Colleges

Noah a sub as Gators open with rout

By TIMES WIRES
Published November 3, 2006

GAINESVILLE - Al Horford scored 11 as defending national champion Florida routed NAIA Northwood 70-41 in its exhibition opener Thursday.

Taurean Green's 3-point basket sparked an 18-5 run that gave the Gators a 30-13 lead with 5:44 left in the first half.

Joakim Noah did not start because Florida coach Billy Donovan said he did not take care of academic responsibilities. Noah entered at the 16:45 mark of the first half and quickly dunked. He finished with eight points.

Horford was the only Florida player in double figures.

Green and freshman Marreese Speights added nine points apiece.

Northwood played the first game in program history.

USF WOMEN: Jessica Dickson was named one of 30 candidates for the John R. Wooden Award, given to the player of the year.

The other candidates:

Rutgers guard Matee Ajavon; Texas A&M guard/forward Morenike Atunrase; Duke center Alison Bales; Maryland guard/forward Marissa Coleman; Ohio State center Jessica Davenport; Vanderbilt guard Dee Davis; Maryland guard Shay Doron; LSU center Sylvia Fowles; Duke guard Lindsey Harding; Washington guard Cameo Hicks,; Tennessee guard Alexis Hornbuckle; UConn forward Charde Houston; Georgia forward Tasha Humphrey; Houston forward Tye Jackson; Western Kentucky forward Crystal Kelly; Maryland center/forward Crystal Langhorne; North Carolina forward Erlana Larkins; North Carolina guard Ivory Latta; North Carolina guard/forward Camille Little; Iowa State guard Lyndsey Medders; Southern California guard Shay Murphy; Oklahoma center Courtney Paris; Tennessee forward/center Candace Parker; Mississippi guard Armintie Price; UCLA guard Noelle Quinn; Tulsa forward Jillian Robbins; Texas forward Tiffany Jackson; Rutgers center Kia Vaughn; and Stanford guard Candice Wiggins.

PAC-10: UCLA was picked to successfully defend its men's conference championship in a poll of media members.

DUKE: Josh McRoberts had an all-around solid performance in a 96-45 exhibition victory over Shaw, finishing with 11 points, eight rebounds, six assists, four steals and a blocked shot.

KENTUCKY: The Wildcats opened the exhibition season with a 94-54 victory over NAIA Lindsey Wilson. Freshman Jodie Meeks was 3-for-4 on 3-pointers, scoring 17.

NORTH CAROLINA: Brandan Wright, the centerpiece of one of the nation's top recruiting classes, scored the Tar Heels' first 10 points and finished with 19 in a 110-79 rout of Division II St. Augustine's in an exhibition game Wednesday. Tyler Hansbrough and Marcus Ginyard had 14 points apiece for the Tar Heels, who shot 60 percent.

Penn State: Forward Geary Claxton will be sidelined at least two weeks after breaking his right pinkie during an exhibition game Wednesday. Claxton led the team last season with 15.2 points and 7.5 rebounds.

SYRACUSE: It appears that adjusting to life without graduated guard Gerry McNamara might be a challenge. New point guard Josh Wright, a junior, was 0-for-6 shooting in Wednesday's 92-86 exhibition victory over Division II Bryant University.

Soccer

USF: Four men's players earned postseason all-Big East honors. Kareem Smith made the second team and Kevon Neaves, Jordan Seabrook and Rodrigo Hidalgo made the third team. Notre Dame's Joseph Lapira was offensive player of the year, Julius James of Connecticut was defensive player of the year, Nick Noble of West Virginia was goalkeeper of the year and Marlon LeBlanc of West Virginia was coach of the year.

Tennis

INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS: Florida's Diana Srebrovic defeated Nebraska's Imke Reimers 7-5, 6-3, in a first-round match at Columbus, Ohio. She faces Clemson's Carole Salge in today's round of 16. UF's Whitney Benik and Nina Suvak lost 8-5 in doubles to Kentucky's Kim Coventry and Joelle Schwenk, and UF's Greg Ouellette lost 7-6, 3-6, 7-5 to Notre Dame's Stephen Bass. USF's Shadisha Robinson defeated UCLA's Yasmin Schnack 6-1, 6-2 and faces Georgia Tech's Kirsten Flower today.

[Last modified November 3, 2006, 02:45:54]