• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Florida tramples Jackson State in opener

Mar 17, 2007 - 4:27 AM NEW ORLEANS (Ticker) -- Florida needed a half to get warmed up and then there was no way to cool off the defending national champions.

Corey Brewer scored 21 points to lead six players in double figures as the top-seeded Gators blitzed No. 16 Jackson State, 112-69, in a Midwest Region first-round game of the NCAA Tournament.

Joakim Noah and Chris Richard added 17 points apiece as Florida (30-5) advanced to a second-round matchup against Purdue on Sunday.

After receiving a surprisingly tough test in the first half from the Tigers (21-14), the champions of Southwestern Athletic Conference tournament, the Gators took off.

Florida hit its first seven 3-pointers of the second half to break away from a 41-35 halftime lead and put up a stunning 81 points in the final 20 minutes.

Lee Humphrey was 4-for-4 from the arc in the second-half opening burst, including back-to-back shots that pushed the advantage to 61-41 with 15:48 to play.

Brewer made it seven straight 3-pointers to push the advantage to 73-47 with 12:40 left. Oddly enough, Florida was just 1-of-11 from the arc in the first half.

Trey Johnson, the nation's second-leading scorer, finished with 25 points for the Tigers, who stayed with the defending champs despite shooting 33 percent (12-of-36) in the opening 20 minutes.