Florida Gators
Alabama
No. 8 Gators fall to No. 5 Alabama, 65-64
Saturday, February 23, 2002 | Men's Basketball
TUSCALOOSA, Ala.— Antoine Pettway's layup at the buzzer gave No. 5 Alabama a 65-64 victory over No. 8 Florida on Saturday. The Tide improved to 16-0 at home this season.
With 16 seconds left, the Gators had a one-point lead (64-63) over the Crimson Tide. James White went to the line for a 1-and-1, but missed the first shot. Maurice Williams rebounded White's miss and dribbled up the court, dishing off to Earnest Shelton. Shelton managed to get a pass to a wide-open Pettway, who laid it in off the glass, just beating the buzzer.
The Crimson Tide improved to 23-5 (11-3 SEC) to earn a share of the SEC title, while Florida fell to 20-6 (9-5 SEC). Five of Florida’s losses this season have been decided by less than five points.
Florida maintained the lead for part of the first half before Alabama went on a 9-2 run to take the lead, 22-20. The Gators entered halftime down by five, 29-34. UF outrebounded the Tide 20-11 (+9) in the first half and held Alabama to 48 percent shooting.
UF began the second half with a 16-2 run to up the score, 48-38, and Florida led by as much as 13 points. The Gators shot 57 percent (13-of-23) from the field in the second half, while Alabama shot 46 percent (11-of-24). Florida forced 11 Alabama turnovers in the second half, while turning the ball over just six times.
Matt Bonner led Florida in scoring (18 points) and rebounds (9). Bonner broke the 1,000-point plateau and now has 1,009 career points, making him the second Gator this season to reach 1,000 career points. Udonis Haslem, Brett Nelson and David Lee also scored in double figures.
Florida returns home Tuesday, Feb. 27 for its final home game this season. The Gators will face the Tennessee Volunteers at 9 p.m. on ESPN.
