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Calathes Leads UF To Rout

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By DANNY KLEIN, Tribune correspondent

Published: December 6, 2007

GAINESVILLE - As Florida guard Nick Calathes sat on the bench after another stellar performance, Florida coach Billy Donovan approached his young player and gave him a shot of reality.

"I told him on the bench today, 'If you embrace this and think you have it all figured out, you'll be making the biggest mistake of your life,'" Donovan said.

As Donovan noted, Calathes still may have room to grow, but in a 91-52 throttling of lowly Florida A&M on Wednesday night, Calathes was about as good as it gets.

The freshman scored 20 points, dished nine assists and grabbed eight rebounds in the win. This was his third straight game of more than 20 points, and in the last two contests he has garnered 18 assists to only three turnovers.

Donovan, much to the ire of the Florida crowd, chose to sit Calathes for the final 4:52, ending any chance of Calathes becoming Florida's first freshman to ever record a triple-double.

"We're too young to play for Nick Calathes to have a triple-double," Donovan said.

The lopsided victory was a game of runs for Florida (9-1), which trailed FAMU 5-2 in the early moments, before exploding for a 24-point run that put the Rattlers away for good. The second came following intermission, when Florida poured on 17 unanswered points and held FAMU scoreless for almost seven minutes.

"It just keeps pouring on," said Adam Allen, who scored 19 points on 7-for-10 shooting from the field. "When FAMU gets down we sense that and we just keep pushing it."

In a blistering shooting performance, Florida would lead by as much 47 in the contest. Florida shot 63 percent from the field and hit 12 3-pointers on just 24 attempts. Donovan was pleased with his team's effort and offensive execution.

"I thought that offensively this was the best game we've played this year," Donovan said. "I was really pleased with our unselfishness and the way we passed and shared the basketball."

After playing its third game in six days, Florida will have time to rest as the team takes 10 days off before heading to Jacksonville to face Georgia Southern. Allen said the time will be much appreciated by him and his teammates.

"It's going to be a good time for us all to get together as a team and find out a lot about ourselves," he said.

INSIDE THE GAME

PLAYER OF THE GAME: Nick Calathes had 20 points, eight rebounds and nine assists, his third straight game with 20 or more points.

STAT OF THE GAME: UF shot 63 percent from the field in the contest, the team's highest of the season.

TURNING POINT: Trailing FAMU 5-2 at the 17:43 mark, UF went on 24-point run that put Florida up 26-5 and ahead for good.

UP NEXT: UF heads to Jacksonville to take on Georgia Southern on Saturday, Dec. 15 at 3 p.m.

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