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No. 2 Florida Flogs Florida A&M 102-78

Posted on: Tuesday, 2 December 2003, 06:00 CST

Matt Walsh celebrated his 21st birthday Tuesday night with 15 points to lift No. 2 Florida to a 102-78 victory over Florida A&M.

Walsh also had four rebounds and five assists and kept the Gators (3-0) perfect, the day after they climbed to the second spot in the Associated Press poll, and four days after their big 78-77 win over No. 7 Arizona.

Florida's win came despite a 31-point effort from Terrence Woods, a former Tennessee player who moved to Florida A&M (0-4) before last season. It was the most an opposing player had scored at Florida since 1989.

Woods made nine 3-pointers, and when he hit one early in the second half, he cut Florida's lead to 43-34.

Anthony Roberson responded with 11 straight points in a 14-3 run to put the Gators back ahead by 17. Roberson, who went just 4-for-13 in his season debut against Arizona, scored 16 points in a span of 4 1/2 minutes in the second half and finished with a team-high 20.

Adrian Moss had 16 points and 11 rebounds for the Gators.

After Roberson's second-half burst, the rest of the game was a tedious early season exercise, as Florida built the lead to as many as 31.

Walsh was far from perfect - he shot 4-for-12 - and hit only one 3. But the highlight of his night was that single 3 - a swish from the corner that gave Florida its 90th point, which won all the ticket-holders free hamburgers.

David Lee had 12 points and six rebounds. He sat the second half after twisting his ankle, although it was hard to tell whether it was the ankle or his ongoing troubles with leg cramps that kept him out. Lee has yet to play late in any of Florida's three games.

Bonell Colas finished with 11 points and seven rebounds for Florida.

Woods wasn't the only hot shooter for the Rattlers. Demarcus Wilson made four 3s to finish with 24. Florida A&M actually kept this game competitive for about 22 minutes, but a lack of height and depth did in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference team, which has lost its last four games to Florida by an average of 46 points.

The Rattlers played without starting forward O.J. Sumter, who has a knee injury and could be lost for the season, coach Mike Gillespie said.

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