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wff0605 · 12-11-2015, 03:15 AM

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- No. 3 Florida has won with defence most of the season. The Gators showed Saturday they can pull out games on the other end of the court, too. Scottie Wilbekin scored 16 points, leading all five starters in double figures, and Florida beat Alabama 78-69 for its 15th straight victory. The Gators handled the Tide for the second time in 16 days and extended a school record for consecutive home wins to 29. "If you play defence the way we did tonight, youre not going to win," coach Billy Donovan said. "Thank God we had some offence today that helped us." Florida (21-2, 10-0 Southeastern Conference) shot a blistering 62 per cent from the field and finished with a season-high 22 assists. The Gators trailed by seven late in the first half before taking over the game in the paint and in transition. That opened things up on the perimeter for Wilbekin and Michael Frazier II. Wilbekin was 3-for-5 shooting from behind the arc, making all three in the second half. Frazier was 3 for 8 from the 3-point range. Frazier finished with 14 points, joining Wilbekin, Casey Prather (15), Will Yeguete (12) and Patric Young (11) in double figures. It was the first time all five of Floridas starters topped 10 points since Nov. 21 against Middle Tennessee. "We have a balanced team, and anyone can beat you on any given night," Prather said. Prather, the teams leading scorer, failed to reach double figures the last two games while dealing with a sprained left ankle. He returned to form against Alabama even though Donovan wasnt sure he would play a few hours before the tip. Donovan gave Prather the option of playing or resting, and he chose to give it a go. "Its got nothing to do with him not being a tough kid or he cant play through pain," Donovan said. "It gets more into the fact that he doesnt feel confidence-wise that hes capable of doing the things he knows he can do. When he gets to that place, he really gets mentally taken out because he knows he cant do certain things. "When he knows he can do things physically, it adds to his confidence. When he cant move like he wants to move, I think he knows hes putting our team in jeopardy, and that eats him alive and kills him." Trevor Releford led the Tide (9-14, 3-7) with 25 points on 7-for-10 shooting. He was 4 for 6 from behind the 3-point line and perfect on seven free throws. Releford scored 16 points in the first half, carrying Alabama for much of the afternoon. His 3-pointer put the Tide up 28-21, silencing the sold-out OConnell Center. Alabama shot 61 per cent in the opening half and went 5 for 7 from behind the arc, giving the defensive-minded Donovan plenty to talk about at halftime. The Gators responded with an effective press, made 3-pointers and a heavy dose of post play that seemingly wore down the Tide. "Theyre at their best when theyre in transition," Tide coach Anthony Grant said. "From an offensive standpoint, they took us out of some things that we were able to get there in the first half." Florida went on a 25-8 run that turned a deficit into a double-digit lead. The Tide ended up losing its four straight and sixth in the last seven games. "This program cant do anything but go up," Releford said. "Its just a process. Right now were losing a game, but I feel as a team were getting better and Coach is helping us with that." Chris Walker, Floridas highly touted freshman who became eligible this week, played just 4 minutes in his second collegiate game. He finished with four points, two fouls and a rebound. Donovan said he hopes to get Walker more playing time. For as dominant as Florida has been recently, the teams toughest test comes next week. The Gators play at Tennessee on Tuesday night and then at No. 18 Kentucky on Saturday. Those games could go a long way to determining how Florida finishes in the conference and what kind of seed it gets in next months NCAA tournament. "I dont think we played great," Yeguete said. "We got it done, but we didnt play great. We know weve got to do a better job if we want to win in Knoxville on Tuesday." Bryce Harper Jersey . Pierce was ejected in the third quarter of Indianas 103-86 win Monday. George Hill stole a bad pass and was going in for a layup, and Pierce hustled back and appeared to be trying to wrap him up. Jake McGee Jersey . -- Timbers coach Caleb Porter didnt stray from his business-like approach to the season even after Portland downed the two-time defending league champion Los Angeles Galaxy to gain crucial playoff position. http://www.baseballgreet.net/St-Louis-Ca...er-Jersey/ . -- The Magic have their first victory of the new year. Munenori Kawasaki Blue Jays Jersey . 