Noah's hot hand leads Florida to 88-67 victory



He scored 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting against Stetson.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Joakim Noah scored 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting to lead No. 5 Florida to an 88-67 victory over Stetson Wednesday night.
Noah had eight rebounds and four assists for the Gators (10-2), who improved to 8-0 at home despite the absence of center Al Horford, who is recovering from a sprained ankle.
Garfield Blair led the Hatters (3-8) with 18 points.
No. 9 Arizona 79,No. 18 Memphis 71
TUCSON, Ariz. -- Mustafa Shakur scored 23 points and Chase Budinger and Ivan Radenovic led a second-half surge as Arizona won its ninth straight. Budinger scored 15 of his 18 points in the second half when Radenovic had 12 of his 18 as the Wildcats (9-1) erased a five-point halftime deficit in their first meeting with a nationally ranked opponent this season. Jeremy Hunt was 4-of-9 from 3-point range and led the Tigers (8-3) with 21 points.
No. 10 Alabama 82,North Carolina St. 75
RALEIGH, N.C. -- Richard Hendrix had 23 points and 12 rebounds and Ronald Steele added 14 points in his return to Alabama's lineup. The Crimson Tide (10-1) never trailed but nearly blew a 23-point second-half lead. Brandon Costner hit three 3-pointers in the final minute for the Wolfpack (7-3). His 3 made it 81-75 with 21 seconds remaining, but Alabama came up with stops on consecutive possessions. Costner had 25 points on 5-of-8 shooting from 3-point range, while Ben McCauley added 24 points for N.C. State.
No. 14 Connecticut 88,Pepperdine 66
HARTFORD, Conn. -- A.J. Price had 17 points to lead four Connecticut players in double figures as the Huskies pulled away in the second half to remain undefeated. Freshman center Hasheem Thabeet hit all seven of his shots and sophomore forward Jeff Adrien made all six of his as the Huskies (10-0) dominated inside and stretched their home winning streak to 29 games. Thabeet finished with 15 points and seven rebounds, while Adrien had 14 points and seven rebounds. Tomas Pranciliauskas scored 14 of his 22 points in the first half for the Waves (3-10), who trailed 40-36 at halftime.
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