No. 7 Florida routs Jacksonville
Corey Brewer was still in a blowout with less than a minute to play. Florida's other starters had been on the bench for a while, rooting for the sophomore to make school history.
With 39 seconds left in the seventh-ranked Gators' 101-58 victory over Jacksonville on Sunday, Brewer grabbed his 10th rebound of the game, making him the first Florida player to record a triple-double.
The 6-foot-8 Brewer was on the court with three walk-ons and freshman David Huertas when he corralled the miss by Jacksonville's Marcus Allen for his place in school history.
"I got pretty tired," said Brewer, who had 15 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds. "We were coming off a nine-day break (for final exams), but my teammates were hollering that I needed one more rebound and the crowd was chanting. I felt like I had a chance to get it."
The Gators didn't make school history Sunday, but they matched it. Their 10-0 start ties the 1951-52 Gators for the best opening to a season by a Florida team. They can go 11-0 for the first time by winning at Miami on Thursday.
Brewer handed out his 10th assist with 15:25 left and surpassed 10 points on a dunk with 6:05 left. The last rebound took some time.
"I didn't feel comfortable leaving him in there, but it had never been done before at Florida," Gators coach Billy Donovan said. "If it had been done three or four times, I probably would have taken him out. Our players really wanted to see him do it."
Brewer had five points, five rebounds and seven assists at halftime, and sophomore center Al Horford said the Gators discussed the potential record in the locker room. Joakim Noah, who had a career-high 21 points, apparently wasn't listening because he ripped a rebound away from Brewer, then heard about it from his teammates and the fans.
"I wasn't mad," Brewer said. "He has to get his rebounds just like any other game. You have to go get the ball."
Noah, a power forward, and Horford both also had double-doubles, combining for 41 points and 21 rebounds. Noah was 8-of-11 from the field, while Horford was 9-of-11.
Florida led 50-31 at halftime and went up by as much as 100-53 in running its all-time record against Jacksonville to 24-4.
Aubrey Conerly had 13 points for the Dolphins (1-6), who shot 31.9 percent.
"Our guys fought, but it was just in spurts," first-year Jacksonville coach Cliff Warren said. "Those spurts were too few and far between."
J.J. Redick scored 30 points and Greg Paulus set a Duke freshman record with 15 assists as the Blue Devils improved to 10-0 for the fifth time in six seasons. Shelden Williams added 19 points and 11 rebounds for Duke, which was coming off a 97-66 victory over then-No. 2 Texas.Paulus broke the freshman record of 13 assists shared by Bobby Hurley, Jason Williams and Chris Duhon. He came within an assist of tying the school record owned by Hurley.Dan Oppland scored 25 points to lead the visiting Crusaders (4-3), who trailed 53-44 at halftime.
At Hartford, Conn., Rudy Gay had 22 points and Marcus Johnson, making his first start for the injured Denham Brown (bruised knee), had a career-high 20 points for the Huskies (8-0).Blagoj Janev had 24 points for the Wildcats (2-8), who were outrebounded 45-27 and outscored 40-10 in the paint.
James Augustine scored 15 points for the Illini (11-0), who broke the game open with an 18-4 run in the second half. The 42 points were a season low by an Illinois opponent and the fewest the Illini have allowed since an 80-37 defeat of Penn State on Jan. 21, 2004.Darryl Proctor scored 14 points for the Eagles (0-8), who have yet to play a home game this season.
Shannon Brown scored 20 points and Maurice Ager and Paul Davis both had double-doubles for the Spartans (9-2), who won their eighth straight. Ager had 18 points, all but two in the second half, and a career-high 14 rebounds, while Davis, one of two players in Division I averaging better than 20 points and 10 rebounds this season, added 18 points and 11 boards.Elvis Lora had 12 points for the visiting Golden Panthers (3-5), who were 11-for-22 from 3-point range but scored only seven baskets inside the arc.
Jared Dudley had 25 points and 10 rebounds and Sean Marshall scored a season-high 19 points for the Eagles (7-2). Craig Smith, who had 11 points and seven rebounds, was hit in the face going for a rebound with 5 minutes left in the game and remained on the floor for a few minutes. He was diagnosed with a slight scratch on his cornea and a small cut on his nose. Smith, a preseason All-America, complained of blurry vision and was scheduled to see a doctor on Monday.Jacques Jones had 18 points and nine rebounds for the visiting Tigers (2-8), who lost for the eighth time in nine games.
At Raleigh, N.C., Cameron Bennerman had a season-high 19 points for the Wolfpack (8-1) and Tony Bethel scored all but three of his 15 points on 3-pointers in the opening 7 minutes in the Atlantic Coast Conference opener for both teams.Guillermo Diaz had 19 points for the Hurricanes (6-4).
