Sophomore guard Nick Calathes (Casselberry, Fla.) recorded the third triple-double in Florida basketball history as he led the Gators with 20 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists in an 83-57 win over Georgia Wednesday night at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center.
Sophomore forward Alex Tyus (St. Louis, Mo.) had 18 points and sophomore guard Chandler Parsons (Casselberry, Fla.) added 12 for the Gators (18-3, 5-1 Southeastern Conference), who extended their winning streak against the Bulldogs to 11 games and handed Georgia its seventh consecutive loss this season.
Calathes, the conference's freshman of the year last season, proved to be the toughest matchup for the Dawgs (9-11, 0-5). He drove past Georgia's guards all night, getting open shots for himself and creating easy baskets for teammates. He got the triple-double on a fast-break pass to Parsons with 4:29 remaining.
Coach Billy Donovan pulled Calathes at the next timeout, and he left the court to a standing ovation. Calathes' other triple-double came last year against Creighton in the second round of the NIT.
This one was the program's third and the first in conference play. Former Florida guard Corey Brewer recorded the school's first triple-double against Jacksonville in 2005. Donovan put Brewer back on the floor in the closing minutes to accomplish the feat.
Calathes made his look much easier. His 3-pointer with about 12 minutes to play gave him 15 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists and put Florida up 62-39. The only thing left for the Gators was to get Calathes the triple-double. He would have had it much sooner, but the Gators missed at least four open shots on what would have been assists from Calathes.
Tyus got a dunk, junior forward Dan Werner (Middletown, N.J.) hit an open 3-pointer and then Parsons capped the milestone with his layup.
Florida closed the first half with a 20-9 run and was up 42-30 at the break. It got ugly from there. The Gators opened the second half with an 8-2 run and pulled away from there. Fans headed to the exits with 7:48 remaining, a few minutes before Calathes sealed his triple-double.
Corey Butler and Howard Thompkins led Georgia with 10 points apiece.
Florida will travel to Knoxville this Saturday (1/31) for a 9 p.m. tip against Tennessee. The Gators will be back in the O'Connell Center on Tuesday (2/3) to take on South Carolina at 9 p.m. Both games will be televised nationally on ESPN.
