College basketball

UF's chemistry keeps it cooking

Florida's Joakim Noah was 9-of-13 with four dunks, five rebounds, two steals, a blocked shot and an assist without a turnover.

By wire services
Published December 31, 2005

GAINESVILLE - Joakim Noah runs the floor, rebounds on both ends and pretty much stays in motion.

It's his way of creating offense. It's also working well for Florida.

Noah had 18 points, leading the team in scoring for the third consecutive game, and the fifth-ranked Gators routed Florida A&M 84-47 Friday.

Florida (12-0) extended the best start in school history and has one more game to play - against Morgan State on Tuesday - before beginning the SEC schedule.

The Gators opened the season trying to figure out how they would replace their top three scorers - David Lee, Matt Walsh and Anthony Roberson. Coach Billy Donovan quickly figured out it would be someone different each game.

Lately, it's been Noah.

"He's got great ability and great talent," Donovan said. "But the best part of his game is he's a great competitor, has great enthusiasm and he plays to exhaustion."

The 6-foot-11 sophomore forward, the son of tennis great Yannick Noah, scored in double figures for the sixth consecutive game. Not bad for someone who was considered primarily a role player before the season.

Noah was 9-of-13 from the floor and had four dunks. He added five rebounds, two steals, a blocked shot and an assist without a turnover.

"I'm having fun and the whole team is having fun," Noah said. "I feel like we're on the right path. We've just go to keep doing what we're doing."

The Gators dominated FAMU (4-8) down low, scoring 44 in the paint and getting a combined 51 from the frontcourt foursome of Noah, Chris Richard, Adrian Moss and Corey Brewer. Moss had a season-high 12 off the bench, and Brewer finished with eight points, six rebounds and 11 assists.

"It's not always about talent," Donovan said. "It's about makeup. These guys have the right mind-set, the right focus and they play the right way. They play unselfish and they play as a team.

"These kids are throwbacks. It's very, very refreshing. You're dealing with different kids."

The Gators closed out the first half with a 21-5 surge to lead 49-23 at the break. They opened the second half with a 23-2 spurt to push the lead to 72-25.

Tony Tate led FAMU with 21 points on 8 of 18 shooting.

The Rattlers lost their seventh in a row on the road and played their sixth game without Brian Greene (ankle) and Jon Mason (foot).

The mounting losses and injuries might have caused coach Mike Gillespie to reach a new level of frustration. He vehemently argued about what he thought should have been a shot clock violation early in the second half.

Green shot an air ball, but Brewer saved it from going out of bounds. When he did, the shot clock reset to 35 seconds. Brewer threw to Richard. He passed it back to Brewer, who handed it off to Lee Humphrey for a 3-pointer from the corner.

Gillespie stormed the sideline, screaming at the officials. He picked up two quick technical fouls and was ejected with 14:46 to play and his team trailing 66-25.

Gillespie, who turned coaching duties over to his son, Mike Gillespie Jr., declined comment after the game.

[Last modified December 31, 2005, 00:48:13]