College basketball

Depleted Bulldogs no match for Gators

Florida's 70-47 win comes against a Georgia team with six scholarship players and without its leading scorer.

By ANTONYA ENGLISH
Published January 26, 2005

GAINESVILLE - It was probably about as much as could be expected from a team so depleted that freshmen are logging 68 percent of its minutes this season.

Fifteen halftime points. Forty-seven total.

In Gainesville without its suspended leading scorer, Levi Stukes, and relying on six scholarship players, Georgia had little to sustain itself against Florida on Tuesday night.

The Gators took full advantage, earning a 70-47 victory in front of 11,345 at the O'Connell Center and a nationally televised audience. The Gators won for the first time this season without scoring at least 80, and Georgia scored its fewest against the Gators since 1951.

But whatever you do, don't insinuate to Florida that it picked up an easy win.

"Everyone was talking about how big a win it was when we went to Vanderbilt (and won), and this team beat Vanderbilt pretty good," junior guard Matt Walsh said. "There are no weak teams in the SEC. You can have a team that's supposedly having a down year, and you can get beat on any given night."

Georgia trailed 32-15 at halftime, the fewest first-half points Florida has allowed in an SEC game under coach Billy Donovan. Florida opened on an 8-0 run, holding Georgia without a field goal until nearly four minutes in. The Bulldogs were in single digits until 6:23 was left in the first half, and the SEC's worst field-goal percentage team was 7-of-23 from the field in the first half and 1-of-6 from 3-point range.

"I was very, very proud of the way we played tonight," Donovan said. "I thought we defended very well and I thought we rebounded very well, and I felt like those were the two biggest differences in the game for us."

Florida (12-4, 4-1 SEC) outrebounded Georgia 44-21 (including 28-12 on defensive rebounds) and held the Bulldogs to 32 percent shooting from the field.

"They defended us tough," Georgia coach Dennis Felton said. "They've got the ability to defend us tough."

The shooting lapses hurt.

After Georgia (7-9, 1-5) center Dave Bliss scored with 15:57 left in the game to make it 38-21, Georgia went the next 5:29 without a field goal and trailed by 24 when it hit its next one with 8:17 left.

"We didn't play defensively or offensively or rebound like we should," said Georgia guard Sundiata Gaines, who had a team-high 15 points. "They got half of their misses back and doubled up on rebounds. We didn't come out aggressive."

Florida had its own offensive lull in the second half, going without a field goal from 9:54 to 3:23, but scored nine from the free-throw line during that span.

Junior guard Anthony Roberson scored 13 of his game-high 18 in the first half for Florida, shooting 7-of-11. But freshman Al Horford was the only other Gator in double figures with 10. Walsh, playing in his second game since returning from an ankle injury, scored nine in 24 minutes. "The biggest thing is that we're 4-1 in the conference," Roberson said. "We just need to take care of ourselves right now. The biggest thing was we got the win."

[Last modified January 26, 2005, 00:14:07]