventually cutting VU's lead to a three point advantage with two 5-0 runs in the waning minutes which sent the teams to the locker room in a near deadlock at 38-35.
Florida scored the first basket of the second half to cut the Commodore lead to one point before the two teams traded buckets for the next four and a half minutes. A three-point play by Horford at the 15:25 mark gave the Orange and Blue their first lead of the second half, which they built on with 13-for-16 shooting from the charity stripe, and nine points from three-point range by Humphrey and Hodge down the stretch.
UF recorded 51.8 percent shooting for the game, with 79.2 percent from the free throw line and 36.4 from behind the arc, while holding Vanderbilt to just 11.8 percent in three-point territory and 44.9 percent overall. The Gators also out-rebounded the Commodores, 35-26. DeMarre Carroll paced the visitors with 18 points to lead all scorers, as well as nine rebounds and four assists. The Orange and Blue finished the contest with 15 assists, nine steals and three blocks.
UF returns to the court on Tuesday night for an SEC match-up against Mississippi in Oxford, Miss. The game, which will be televised on ESPN2, is slated to tip-off at 8 p.m.
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