No. 25 Gators Bite 'Bama

Some nights, the shots won't fall and the full-court press fools nobody. No. 25 Florida encountered such a game Wednesday and did what good teams do: It grinded out a victory.

Teddy Dupay converted a three-point play and the Gators went 7-for-9 from the free-throw line down the stretch to hold off Alabama 72-68 for their sixth victory in the last seven games.

It was a successful debut in the Top 25 for Florida (15-3, 6-2 Southeastern Conference), which was making its first appearance in the rankings since 1995.

But this win didn't come like many of the previous ones. Instead, the Gators encountered a game-long struggle to find their shooting touch - finishing at just 37 percent from the field - and a solution to the pesky Crimson Tide (12-9, 2-6).

"We won the game really not playing our style of play," said Florida coach Billy Donovan. "I thought our press was very effective tonight. It could have been more effective if we could have shot a little better, but we didn't."

Dupay finished with 14 points for Florida, as did Greg Stolt, who hit four 3-pointers in the second half to help the Gators grab a 53-41 lead with 9:42 remaining.

But Alabama fought back before falling for the seventh time in nine games.

After a pair of free throws by MC Mazique cut the deficit to 63-62, Dupay dribbled down the left side of the key and hit a spinning layup off the right side of the backboard.

He was fouled by Tarik London and converted the free throw for a four-point lead. Tide coach Mark Gottfried thought the referees were a bit lenient on the continuation call.

"The NBA ... Fantastic," Gottfried said. "He was fouled on the left and shot it on the right. The play of the game was Dupay's play. We had a chance where we cut it down and we needed a dfensive stop. Rather than the defense stopping the ball, they got a three-point play."

The Tide pulled within two twice in the last 10 seconds, but Udonis Haslem sank two free throws with 2 seconds left to seal the win.

The Gators also improved to 11-0 at home this season, this victory coming on the heels of a much easier 93-72 win over Tennessee last weekend to propel them to the Top 25.

"This was an emotional week for our basketball team," Donovan said. "I think going into the Top 25, for me as a basketball coach, it was a lot of distraction for our team. I got on them pretty good today in the shoot-around, because I didn't feel their focus was where it should be."

Alabama got 13 points on 4-for-15 shooting from its leading scorer this season, Brian Williams, who was hobbled with a sprained ankle he suffered while trying to dunk in a loss to Auburn last weekend.

Trailing 63-60, Williams lofted a 3-pointer with 2:41 left, but it barely drew iron. Dupay followed with a miss, then Mazique's free throws set the stage for Dupay's three-point play.

Trailing 70-66, Williams was fouled while shooting a 3-pointer with 2.7 seconds left. He missed the first free throw and made the second. Alabama called timeout to set up an intentional miss, but Williams clanged it off the back of the rim and into the basket and Alabama was forced to foul, sending Haslem to the line.

"We were going to miss it and try to tip the ball back and set up for the 3-pointer," Williams said. "I shot it hard, but it just hit dead against the back of the rim and fell in."

Jeremy Hays led the Tide with 17 points and 15 rebounds for his fifth consecutive double-double.

Chris Rollins finished with 12 points for Alabama and Mazique had 11.

Eddie Shannon went 3-for-4 from the line down the stretch and had 10 points. Freshman Mike Miller had 12 for the Gators, who took a 30-28 halftime lead even though they shot just 33 percent from the field.

The Tide helped by committing 14 first-half turnovers, most of them after the guards had broken the press and settled into the half-court offense.

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