COLLEGE ROUNDUP Men's Top 25

No. 11 Florida 87, Alabama St. 60
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Taurean Green scored 18 points, Corey Brewer added 17 for Florida. The Gators, unranked in the preseason poll, are off to their best start in coach Billy Donovan's 10 years. Florida last started 6-0 in 1984-85. After losing their top three scorers and having four sophomores and a junior in the starting lineup, the Gators have been one of the biggest surprises in the country. But Alabama State (1-5) hardly proved to be much of an obstacle. Florida was bigger, faster and deeper than the Hornets. The Gators shot 65 percent from the field, had a 34-24 rebounding advantage, blocked nine shots and had six steals. Al Horford had 12 points and 11 rebounds for his second double-double of the season and Lee Humphrey scored 13 points for Florida. Brewer added seven rebounds and a game-high five assists. The Gators opened the game with a 10-0 run, maintained a double-digit lead the rest of the first half and then pulled away. Green was 10-of-10 from the free throw line and has made 24 in a row. He was 14-of-14 in the second half Friday night against Florida State. LaMarquis Blake had 16 points and Cedric Mitchell added 13 for the Hornets. Leading scorer Akeim Claborn, who entered the game averaging 16.2 points, finished with six after spending much of the night in foul trouble. The Gators started 5-0 three other times under Donovan: 1997, 1998 and 2003. But in those years, the sixth opponent offered much more of a hurdle than Alabama State. The Hornets have been one of the better teams in the Southwestern Athletic Conference the last five years, but are a far cry from Texas (1997), Duke (1998) and Maryland (2003) -- the teams that ended Florida's other fast starts under Donovan. Florida improved to 36-4 overall in November under Donovan, including 22-0 at home.
No. 9 Memphis 108, Lamar 83
MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Chris Douglas-Roberts scored 23 points and Rodney Carney and Shawne Williams each added 21 as Memphis overcame a sluggish start and the absence of point guard Darius Washington. Douglas-Roberts, Carney and Williams were a combined 21-of-42 from the field goals for the Tigers (4-1), who shot 48.8 percent overall. Joey Dorsey had 13 rebounds, Robert Dozier 11 and Williams 10 as Memphis outrebounded Lamar 65-32. Alan Daniels, a first-team all-Southland Conference selection last season, led Lamar (1-3) with 41 points. He was 13-of-29 from the field, including 6-of-17 on 3-pointers, and made nine of 11 free throws. Matthew Barrow added 15 points for Lamar. Washington, the team's leading scorer at 16.5 points per game, didn't play because of a deep thigh bruise that limited him in last week's NIT Season Tip-Off in New York. Memphis reached the tournament finals, losing to top-ranked Duke 70-67. Memphis also played without reserve center Kareem Cooper, who was serving a one-game suspension for a violation of team rules. The 6-foot-11 Cooper was averaging 8.3 points. Memphis started slowly against Lamar's 2-3 zone and fell behind by as many as 10 points midway through the first half. The Tigers committed eight turnovers in the gam's first 8 minutes. But Memphis went on a 12-2 run to close the first half, including scoring five points in the closing six seconds. After Williams made a free throw to complete a three-point play, Andre Allen stole the inbounds pass and drove in for a layup, which he missed. But Allen followed with a short putback as the buzzer sounded for a 43-41 lead. In the second half, the Tigers went on an early 10-0 run to take a 59-49 lead and pulled away late in the game when Carney and Allen powered a 14-0 run with 3-pointers. Allen hit a 3-pointer to start the run and less than 2 minutes later, Carney hit consecutive 3-pointers to give the Tigers a 92-65 lead. Allen, starting in place of Washington, finished with 10 points, five rebounds, five assists and three steals.
MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Chris Douglas-Roberts scored 23 points and Rodney Carney and Shawne Williams each added 21 as Memphis overcame a sluggish start and the absence of point guard Darius Washington. Douglas-Roberts, Carney and Williams were a combined 21-of-42 from the field goals for the Tigers (4-1), who shot 48.8 percent overall. Joey Dorsey had 13 rebounds, Robert Dozier 11 and Williams 10 as Memphis outrebounded Lamar 65-32. Alan Daniels, a first-team all-Southland Conference selection last season, led Lamar (1-3) with 41 points. He was 13-of-29 from the field, including 6-of-17 on 3-pointers, and made nine of 11 free throws. Matthew Barrow added 15 points for Lamar. Washington, the team's leading scorer at 16.5 points per game, didn't play because of a deep thigh bruise that limited him in last week's NIT Season Tip-Off in New York. Memphis reached the tournament finals, losing to top-ranked Duke 70-67. Memphis also played without reserve center Kareem Cooper, who was serving a one-game suspension for a violation of team rules. The 6-foot-11 Cooper was averaging 8.3 points. Memphis started slowly against Lamar's 2-3 zone and fell behind by as many as 10 points midway through the first half. The Tigers committed eight turnovers in the gam's first 8 minutes. But Memphis went on a 12-2 run to close the first half, including scoring five points in the closing six seconds. After Williams made a free throw to complete a three-point play, Andre Allen stole the inbounds pass and drove in for a layup, which he missed. But Allen followed with a short putback as the buzzer sounded for a 43-41 lead. In the second half, the Tigers went on an early 10-0 run to take a 59-49 lead and pulled away late in the game when Carney and Allen powered a 14-0 run with 3-pointers. Allen hit a 3-pointer to start the run and less than 2 minutes later, Carney hit consecutive 3-pointers to give the Tigers a 92-65 lead. Allen, starting in place of Washington, finished with 10 points, five rebounds, five assists and three steals.