USA - Gators swamped in second half, still win over Jacksonville

GAINESVILLE (NCAA) - A 90-61 rout of Jacksonville was not enough to satisfy Florida’s French star Joakim Noah.

The defending national champions ran riot in the first half, but it was what happened after the break that upset Noah.

Having taken a 56-20 lead into the locker room, Florida let their pace drop and were outscored 41-34 in the second half.

"We smacked them in the first half," said Noah, who is expected to be a France international.

"Then we came out not hungry, not as focused and we saw that a team that's not half as talented as us beat us."

Still, the result was never in doubt. Noah had already seen to that.

He combined with Al Horford to score 31 of his 34 points in the first half for the top-ranked Gators.

Walter Hodge added 11 points as Florida put on an offensive clinic against the Dolphins in the opening 20 minutes.

They shot an astonishing 79% (23 of 29) in the first half.

Still, coach Billy Donovan was inclined to agree with Noah’s assessment of the game.

"We got outworked and got outhustled in the second half," he said.

Florida took their first double-digit lead, 20-9, with 12:55 remaining in the first half on a three-pointer by Hodge. That basket was part of a 20-1 run by the Gators that Horford capped with a pair of 15-foot jumpers.

Noah, the Most Outstanding Player in the Final Four last season, scored 16 points and grabbed eight rebounds.

He was the beneficiary of three alley-oops in the first half, including one with 2:59 left that gave Florida its 17th consecutive made basket.

Several of Noah's dunks came directly off feeds from Corey Brewer, who had almost as many assists (seven) as Jacksonville had as a team (10).

The one negative for Florida was their 20 turnovers.

The Gators committed a total of only 12 in their first two games, a pair of easy wins over Samford and North Florida.

In Durham, Team USA and Blue Devils coach Mike Krzyzewski is enjoying life back in his day job, watching Duke roll to their third straight win of this young season.

Seven foot freshman Brian Zoubek scored 11 of his 17 points in the first half as the 11th-ranked Blue devils beat UNC Greensboro 75-48.

Fellow freshman Gerald Henderson finished with 12 points and DeMarcus Nelson and David McClure had 11 each, showing this young team is quickly adjusting to life without JJ Redick and Shelden Williams.

Number 14 Memphis routed Jackson State 111-69 as Chris Douglas-Roberts scored 21 points and Jeremy Hunt added 16 in his first game in more than a year after suspension.

Eighteenth-ranked Texas lost narrowly at Michigan State, going down 63-61 as Drew Neitzel scored 15 points including the game-winning lay-up in the waning seconds.

Thaddeus Young scored 19 points and fellow freshman Javaris Crittenton added 18 as 21st-ranked Georgia Tech beat interstate rivals Georgia State 103-74.

PA Sport