March 18, 2006

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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Corey Brewer scored 23 points and Joakim Noah added 17 as the University of Florida downed the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee 82-60 Saturday in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Florida advanced to the semifinals of the Minneapolis Regional, the first time the team has escaped the opening weekend of the tourney since 2000.

Milwaukee finishes its season at 22-9 after winning at least one game in the NCAA Tournament for the second-straight season.

Adrian Tigert led the Panthers with a career-high 27 points.

UWM found it difficult to contain the athleticism and size of the Gators (29-6), who won the SEC Tournament last weekend and appear poised for another run to the Final Four.

"We played the way we've been doing it all year and we just met an opponent that was bigger than us," Milwaukee head coach Rob Jeter said. "We couldn't match their size. We tried, but we just couldn't."

Meanwhile, while the Panthers struggled much of the game on offense, Tigert posted the best offensive night of his career in his final UWM appearance.

"Look at his stat line," Jeter said. "He's been like this for us all year. He just takes what the other teams will give and he's a very patient player."

Led by Brewer, Noah, Al Horford and Taurean Green - all sophomores - Florida led from its first possession and dominated much of the game. The Gators led by 13 in the first half and opened up a 15-point advantage midway through the second half. It was arguably the best coach Billy Donovan's team has played all season. And, it came in front of a partisan crowd at Veterans Memorial Arena, about 75 miles from the school's campus.

"Offensively, I thought we had very good balance," Donovan said. "Our front court players did a good job in and around the basket. Corey had a very good game shooting the basketball. I think the one thing that helped us in the first half was our big lineup. When we went to the big lineup, we hurt them on the backboards a little bit."

The Gators built an early 13-point lead only to see the Panthers rally to within 24-20 with 4:21 remaining in the half. But, with Tucker and then Tigert on the bench with two fouls, Florida rebuilt its lead to eight points by halftime.

Tigert hit a three on the first possession of the second half to pull Milwaukee back within five, and the Panthers were still within six with 18:23 to play after a Tigert jumper in the lane.

But, the Gators scored six-straight points to rebuild a 12-point lead and the Panthers would never get closer than nine the rest of the way.