Mar 18, 2007, 15:35 GMT
New Orleans, LA - Trying to advance to the Sweet 16 for the fourth time in the last nine seasons, the Florida Gators take their chances this afternoon versus the Purdue Boilermakers in the second round of the 69th annual NCAA Tournament from New Orleans Arena.
Tagged as the top seed in the Midwest Region, the Gators have now strung together 13 consecutive postseason victories over the last two seasons (including the 2007 SEC Tournament) and are 17-1 in the postseason in the last three campaigns. Obviously it didn't hurt that the team won the national title last season. On Friday night, the Gators ripped apart the Jackson State Tigers in a lopsided 112-69 decision, marking the highest-point total for Florida this season. Not only did the team move to 24-12 all-time in the NCAA Tournament, it did so in style by setting new NCAA Tournament records for margin of victory (43) and rebounding margin (62-19).
As for the ninth-seeded Boilermakers, who are now 28-20 in the event all- time, they took care of the Arizona Wildcats with a 72-63 triumph on Friday. With the win, Purdue made sure that the second round of the tournament did not include any one of the three HOF coaches (Lute Olson, Bob Knight and Mike Krzyzewski) who began the event, the first time that's happened since 1995. The victory was the fifth in the last six games for the Boilermakers, with the one setback coming against top-ranked Ohio State in the Big Ten Conference Tournament last weekend.
Back in 1987 these same two programs clashed in the NCAA Tournament with the Gators taking an 85-66 decision. However, Florida still trails in the all-time series with Purdue by a count of 3-2. The winner of this meeting will be in action next Friday versus Butler.
Chris Lutz came off the bench to hit all four of his three-point tries in the first half, leading to 12 points for him and a 37-34 advantage for Purdue against the Wildcats on Friday, which meant Carl Landry had yet to warm up for the Boilermakers. Once the final numbers were in Landry had put together a double-double with 21 points and 13 rebounds in leading Purdue to the victory against Arizona. Landry, who made all eight of his free- throw attempts, was one of four players to score in double figures for the victors as Chris Kramer and Lutz both finished with 16 points and David Teague had 15, although he shot just 5- of-16 from the field and missed all six of his three-point tries. Gordon Watt played tough in the paint as he collected nine rebounds, but his mere two points on 1-of-7 shooting dropped the team's shooting percentage down to a mere .381 from the floor. Defensively the squad held the Wildcats to just 4-of-15 beyond the arc and forced 17 turnovers. Landry continues to be the dominating force for the Boilermakers with his 18.9 ppg and 7.2 rpg, both of which lead the program, while Teague checks in with 14.3 ppg and 5.0 rpg as well. Lutz (6.2 ppg) obviously showed that he can be an offensive spark when called upon and even though he is playing less than 22 minutes per game, he is still the top three- point threat for the group at 47.5 percent.
Florida led 16th-seeded Jackson State by just six points at the break on Friday, but then the Gators turned up the heat in the second half and left the Tigers in their dust. The Gators shot an incredible 69 percent from the field, including 9-of-15 beyond the arc, en route to 71 points in the second half alone, which was more than several programs scored during the first round overall. Six players scored in double figures for the group, including all but one of the starters. Taurean Green made a mere 1-of-9 shooting from the field and finished with six points, but he made up for it with a game-high 12 assists and seven rebounds. Corey Brewer dropped in a team-high 21 points, reserves Chris Richard and Marreese Speights tallied 17 and 16 points, respectively, as they also combined for 12 rebounds in 31 minutes of action overall. The usual suspects, Al Horford (15 points, 16 rebounds) and Joakim Noah ( 17 points, 12 boards) were flanked by Lee Humphrey who scored 12 points on 4-of-10 shooting from three-point range. With the victory, the Gators reached the 30-win plateau for the second time in school history, following the 33 wins from last year's title run. All five regular starters are averaging double-digits in scoring for the group, with Horford putting up 13.2 ppg and 9.3 rpg, while Noah looms in the background with 12.2 ppg and 8.3 rpg, with the duo also combining for 124 blocked shots.
© 2007 The Sports Network
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