#3 seed Florida ousts UW-Milwaukee in second round of NCAA Tournament

March 18, 2006

(#3 seed) Florida 82, (#11 seed) UW-Milwaukee 60
NCAA Tournament, 2nd Round

Jacksonville, Fla. - Corey Brewer scored 23 points and Joakim Noah added 17 as third-seeded Florida downed #11 seed UW-Milwaukee 82-60 Saturday in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Florida advanced to the semifinals of the Minneapolis Regional, the first time the team has escaped the opening weekend of the tourney since 2000.Milwaukee finishes its season at 22-9 after winning at least one game in the NCAA Tournament for the second-straight season.

Adrian Tigert led the Panthers with a career-high 27 points.

UWM found it difficult to contain the athleticism and size of the Gators (29-6), who won the SEC Tournament last weekend and appear poised for another run to the Final Four.

"We played the way we've been doing it all year and we just met an opponent that was bigger than us," Milwaukee head coach Rob Jeter said. "We couldn't match their size. We tried, but we just couldn't."

Meanwhile, while the Panthers struggled much of the game on offense, Tigert posted the best offensive night of his career in his final UWM appearance.

"Look at his stat line," Jeter said. "He's been like this for us all year. He just takes what the other teams will give and he's a very patient player."

Led by Brewer, Noah, Al Horford and Taurean Green - all sophomores - Florida led from its first possession and dominated much of the game. The Gators led by 13 in the first half and opened up a 15-point advantage midway through the second half. It was arguably the best coach Billy Donovan's team has played all season. And, it came in front of a partisan crowd at Veterans Memorial Arena, about 75 miles from the school's campus.

"Offensively, I thought we had very good balance," Donovan said. "Our front court players did a good job in and around the basket. Corey had a very good game shooting the basketball. I think the one thing that helped us in the first half was our big lineup. When we went to the big lineup, we hurt them on the backboards a little bit."

The Gators built an early 13-point lead only to see the Panthers rally to within 24-20 with 4:21 remaining in the half. But, with Tucker and then Tigert on the bench with two fouls, Florida rebuilt its lead to eight points by halftime.

Tigert hit a three on the first possession of the second half to pull Milwaukee back within five, and the Panthers were still within six with 18:23 to play after a Tigert jumper in the lane.

But, the Gators scored six-straight points to rebuild a 12-point lead and the Panthers would never get closer than nine the rest of the way.

UW-Milwaukee notes:

- The Panthers finish the season with 22 wins, the fifth-most in school history.

- UW-Milwaukee's 60 points marked its lowest offensive output since scoring 54 in a loss at Wright State Feb. 2.

- The Panthers shot 36.1 percent from the field, the lowest mark since a 33.9 percent outing against Missouri State Feb. 18.

- Florida's 82 points are the most by an opponent since UIC scored 94 on Feb. 15. They are the most allowed by the Panthers in a non-overtime game since allowing 84 Jan. 14 at UW-Green Bay.

- Joah Tucker saw his string of 27-straight games in double figures snapped.

- Adrian Tigert finishes his career with school records for appearances (120) and starts (117). He also is the school's Division I rebounding leader with 760 and the all-time minutes leader with 3,365.

- Tigert's 27 points were a career-high. He finishes his career with 1,060 points, good for 19th on the school's all-divisions all-time list.

- Tucker finishes his career with 1,416 points, eighth on the school's all-time list. He also finishes with 513 rebounds.

- Boo Davis finishes his career with 832 points and 147 three-point baskets.

- Chris Hill finishes his career with 755 points and 304 assists.

Box Score