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MIAMI (Ticker) -- Udonis Haslem had a happy homecoming as Florida continued its tour of the Sunshine State. Haslem, a Miami native, collected 22 points and 13 rebounds as the fourth-ranked Gators won their sixth straight with a 73-52 rout of Charlotte in the Orange Bowl Classic. Florida (7-1) won at South Florida last Saturday before traveling south for this contest that helps begin the three-week festival that will end with the Gator football team facing Maryland in the Orange Bowl on January 2. "Coming down here to play, you see why we are all proud to be Gators," Florida coach Billy Donovan said. "We are 5 1/2 hours from campus but there are a lot of Gator fans in the area. They are loyal fans." Haslem, a 6-9 senior, made 8-of-14 shots and converted 6-of-8 foul shots in his final appearance in Miami. "It felt good to win in my hometown," Haslem said. "It's one of the few times my grandma gets to see me play." A basket by Haslem capped a 15-1 run as Florida took the lead for good at 15-4 with 14:21 left in the first half. Haslem had six points in the spurt. LaDarius Halton scored a fast-break layup off an assist from Justin Hamilton for a 21-10 lead with 9:22 to go. Haslem's layup capped a run of 10 straight points for a 31-13 advantage with 4:16 left in the game. "I was able to take advantage of the one-on-one matchups," Haslem said. "Sometimes they tried to double and other times they didn't." Freshman James White continued the onslaught in the first half with his solid play. White's athletic layup in traffic with 2:23 left in the half gave Florida a 35-17 advantage and he drilled a 3-pointer with 56 seconds left for a 40-19 lead Charlotte (4-4) climbed within 68-56 on two free throws by Kevin Johnson with 7:25 remaining but made just two field goals the rest of the way. The 49ers had trouble with the Gators' fullcourt pressure and committed 22 turnovers, including nine by Johnson. "That was certainly the best team we've faced this year," Charlotte coach Bobby Lutz said. "It's hard to simulate that kind of pressure that they apply with our second team guys. The difference in the game was our inability to handle the press." Jobey Thomas scored 16 points to lead Charlotte, which shot just 23 percent (7-of-30) in the first half. No other 49er scored in double figures. Matt Bonner scored 14 points and Hamilton and White each added eight points for Florida, which is 3-1 in this event. The Gators won despite a sub-par outing from Brett Nelson, who made 1-of-6 shots for four points. The Gators took a 3-2 lead in the all-time series with the 49ers. |
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