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Seminoles Make Gators Pay For Their Mistakes

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By ANDY STAPLES, The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 24, 2007

GAINESVILLE - The truth about the Florida State and Florida men's basketball teams lies somewhere between the reputations they carried into Friday. The Seminoles couldn't possibly be as bad as they appeared last week in losses to Cleveland State and South Florida, and the Gators couldn't possibly be as good as they appeared while buzz-sawing their first five opponents by an average of 33.6 points.

Both teams moved back toward the middle Friday in FSU's 65-51 win at the O'Connell Center. The Seminoles corrected earlier mistakes by attacking the boards and challenging 3-point attempts. The Gators finally looked like a group that hadn't really played significant minutes at the collegiate level.

"It was a humbling experience." Florida center Marreese Speights said.

FSU guard Jason Rich scored a game-high 20 points and grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds to help the Noles outrebound the Gators, 39-28. Meanwhile, Speights, who averaged 16.6 points and 8.8 rebounds in Florida's first five games, scored four points and grabbed six boards.

The Gators could have used the inside scoring, because they made only four of 23 3-point attempts. They didn't have the maturity, Coach Billy Donovan said, to find another way to win. FSU guard Isaiah Swann said the Noles used that immaturity to their advantage.

"Be patient," Swann said of FSU's plan to win. "Take our time, and let them make a mistake."

Florida made plenty. Among them:

•Forward Chandler Parsons had a first-half dunk attempt blocked by the rim.

•Donovan, who called Florida's five wins "fool's gold," so despised guard Nick Calathes' early shot selection that he limited the freshman to just 10 first-half minutes. Later, Donovan said he would have sat Calathes the entire half if the Gators had more depth.

•Immediately after the Gators slashed FSU's second-half lead to 11 - the closest Florida would get - a Florida player grabbed a rebound, drew an FSU foul and then got whistled for a technical foul when he tried to elbow FSU forward Uche Echefu in the face. The player? Junior guard Walter Hodge, the only Gator who could remotely be considered a veteran.

The veterans all wore garnet and gold Friday, and they seemed determined to erase the memories of last weekend's debacle. They did that by handing the Gators their most lopsided defeat since a 75-60 loss against Manhattan in the first round of the 2004 NCAA Tournament and their worst home loss since Kentucky beat them, 79-54, on Feb. 18, 1998.

"We wanted to prove to everybody tonight that we can play at a top level," Swann said. "We're not a slouch team."

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