Men’s Hoops Fall to Gators

Men’s Hoops Fall to Gators

2/15/2006

By TERESA M. WALKER, AP Sports Writer
February 15, 2006

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Corey Brewer scored a career-high 26 points and No. 10 Florida beat Vanderbilt 73-68 Wednesday night, coach Billy Donovan’s 250th career victory.

Success at Memorial Gym had been rare for the Gators (22-3, 8-3 Southeastern Conference), but they definitely have dominated recently in the series. They won their sixth straight and swept the Commodores for the fourth time in five seasons, winning 11 of the last 12 games.

Vanderbilt (13-9, 4-7) has lost seven of nine overall, including three at home.

Joakim Noah added 12 points for Florida, which improved to 14-0 when outrebounding an opponent, this time finishing with a 35-29 edge.

Shan Foster led Vanderbilt with 19 points, while Julian Terrell had 18, Alex Gordon 12 and DeMarre Carroll 11.

Florida led by as many as 11 points and appeared ready to pull away before Vanderbilt made it very interesting in the final minutes.

Foster scored on a dunk with 1:19 left and converted the three-point play to pull the Commodores within 68-65. Brewer, whose hometown of Portland is 30 miles away, answered by putting back a missed 3 by Taurean Green. Terrell then hit two free throws to make it 70-67 with 34 seconds remaining.

Noah hit one of two free throws, and Brewer clinched the victory with two more.

The Commodores started the game by outshooting the nation’s best shooting team. They hit nine of their first 17 shots in taking a 23-18 lead.

Florida took control with a 10-4 run to finish the first half starting with a 3-pointer by Walter Hodge for a 24-23 lead. Brewer capped the run with a steal and a layup, then hit a 3-pointer seconds before the buzzer for a 31-27 lead.

The Gators opened the second half with Brewer converting a four-point play by adding a free throw to one of his five 3-pointers. Vanderbilt got within five several times before Chris Richard scored on a dunk, Noah dunked after a steal and Lee Humphrey scored on a layup for a 50-39 lead with 11:23 left.