Florida Gators
Alabama
Men's Basketball Surges Past Alabama in Conference Opener, 90-83
Wednesday, January 9, 2008 | Men's Basketball
Florida (14-2/1-0 SEC) overcame a pair of 10-point deficits in the first half and were efficient from the outside, connecting on 11 of 22 three-point attempts.
The Gators and Crimson Tide (11-5/0-1 SEC) exchanged buckets early in the first half as the two teams set a frantic pace while hitting from the field at a clip of over 50 percent. Alabama was able to seize momentum several times but Florida was able to answer and remain in striking distance.
Freshman guard Nick Calathes (Winter Park, Fla.) poured in 21 points and sophomore forward Dan Werner (Middletown, N.J.) led the Florida first-half effort with nine points as he finished with a dozen.
Lucas drilled a running three-pointer as the buzzer sounded to end the first half and cut into a double-digit Crimson Tide advantage.
Fresh off the intermission, Florida opened with a 7-0 run capped by a trey from Lucas to tie the game at 46. He keyed a 26-14 UF run in a span of eight minutes and gave Florida its first lead of the night with a three at the 13:13 mark in the second half.
Lucas converted a three-on-one fast-break opportunity moments later with a reverse layup after Alabama's Richard Hendrix tied the game with an inside shot.
UF and UA battled back and forth to regain control and the Gators hit their stride around the nine-minute mark. Junior guard Walter Hodge (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico) nailed three of his 17 points from the corner to break a tie as Florida forced Alabama into an offensive foul on the ensuing possession.
Calathes answered an Alonzo Gee trifecta by breaking a 71-all tie with five consecutive points, a three of his own and a layup following a steal at halfcourt by Werner.
Hodge stretched the lead to nine with a driving layup and drained a pair of free throws for a double-digit advantage to put the game out of reach. He finished the game missing just one shot out of his seven attempts and hit all three of his free-throw tries.
Werner came up huge again with Calathes at the charity stripe under a minute remaining, corralling an offensive rebound off a miss to eliminate any hopes of an Alabama victory.
Florida then made 6-of-8 free throws over the final 51 seconds to help win its seventh consecutive SEC opener, the league's longest active streak.
Gee keyed an Alabama 47-point first half, scoring 17 of his career-high 32 points. Hendrix added 26 points and 16 rebounds, his eighth double-double of the year.
Florida returns to the O'Connell Center on Saturday to take on Auburn at noon.
