Florida Holds Off Purdue, Heads to Sweet 16 Again

In the first half of Thursday's game against Jackson State the defending national champion Florida Gators came out flat. The Gators let Jackson State stay close before blowing them out in the second half. Florida did the same thing on Sunday, letting Purdue keep the game close throughout the contest before finally putting the Boilermakers away.

Florida is once again heading to the Sweet 16 after defeating the Purdue Boilermakers 74-67. It wasn't easy for Florida. Purdue led for most of the first half and into the second before the two teams began to trade the lead back and forth. Florida, though, was too much for Purdue. With a combination of inside dominance and three-point sharp shooting the Gators made sure they would be one game closer to defending their title.

Purdue gave Florida all they could handle throughout the game. The Boilermakers played great defense and held Florida star Joakim Noah to just two points in the first half. However, Florida proved its toughness in the second half. With 6:10 left in regulation the Gators took the lead 50-49. They never looked back.

Corey Brewer and Al Horford were the stars for the Gators on Sunday. Both players went perfect from the free throw line (Brewer went eight for eight and Horford three for three) on their way to scoring seventeen points each. Taurean Green was only two for eight from three-point land for the Gators, but he went a perfect six of six from the charity stripe while ending the game with fourteen points. Noah scored only nine points on the game. He also had nine rebounds.

The great play of Purdue's guards kept them in the game. Both David Teague and Chris Kramer scored fourteen points. It was forward Carl Landry who was the player of the game for the Boilermakers. Landry led Purdue with 18 points and ten rebounds. Nothing that Purdue could do, though, was enough to hold off the second half surge made by the Gators.