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GAINESVILLE, Fla. Nolan Ryan Jersey . -- Florida basketball coach Billy Donovan hadnt planned on having centre Patric Young for its game against Auburn because of a flareup of the tendinitis in the his knees. However, when pregame warmups were finished, Young told his coach he could play. That decision turned out to be crucial in saving the Gators school-record 18-game winning streak. Young hit a pair of free throws with 19 seconds remaining to break a tie and added another after Auburn committed a crucial turnover to seal second-ranked Floridas 71-66 victory at the OConnell Center. "Ive been practicing situations, like the opportunity to go to the Final Four with free throws as the game-winner," Young said about clutch late-game performance. "I was just telling myself, Be great. Strive to be great right now. "Ive been working on my free throws and I just went up there and swished them like it was nothing," he said. It wasnt the Gators best effort but it may be good enough to put them atop The Associated Press college basketball poll for the first time since the 2006-07 season after No. 1 Syracuses overtime loss to Boston College on Wednesday night. Provided, of course, the Gators beat host Ole Miss (16-10, 7-6) on Saturday. "One of the things I talk to our guys about is that with our rankings and being undefeated in the league we get everyones best shot," Donovan said. "But I like to look at it the other way. Are we going to give our best shot? I dont think that we did that today." Young never mentioned he had chronic tendinitis in his knees. Donovan revealed that Young was hurting in his postgame news conference. "He didnt warm up and he told me before the game that he could play," Donovan said. "His knees are ailing. I thought he was phenomenal in the second half. He played great. Where hell be at tomorrow well probably have a better idea but him playing or how much we could play him today was in doubt." Young didnt played well in the first half, missing his only shot from the field and grabbing just one rebound in 14 minutes. He wasnt the only one playing sluggishly, though. The Gators (24-2, 13-0 SEC) trailed 38-30 at the break, which the was the teams largest halftime deficit of the season. "We definitely came out a little flat," said senior forward Casey Prather, who scored 16 points and had nine rebounds. "We werent doing the things that we needed to do and should have done to win the game. Im just glad we had a chance in the second half to continue to play basketball." Young certainly responded in the second half. He scored all 17 of his points and grabbed six of his seven rebounds in the final 20 minutes. He hit five of his six shots in the second half and the 17 points tied a season high. Florida had taken a 66-65 lead on Michael Fraziers 3-pointer with 40.5 seconds to play, but the Tigers tied it on a free throw by Chris Denson with 20 seconds remaining. Young grabbed the rebound on the missed foul shot and was immediately fouled. Young, a 55.9 per cent career free throw shooter, hit the two free throws to give the Gators the lead for good and ensure theyd extend their home winning streak to 31 consecutive games. Auburn (12-12, 4-9) nearly pulled off the upset because of its 3-point shooting. The Tigers made 10 of 19 3-point shots. Tahj Shamsid-Deen led the Tigers with 17 points and made 5 of 8 3-point shots. Auburn, though, made a costly mistake in the final seconds. After Youngs free throws put the Gators up 68-66, Allen Paynes inbounds pass to K.T. Harrell bounced out of bounds. Harrell had glanced up-court and never saw the ball and it ricocheted off his arm and into the Florida bench. Josh Hamilton Authentic Jersey . A year ago, as newly appointed general manager Masai Ujiri bided his time and sat out of a lacklustre 2013 draft, this scenario seemed highly improbable. The Raptors, like every other team in the association, had at least one eye on this years rookie crop, one of the most highly touted and eagerly anticipated ever to enter the league. Nolan Ryan Angels Jersey . Louis Blues remain at the top spot of the TSN.DAYTON, Ohio -- Given a second chance, T.J. Warren put on a show in the NCAA tournament. The hard-to-guard sophomore forward scored 16 of his 25 points in the second half on Tuesday night, showing why he was the ACCs player of the year, and North Carolina State led most of the way in a 74-59 victory over Xavier in the NCAA tournaments First Four. N.C. State (22-12) didnt have much time to celebrate. The 12th-seeded Wolfpack headed to Orlando, Fla., for a game on Thursday against St. Louis in the Midwest Regional. Warren had the most to do with it. He made up for a freshman tournament flop on the same floor a year earlier and prevented Xavier (21-14) from getting any traction in the second half. "Hes just a great player," coach Mark Gottfried said. "Its hard to keep him down for a whole 40 minutes." Centre Matt Stainbrook led Xavier with 19 points and nine rebounds despite an injured left knee. Leading scorer Semaj Christon was limited to 14 points, and Xavier made only 2 of 14 shots from beyond the arc. Xavier was playing in a familiar arena less than an hour from campus. Familiar, but not entirely friendly. Fans of the Dayton Flyers -- a long-time rival -- booed loudly as they took the court, making for a mixed welcome with a lot of Musketeer fans in the stands as well. Warren made it all a moot point, helping N.C. State take all the drama out of the game over the final 11 minutes. Ralston Turner added 17 points. The Wolfpack went six years between NCAA appearances before Gottfried got them there three years in a row. This was his youngest and least-experienced team: Only two players with tournament experience. They got one of the final at-large bids with a strong closing run, winning ffive of their last six games, including an upset of Syracuse in the ACC tournament. David Freese Authentic Jersey. . Warren was the key. And he really wanted a second chance at the NCAA tournament. As a freshman last year, he managed only four points as N.C. State lost to Temple 76-72 at the University of Dayton Arena in its opening game. Hes grown a lot in one year, leading the ACC with 24.8 points per game this season and hitting the 40-point mark twice. He got off to a bad start on Tuesday, missing his first two shots and picking up two fouls in the first 4 minutes, 14 seconds. Warren checked back into the game and hit a jumper for his first points at the 11:29 mark. Christon, who was Warrens roommate at Brewster Academy for one year, kept the Musketeers in it during the first half. He scored off two drives to the basket, starting an 8-1 run. Stainbrooks reverse layup trimmed it to 27-26 with 2:22 left. Jordan Vandenbergs three-point play gave N.C. State a 34-28 advantage at halftime. Dee Davis hit Xaviers first 3-pointer, and Christon scored on a fast-break lay-in that cut it to 39-37. Thats when Warren took over. He had a pair of pull-up jumpers, followed by a steal and a lay-up as N.C. State rebuilt the lead to 51-42. He had another pull-up jumper and a fast-break dunk that made it 57-47 with 7:56 to go. Xavier never got closer than seven points the rest of the way, fading down the stretch. The biggest question for Xavier was how Stainbrooks left knee would hold up. The Big Easts second-leading rebounder sprained a ligament, sat out the final regular season game and was extremely limited in two Big East conference games. He was back in form, but Xavier didnt have enough other scoring options to keep up. wholesale jerseys cheap jerseys ' ' ' |
