Florida reaches quarters

Sat., March 21, 2009

Associated Press

Nick Calathes couldn’t get Florida into the NCAA tournament. Now, he’s doing all he can to extend the season.

Calathes had 21 points, Alex Tyus added 13 points and 12 rebounds, and the Gators beat in-state rival Miami 74-60 in the second round of the NIT on Friday night in Gainesville, Fla.

Florida (25-10) improved to 18-1 at the O’Connell Center this season, tying a school record for home wins, and advanced to the tournament quarterfinals. The top-seeded Gators will host No. 2 seed Penn State on Tuesday night.

Miami (19-13) got way behind early, trailing by 22 points in the first half, and never recovered. The Hurricanes cut the lead to 11 several times in the second half, but couldn’t get any closer.

San Diego State 70, Kansas State 52: Kyle Spain scored 16 points and Richie Williams added 14 as the pair keyed a second-half surge to lead the Aztecs (25-9) past the Wildcats (22-12) at San Diego.

San Diego State set a school record for wins and advanced to the NIT quarterfinals against Monday’s Saint Mary’s-Davidson winner.

Denis Clemente led Kansas State with 12 points, but the Wildcats’ leading scorer made just 5 of 15 shots.

Auburn 74, Tulsa 55: Rasheem Barrett scored 17 points to lead the Tigers (24-11) over the Golden Hurricane (25-11) in the second round at Auburn, Ala.

DeWayne Reed added 12 points for the Tigers, who matched the 1999-2000 team for the second-most wins in school history.

Auburn will face the Baylor-Virginia Tech winner in next week’s quarterfinals.

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Florida reaches quarters

Jesse Tinsley

Jim Meehan

Molly Quinn

Rob Curley

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