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Florida shuts down Fresno State

Dec 22, 2013 - 3:29 AM Sunrise, FL (SportsNetwork.com) - Casey Prather scored 16 points as No. 16 Florida stymied the Fresno State Bulldogs with a 66-49 win as part of the Orange Bowl Classic.

The Gators (9-2) held Fresno State to 32 percent shooting and outrebounded their counterparts 47-24.

Scottie Wilbekin scored 11 points, while Will Yeguete added nine points and 10 rebounds. Patric Young came off the bench and donated eight points and nine boards in Florida's third straight victory.

Cezar Guerrero paced the Bulldogs (6-6) with 17 points, while Marvelle Harris and Paul Watson added 10 apiece in the setback, their third straight defeat.

"We take a lot of pride when holding a team to 40 points," said Young. "Us being able to make them take bad shots and not knock them in is great for our team."

Fresno State led 6-4 early on before Florida went on a 9-0 run. Kasey Hill capped the run with a 3-pointer with just over 12 minutes left in the first.

The Bulldogs, however, clawed their way back into the game later in the half. Guerrero lobbed a pass up to Karachi Edo, who finished the alley-oop and helped Fresno State pull within three, 19-16, with 3:21 left.

Florida held a 23-19 advantage at intermission.

The first half was an offensive struggle for both teams, for Florida especially, as the Gators managed only one 3-pointer out of 13 attempts.

Prather made two layups around a Michael Frazier II triple as Florida jumped out of the break with seven straight points.

The Gators maintained a comfortable double-digit lead for the rest of the game and pushed the advantage to 55-35 after Yeguete tipped in a Prather miss.

Dorian Finney-Smith's jumper gave Florida its largest lead of the day, 65-39, with 2:45 left in the game and the Gators cruised as head coach Billy Donovan emptied his bench in the closing moments.

Game Notes

Florida made 4-of-5 3-point attempts in the second half and finished 5-for-18 (27.8 percent) ... Fresno State kept control of the ball behind Guerrero as the Bulldogs committed just eight turnovers compared to Florida's 11 ...Florida will host Savannah State next Sunday.