Florida Gators
Southern
Horford and Hodge Lead Gators in 83-27 Win Over Southern
Wednesday, November 29, 2006 | Men's Basketball
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Junior Al Horford (Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic) scored 12 points and sophomore Walter Hodge (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico) added nine as the fourth-ranked Florida Gators (7-1, 0-0 Southeastern Conference) rebounded from their first loss with an 83-27 win against Southern (0-6) Tuesday evening at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center.
Hodge, making his first start of the season in place of junior Corey Brewer (Portland, Tenn.), was 4-for-6 from the field and dished out a career-high six assists and five steals in the win.
With the win, the Gators extended their home winning streak against non-conference opponents to 19 games.
Despite missing several close-range shots in the opening minutes, Florida was able to close the half with a 20-4 run and a 34-16 lead.
The Gators pulled away early in the second half, opening with a 13-1 spurt fueled by 3-pointers from junior Lee Humphrey (Maryville, Tenn.) and freshman Brandon Powell (Memphis, Tenn.). Hodge also hit a mid-range jumper and a layup that put the Gators ahead 47-17 with nearly 15 minutes to play.
Powell hit another trey, freshman Dan Werner (Middletown, N.J.) added two from behind the arc and then Horford's baseline jumper made it a 40-point game, 61-21.
Although he saw time in just the second half, Powell finished the game with a career-high 10 points and was 3-for-3 from 3-point range. Marreese Speights (St. Petersburg, Fla.) added 12 points and 12 rebounds for his second double-double. Speights was 4-of-6 from the floor and made all four of his shots from the charity stripe.
The Gators overcame a .361 first-half shooting percentage to shoot .692 in the second half and finished the game shooting 50 percent overall. Florida also shot a season-high .625 from three-point range, and held Southern to a school-record opponent low .208 shooting percentage.
Chike Ekweozor had six points to lead the Jaguars, who scored their fewest points of the season.
Florida will return to action Sunday, Dec. 3, with an 7:30 p.m. contest against in-state rival Florida State in Tallahassee.
-UF-
