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For openers, redemption

No. 6 UF avenges last season's NCAA Tournament loss, 72-64 over No. 16 Temple.

By CHAD CAPELLMAN

© St. Petersburg Times,
published November 9, 2001

NEW YORK -- There really wasn't much mystery to what No. 6 Florida needed to do for a successful season opener against No. 16 Temple Thursday night at Madison Square Garden.

The Gators simply overcame some opening-night jitters, and figured out how to contain Temple guard Lynn Greer for a 72-64 victory over the team that cut short their NCAA Tournament run in the second round last season.

"I was very happy for the most part with the way we played," said coach Billy Donovan, whose team's pressure defense forced the Owls into 15 turnovers. "When you get Temple to turn the ball over 15 times, it's like getting 25 turnovers."

Florida plays Arizona tonight in the championship of the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic. Five players scored in double figures for Florida, led by junior forward Justin Hamilton, the 6-foot-3 guard who missed more than half of last season with a knee injury. He was 7-of-11 from the field for a game-best 17 points. "Justin has had great, great focus," Donovan said. "The injury really put things in perspective for him. He realized it's a blessing to be out there." Freshman David Lee came off the bench to score 15 on 4-for-7 shooting. He also had three assists and a most memorable steal.

Late in the second half, Lee stole the inbounds pass of Temple's Alex Wesby, dunked, was fouled and converted the free throw for a three-point play with 7:01 remaining.

"After I got my first basket, that kind of set me at ease," Lee said. "After that, the crowd kind of just disappears and you focus on playing the offense like in practice."

Florida started the game 0-for-7 from the field before Hamilton made a 3-pointer to pull the Gators to within 6-3.

Temple controlled the pace for most of the first half, led by the early outside shooting success of Greer, who made consecutive 3-pointers during an 8-3 run that gave Temple its largest lead of the half at 18-11.

Despite its sluggish start, Florida never let Temple add to that lead, and slowly began to assert its defensive will.

"I think their press worked because we don't have a complementary guard to go with Lynn," said Temple coach John Chaney, who sorely misses academically-ineligible guard David Hawkins. "Lynn's the only ball-handler we have.

"Our turnovers began to add up when they found out we couldn't handle the ball," said Chaney who was coaching his first game as a Hall of Famer. "They had two guys chase Greer all game, so obviously he is a great player if they did that."

The Gators outscored the Owls 18-7 in the final seven minutes to take a 39-33 halftime lead.

Battling the inside combination of 6-10 centers Kevin Lyde (12 points) and Ron Rollerson (10 points), Florida's Udonis Haslem had trouble getting offensive looks. Still, the 6-9, 246-pound senior finished with 14 points and a game-best 16 rebounds.

"It definitely caused matchup problems for us," Haslem said. "I had to find other ways to contribute to help us win the game."

Brett Nelson, who averaged 15.3 points last season and shot 45 percent from 3-point range, missed his first seven shots, including five 3-pointers. His first field goal was a 3-pointer with 12:13 to play that gave Florida a 54-42 lead. He made his next 3-pointer 21/2 minutes later to make it 58-46. His jumper with 5:49 left gave the Gators a 65-52 lead, matching their biggest of the game.

Temple got as close as 70-64 on a 3-pointer by Greer with 25 seconds left.

Nelson, who finished 3-for-16 from the field, including 2-for-10 on 3-pointers, set a school record by hitting a 3-pointer in his 30th consecutive game, breaking the mark he shared with Craig Brown, who played from 1991-94.

The game also was a homecoming of sorts for Donovan, a New York native who played one season with the Knicks.

"I think when you come to New York to an event like this, there can be a lot of distractions," Donovan said. "I told our guys we needed to focus on playing."

-- Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.

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