College basketball roundup
Florida rallies for victory over UAB SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) – The Florida Gators trailed by six points in the second half when head cheerleader Joakim Noah emerged from a timeout huddle waving, clapping and shouting, “Let’s go!”
The crowd roared, and eventually the Gators got going.
They played 32 minutes before they led, went five minutes without a basket down the stretch and still rallied to beat Alabama-Birmingham 75-70 on Saturday night in the Orange Bowl Classic.
The third-ranked Gators went 7-for-8 from the free throw line over the final 2:11.
“That situation they have been in before,” UAB coach Mike Davis said. “You could look in their eye and see there was no panic at all.”
The defending national champion Gators (12-2) went ahead to stay when Taurean Green made two free throws with 1:32 left for a 70-69 lead, only their second of the game.
A steal and layup by Green increased the margin to three. Al Horford made one free throw and Corey Brewer added two to close out the Gators’ fifth consecutive victory.
“We didn’t shoot particularly well,” Florida coach Billy Donovan said. “Our frontcourt guys missed some baskets around the lane we normally make. But we found a way to win.”
Alabama-Birmingham (8-6) led by 11 points in both halves.
“We realize we’re going to get every team’s best shot,” Donovan said. “That’s the best game UAB has played, but I’m not surprised. We’re getting that from everybody.”
Florida increased its defensive intensity down the stretch, and the Blazers missed their final six shots from the field.
“The last four minutes, all we talked about was to lock up and get stops,” Brewer said.
“We got a little confused at the end,” UAB forward Jeremy Mayfield said. “We got out of our game plan and were throwing it everywhere.”
Nebraska won the first game of the doubleheader, beating Miami 82-67. The games at the BankAtlantic Center drew a record crowd of 15,709, most of them cheering for the Gators.
Brewer scored 19 points for Florida, which made 22 of 26 free throws, while Green added 18 points. Noah had 13 points, 13 rebounds and four blocked shots.
The game was the Gators’ first since their impressive romp over Ohio State last Saturday.
“Most teams that play Florida get blown out, but we stayed right with them,” said Mayfield, who had 15 points and nine rebounds.
Wen Mukubu scored 20 points and Paul Delaney III added 17 for the Blazers.
“In the first half, it seemed they didn’t miss any shots,” Green said. “But we stayed calm. We knew we had a long game and had to grind it out.”
The Blazers shot 50 percent in the first half, including 6-for-11 from 3-point range, but the Gators held them to 31 percent in the second half.
“For 38 minutes I thought we did a great job,” Davis said. “When you play a team of that caliber, it’s tough to play for 40 minutes. They wore us down. They’re so big and physical and strong.
“We had some turnovers that were from fatigue more than anything.”
No. 7 Arizona 89, Stanford 75
TUCSON, Ariz. – Marcus Williams scored 23 points and Ivan Radenovic added 22 for Arizona in its 11th straight victory.
The Wildcats (11-1, 2-0 Pac-10) blew a 13-point first-half lead and fell behind by five midway through the second half. But the Wildcats closed the game on a 19-6 run.
Point guard Mustafa Shakur had 18 points and nine assists for the Wildcats, who shot 61.2 percent from the field, including going 8-of-10 from beyond the 3-point arc.
Lawrence Hill led Stanford (8-3, 1-1) with 20 points and Brook Lopez added 17.
No. 18 Marquette 69, Savannah St. 51
MILWAUKEE – Dominic James and Wesley Matthews each scored 22 points for Marquette (13-2).
Joseph Flegler had 15 points for Savannah State (6-12), which lost for the 12th time in 13 games and played without Javon Randolph, their injured leading scorer who is out with a knee injury.
Matthews, who had a career high in points, added a season-high nine rebounds and James had six assists for the Golden Eagles, who finished 22-of-33 from the free throws line, while the Tigers were 5-of-10.
No. 19 Notre Dame 95, Stony Brook 66
SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Russell Carter scored 23 points to help Notre Dame (12-1) overcome the suspension of starting point guard Kyle McAlarney and extend its winning streak to 11 games, its longest since 1986-87. McAlarney has been suspended indefinitely from the team after his early Friday morning arrest for marijuana possession.
Mitchell Beauford and Mike Popoko both had 14 points for Stony Brook (5-7).
After Stony Brook cut Notre Dame’s lead to 11 points three minutes into the second half, the Irish went on a 15-1 run.
No. 20 Oregon 76, Oregon St. 73
CORVALLIS, Ore. – Bryce Taylor had 22 points and nine rebounds, and Oregon remained unbeaten with the victory in the teams’ Pac-10 opener.
Maarty Leunen added 14 points and seven rebounds for the Ducks (13-0), who are off to their best start in 69 years and won in Corvallis for the first time in four seasons.
Sasha Cuic, who was saddled with four fouls less than a minute into the second half, and Marcel Jones each had 16 points for the Beavers (8-6).
No. 24 Nevada 82, Gonzaga 74
SEATTLE – Nick Fazekas had 24 points, and Ramon Sessions scored all 20 of his in the second half for Nevada as Gonzaga lost three straight games for the first time in six years.
Sessions hit an improbable, leaning 3-pointer at the shot clock buzzer with 1:20 remaining that put Nevada up 70-67. The Wolf Pack trailed by as many as 14 points in the game played at KeyArena.
Marcellus Kemp added 21 points for the Wolf Pack (12-1), who are to their best start in 55 years. Jeremy Pargo scored 18 points for Gonzaga (9-5).
It was the first time the schools met since Nevada upset second-seeded Gonzaga on the same court in the second round of the 2004 NCAA tournament.