College basketball

Gators stumble down the stretch

Two costly slipups by Florida help Georgia rally for 82-81 win.

Compiled from Times wires
© St. Petersburg Times
published March 5, 2003

ATHENS, Ga. -- They just slipped.

Florida senior Justin Hamilton, one of the nation's top defenders, fell backward while defending Georgia junior Jarvis Hayes with the game on the line.

Hayes made a jumper with 14.4 seconds left as No. 25 Georgia beat No. 3 Florida 82-81 at Stegeman Coliseum on Tuesday night.

"It was mano-y-mano," said Hayes, who scored 21. "He had no help and I had the whole side of the floor to try to get a shot off. Fortunately, he stumbled."

Hamilton said that he was not trying to draw a charge and that an offensive foul could have been called. But what ensued for Florida (24-5, 12-3 SEC) was an even more painful slip.

On a play designed for Hamilton to drive to the basket, the senior instead passed to freshman Christian Drejer with about five seconds left. Instead of penetrating, Drejer dribbled to his left and passed to freshman Matt Walsh.

But Walsh slipped at the 3-point circle with about two seconds left.

"I just slipped," Walsh said. "I tried to go left. I tried to get up. If I'd known how much time was left, I would have put the shot up. I got it to David (Lee).

"But it was one second too late."

An open Lee, who had 18 points and six rebounds, made a layup, but time had expired.

Fans stormed the court to swarm the Bulldogs (18-8, 10-5), who have felt little but stress for the past week.

"It's going to be great to be able to concentrate on basketball after all this offcourt stuff," said Georgia guard Rashad Wright, referring to recent allegations by former guard Tony Cole of NCAA violations by his coaching staff.

Cole claimed assistant Jim Harrick Jr. paid some of his bills and committed academic fraud. The son of coach Jim Harrick was suspended with pay last week, but he watched the game from a tunnel near the Georgia bench.

Earlier Tuesday, the elder Harrick denied all of Cole's allegations, calling him "a vindictive young man." The NCAA and the school are investigating, casting a pall over the Bulldogs with tournament time approaching.

Florida senior Matt Bonner, who had 24 points and seven rebounds, made a layup with 23.2 seconds to give the Gators an 81-80 lead. That came on the heels of a 3-pointer by Georgia guard Ezra Williams for an 80-79 edge.

In what Harrick called "a heavyweight bout," the lead changed hands nine times in the second half.

"It was very similar to the game we played in Gainesville," Lee said of a meeting in January, when UF freshman Anthony Roberson won the game with a 3-pointer at the buzzer. "No one person cost us this game. We made a lot of mistakes."

Roberson was upset he was not on the floor for the last possession.

"I'm speechless," said Roberson, who had nine points and was 3-of-8 from the floor. "I don't have too many answers for it. We'll never know what would have happened."

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