Florida Gators
Auburn
Men's Basketball Pulls Away From Auburn in SEC Home-Opener
Saturday, January 12, 2008 | Men's Basketball
Freshman guard Jai Lucas (Houston, Texas) scored seven of his 16 points in the final 3:30 to lead the Florida men's basketball team to a 72-56 victory over Auburn Saturday at the O'Connell Center in its conference home-opener.
Lucas made 7-of-9 shots from the field and stopped a late Auburn rally to give the Gators its ninth consecutive victory over Auburn.
Florida led 63-56 with four minutes remaining when Lucas took over. He finished a drive in the middle of the lane with a turnaround jump shot as the shot clock expired to put UF ahead, 65-56, with 3:21 to play.
Lucas buried a three-pointer on Florida's next possession and made another short jumper in the lane on the Gators' following trip down the court to put UF ahead, 70-56, with 1:36 remaining.
Freshman guard Nick Calathes (Winter Park, Fla.) added 16 points and sophomore forward Marreese Speights (St. Petersburg, Fla.) had 14 points and eight rebounds for the Gators.
Sophomore forward Dan Werner (Middletown, N.J.) was the fourth Gator in double figures, contributing 11 points off the bench. It marked the first time this season that head coach Billy Donovan altered his starting lineup as Jonathan Mitchell (Mount Vernon, N.Y.) got his first start of the season.
Florida turned a four-point halftime lead into a 12-point lead with 12:18 remaining aided by an 18-10 run to begin the second half. The Gators' full-court press keyed the momentum, forcing the Tigers into six turnovers. Florida led 33-29 at the half.
The Gators went into the intermission on a high note as freshman forward Alex Tyus (St. Louis, Mo.) threw down a putback slam right before the buzzer. UF went into halftime in its conference-opening tilt against Alabama in similar style, riding the momentum of a Lucas trey at the top of the arc.
Quan Prowell led three Auburn players in double figures with 13. Lucas Hargrove had 11 and senior guard Frank Tolbert added 10.
Florida heads back on the road to face Ole Miss in Oxford next Wednesday at 8 p.m. The game will be televised on Raycom.
