Colleges

Gators take third SEC title

UF, which never trailed in the tournament, finishes off Arkansas early in the second half.

By ANTONYA ENGLISH
Published March 12, 2007

Florida's Joakim Noah celebrates after the Gators routed Arkansas in the SEC championship game. Photo gallery Download brackets: Men's (PDF) Women's (PDF) This call is easy: UF No. 1 ACC: North Carolina 89, N.C. State 80 Florida, Ohio St., KU, UNC get top seeds Gary Shelton: Bigger nets than this for UNC to cut
	[Times photo: James Borchuck]

ATLANTA - For 40 years, Florida never made it to the SEC tournament championship game.

Now it's getting hard to keep the Gators out.

Playing in its fourth straight SEC tournament title game, Florida earned its third consecutive tournament championship with a 77-56 victory over Arkansas in front of 15,428 at the Georgia Dome.

"I'm really, really proud of these kids and what they've been able to do, not only this year, but the last three years here," UF coach Billy Donovan said. "... And I want them to enjoy this experience, because you know, to win the regular season championship and then come in and win a tournament championship, it is a great accomplishment and a great tribute to those guys."

Arkansas 21-13 did what UF's other tournament opponents could not: keep it close early.

Arkansas trailed by eight at halftime, but Florida opened the second half with a 15-8 run to pull away for good. Florida never trailed in three tournament games.

"When I first got to the University of Florida, we had never won a tournament title in school history," said junior forward Corey Brewer, who had nine points and five rebounds. "So to win three straight, that means a lot."

Florida shot 52.7 percent from the field (60.7 percent in the second half), and held Arkansas to 35.9 percent from the field and 3-of-24 from beyond the arc.

The Gators placed four on the all-tournament team: Brewer, guard Taurean Green (10 points), forward Joakim Noah (17 points, eight rebounds) and center Al Horford (18 points, 12 rebounds), who was the tourney MVP. Arkansas forward Sonny Weems was also named to the team.

Although Florida was criticized by some for having a net-cutting ceremony after winning the regular season title, Donovan and the players said winning shouldn't be taken for granted.

So yes, once again, they cut down the nets in celebration.

"I feel like as soon as we have the opportunity to cut down the nets, we're going to cut them," Noah said.

[Last modified March 12, 2007, 00:55:58]