College basketball

Gators scorch Rebels

Florida hit two thirds of its three-pointers in a 90-53 rout.

By ANTONYA ENGLISH
Published February 17, 2005

GAINESVILLE - Coming off a road win at Tennessee, the Florida men's basketball team found itself in a interesting place on its schedule: facing a Mississippi team that has lost six of its last seven games, with an anticipated battle at LSU three days later.

In theory, looking ahead to its Saturday game at LSU seemed a distinct possibility, but Florida players insisted it wouldn't happen.

The Gators kept that promise.

Led by a phenomenal 3-point shooting performance (64.7 percent) and a record-setting blocking effort, Florida defeated Mississippi 90-53 in front of 11,390 at the O'Connell Center Wednesday night.

Florida (16-6, 8-3 SEC) remains in second place in the SEC East and has won five of its last seven games. Mississippi fell to 12-13, 3-9 and suffered its worse loss since a 97-53 loss to LSU on Feb. 16, 2000.

"It was a good win because they have played a lot of good SEC teams really close," freshman Corey Brewer said. "We were trying to make a statement. We're trying to gain some respect and we have to have the mentality that we're going to win every game."

Florida led 46-33 at halftime, then outscored Mississippi 20-1 over a 13:46 span in the second half, taking a 65-34 lead. The Rebels didn't score their first field goal of the second half until Tommie Eddie's shot with 12:57 remaining in the game. Florida coach Billy Donovan challenged his team at halftime not to let up.

"I went in there and talked to them about who they want to be," he said. "I'm more into our basketball team trying to become the best we can become, not squeaking by and winning a game. I'm trying to get them to focus on who we are as a team and who we want to become."

Florida went 2-for-7 from 3-point range in the first half, then hit nine straight, eventually hitting 11-of-17, tying the best of a Donovan team. Mississippi coach Rod Barnes said it was unquestionably the best 3-point shooting effort an opponent has had against the Rebels.

"The range they shot with is unbelievable," Barnes said.

Freshman Al Horford's seven blocks tied an O'Connell Center record and record for blocks in an SEC game.

The Gators shot 64 percent from the field, third best in Donovan's nine year tenure. Junior Anthony Roberson had a game-high 20 points.

Senior David Lee, who left the game midway through the second half with a cut on his lip that required stitches, added 12. Florida held Ole Miss to 31 percent shooting from the field and 33 percent from 3-point range.

[Last modified February 17, 2005, 01:21:16]