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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) -- Udonis Haslem showed why he should be
Florida's first option on offense. But he needed coach Billy
Donovan to explain it to some of his teammates.
|  | | This dunk shot helped Udonis Haslem shoot 8-for-11 from the field Saturday. |
Haslem tied his career high with 27 points and added 10 rebounds
as Florida beat Gonzaga 85-71 on Saturday in the Orange Bowl
Classic.
The Bulldogs had no answer for Haslem, who dominated in the lane
and on the backboard. Still, the Gators (No. 9 ESPN/USA Today, No. 8 AP) needed a halftime lecture
from Donovan to start getting the 6-foot-8 junior center the ball.
"Our backcourt really needs to understand ... they think it's
them first and Udonis and our frontcourt are the second option,"
Donovan said. "They've got it backwards."
It took Florida (6-1) a while to figure that out.
Haslem, the team's second-leading scorer, had taken just three
shots by halftime, while the Gators had attempted 17 3-pointers.
That changed in the second half.
Haslem touched the ball on nearly every second-half possession,
scoring 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting. He finished 8-of-11 from the
field and made 11 of 14 free throws.
"He's a load in there," said center Casey Calvary, who led
Gonzaga with 18 points and eight rebounds. "He does some great
things for them. He's got a bright future."
Haslem, a Miami native who also scored 27 points against
Michigan State in last season's NCAA championship game, added four
assists. More importantly, he avoided foul trouble, which has been
his biggest obstacle during his three seasons. He had just two
fouls.
"He did a good job staying out of foul trouble, and the bottom
line is our backcourt didn't do a good job of getting the ball
inside so he could score," Donovan said. "In the second half,
they did that."
Brett Nelson scored 15 points and Brent Wright, also from Miami,
had 17 for Florida. But they were merely sideshows to Haslem.
"He can seal off anyone in the nation," Nelson said. "And if
we get it to him, he can score down there."
Before Haslem gave the Gators a second-half spark, their
pressing defense gave them a big first-half lead.
Gonzaga (5-3) went more than eight minutes in the first half
without a field goal and had just six points at the 11:45 mark.
Playing their fourth consecutive game without point guard Dan
Dickau, the Bulldogs had 13 first-half turnovers.
"We came out real slow and missed lots of shots," Calvary
said. "We didn't rebound and gave some guys who can make shots
some open 3s."
Dickau, the team's second-leading scorer at 16 points per game,
has not played since breaking a finger on his left hand against
Arizona last month. Gonzaga is 2-2 without him.
"I don't think a word could quite sum it up," Gonzaga coach
Mark Few said when asked how much his team missed Dickau. Then he
added, "Immensely."
Without Dickau, freshman guard Blake Stepp scored 18 points but
had eight of the team's 19 turnovers.
Florida, coming off a 125-50 win over Florida A&M -- the most
lopsided victory in school history -- led Gonzaga 19-6 early, led
44-32 at halftime and opened up a 19-point lead in the second half
behind Haslem.
It was a vast difference from the last time the two teams met.
The Bulldogs eliminated Florida from the 1999 NCAA tournament in
the round of sixteen on Calvary's tip-in with 4.4 seconds
remaining. The Gators shot just 25 percent from the 3-point arc in
the loss.
They were a little better Saturday, finishing 8-of-27 from
3-point range.
Teddy Dupay, Florida's leading scorer at 19 points per game, was
0-for-9 shooting -- including 0-for-8 from behind the arc -- and
scored just two points.
"It's kind of like pick your poison," Few said. "You've got
to get out on their shooters, but Haslem has improved tremendously
from the last time we played them. He's got a lot of different
moves down there."
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ALSO SEE
Men's College Basketball Scoreboard
Gonzaga Clubhouse
Florida Clubhouse
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