Florida Gators
Florida Gulf Coast
Gators beat Florida Gulf Coast, 94-60
Thursday, December 11, 2008 | Men's Basketball
Sophomore forward Alex Tyus (St. Louis, Mo.) and senior guard Walter Hodge (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico) scored 19 points apiece to lead Florida over Florida Gulf Coast 94-60 on Wednesday night at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center.
The Gators improved to 7-2 on the season, and 21-0 against teams from the Atlantic Sun Conference under coach Billy Donovan.
This game was close for a while. The lead changed seven times in the first half and the Eagles (2-6) were up 28-27 with 3:29 to go before the break. Sophomore guard Reed Baker hit five 3-pointers in the opening period for FGCU, but the Gators began to pound the ball inside using their height advantage, and pulled away to take a 37-29 lead at the half.
The Gators came out hot in the second half and opened up a 30-point lead with about five minutes to play. Florida shot 61 percent from the field after the break, including 53 percent from three-point range. UF finished the game outscoring the Eagles 40-18 in the paint and outrebounding them 44-32. The Gators also finished with 11 three-pointers in the game.
Tyus and Hodge led all scorers, while Tyus also led the Gators with eight rebounds. Hodge hit 5-of-8 three-point attempts in the game. Junior forward Dan Werner (Middleton, N.J.) finished with 16 points and seven rebounds, while freshman gaurd Erving Walker (Brooklyn, N.Y.) went 3-for-4 behind the arc on his way to 13 points.
Sophomore guard Nick Calathes (Casselberry, Fla.) had nine assists in the game, to go along with seven points and four rebounds.
Baker was scoreless in the second half and finished with 15 points. Junior forward Kyle Marks added 14 points and nine rebounds for Florida Gulf Coast.
Florida will not be back in action until Saturday, Dec. 20, when they travel to Jacksonville and take on Central Florida. The game is set to tipoff at 6:30 p.m. and will be broadcast live on FSN.