10 Texas Rangers jersey for one last time. Young formally announced his retirement Friday after returning to Rangers Ballpark, his baseball home for all but the last of his 13 major league seasons. Edwin Encarnacion Blue Jays Jersey . The 29-year-old from Port Colborne, Ont., has nothing but good things to say about former U.S. marine Liz (Girlrilla) Carmouche ahead of their co-main event Wednesday on the UFCs "Fight for the Troops" televised card in Fort Campbell, Ky.NASHVILLE -- Florida coach Billy Donovan knows his newly top-ranked Gators are an even bigger target for opponents. They just keep finding ways to finish off victories. Dorian Finney-Smith scored 19 points, and Florida, playing its first game at No. 1, held off Vanderbilt 57-54 on Tuesday night to clinch at least a share of its second straight Southeastern Conference title and seventh overall. The Gators are 13-2 in games decided by single digits after losing all six last season, and Donovan said their margin for error is not very big. "Were not an overly talented team, were just not," Donovan said. "And what these guys have done up to this point in time it really has been pretty remarkable in my opinion. Theyve done a really good job. ... But I think sometimes when you see a team with a high ranking you think dominance, you think they just blow everybody out. Thats not what we are or who we are." Patric Young added 12 points for the Gators (26-2, 15-0 SEC), who continued the best season in school history by winning their 20th straight game, and they will have a chance to claim their third SEC title in four years all to themselves with a win against LSU on Saturday. "Humbling to know that we can come from where we were not being able to do it last year and be able to finish out these close games this year," Young said. The Commodores (15-12, 7-8) beat Florida 83-70 the last time the Gators came into Memorial Gym ranked No. 1, on Feb. 17, 2007. Coach Kevin Stallings only has seven healthy scholarship players right now, and they proved no match for Floridas smothering defence and much deeper bench. "We did a good job, but thats why theyre the No. 1 team in the country," Stallings said. "Theyve got weapons. They throw it to the open guy, and that guy usually delivers. Thats why theyve lost two games." The Commodores sure made it interesting. Kyle Fuller missed a tying 3 in the final seconds when Luke Kornet was guarded closely by Young, and Dai-Jon Parker missed a putback attempt. "Coach drew up a play for Luke to run a flare screen, but when he got it Patric was kind of on him," said Fuller, who scored the final seven points for Vandy. "When I got it I thought I creatted enough space, but when it left my hand it just didnt feel right.dddddddddddd" Rod Odom scored 12 points and Parker added 11 as Vanderbilt outshot Florida 48.8 per cent (20 of 41) to 40.4 per cent (21 of 52). The Commodores hit four of eight 3-point attempts in the second half to stay close. The Commodores came in 8-16 all-time against top-ranked teams tapping into what they like to call Memorial magic in Nashville. The old gym wasnt sold out Tuesday night, but fans certainly were as loud as they have been all season trying to urge Vanderbilt to an improbable upset. Florida led 32-25 at halftime and pushed that out to 53-45 only to see Vanderbilt rally each time. Fullers three-point play with 3:16 remaining made it 53-50. Finney-Smith hit a free throw, then Vanderbilt forced a shot clock violation when Wilbekins desperate shot from long range banked off the backboard and rim. Fuller made two free throws with a minute left. Finney-Smith got the ball wide open and knocked down a 3 with 30.6 seconds to go for the clinching basket. Finney-Smith had been in a slump, scoring in double digits only once in the past 11 games. "I just shot the ball with confidence," Finney-Smith said. "Usually, I throw it in for Patric, but the forward was holding for Pat so I could replace, we did a roll and replace, and I was wide open for 3." Fuller answered with a driving layup. Wilbekin dribbled away precious seconds before being fouled only to miss the front end of a 1-and-1. Vanderbilt took a timeout to set up a tying shot but couldnt connect allowing Florida to avoid overtime. Florida outrebounded Vanderbilt 32-26 and had a 13-1 scoring edge in second-chance points. The Gators bench also outscored the Commodores 25-11. The Gators forced 11 of Vanderbilts 16 turnovers in the first half. Even as the Gators swarmed Vanderbilt defensively, pressing early and often, they couldnt shut down the Commodores. Florida scored 13 straight points to take the lead for good in the first half. Wilbekins jumper tied it up, then Casey Prather stole the ball and dunked to put Florida ahead to stay at 13-11 with 11:52 to go. Michael Frazier hit consecutive 3s to cap the spurt and put the Gators up 22-11 and 32-25 at halftime. cheap nfl jerseys cheap jerseys cheap jerseys cheap jerseys cheap nfl jerseys wholesale jerseys ' ' '