The University of Mississippi Athletics
Sanders Not Enough Against Florida in SEC Semis
3/10/2007 | Men's Basketball
ATLANTA (AP) - Clarence Sanders scored 21 but Ole Miss could not stop Florida, who is one win away from a three-peat at the Southeastern Conference tournament.
Corey Brewer scored 22 points, Lee Humphrey added 17 and the sixth-ranked Gators beat the Rebels 80-59 in the SEC semifinals Saturday.
Ole Miss shot just 32 percent from the field (21-of-66). Kenny Williams narrowly missed a double-double with 9 points and 12 rebounds, and Todd Abernethy scored 8 to give him 1,000 career points.
Defending national champion Florida (28-5) jumped out to a quick 13-2 lead and held off the Rebels (20-12), who now wait to see if they slip into the NCAA field.
Florida has won its first two games in the tournament by an average of 19 points to reach its fourth straight SEC final. The Gators won the last two championships and have a chance to be the first team since Kentucky in 1997-99 to win three straight tournament titles.
Taurean Green added 14 points for Florida, which went 10-of-24 from beyond the 3-point arc. Humphrey was especially accurate, going 5-of-8 outside the stripe.
Series Notes
All-Time Series: Florida leads, 56-41 (Florida has won the last six meetings)
SEC Tournament: Florida leads, 4-2 (Previous Meeting: Ole Miss 74, Florida 69 in 2001 semifinals)
Season Series: Florida won, 1-0 (Only Meeting: Florida 79, Ole Miss 70 on Jan. 20 in Gainesville)
Ole Miss Notes:
Ole Miss now is 20-12 and had its two-game winning streak snapped.
Ole Miss had 22 first-half points, its lowest scoring output in the first 20 minutes of games this season. The previous low was a 23-point first half at Alabama (a 69-58 loss).
Todd Abernethy had eight points and with his last bucket became the 29th player in Ole Miss history to record 1,000 career points. Abernethy has exactly 1,000 points for his Rebel career.
Clarence Sanders finished with 21 points, his 11th game of 20 or more points this season.
Greg Hardy scored six points, a career high. His previous high was three points at Florida on Jan. 20 in Gainesville. His four rebounds were one shy of his career best of five boards.
Kenny Williams pulled down 12 rebounds, just one shy of his career high of 13 set against Alabama A&M on Dec. 22 in Oxford. 10-of-24 from beyond the 3-point arc.
