JAGUARS PUT UP VALIANT EFFORT, BUT BOW OUT OF NCAA TOURNAMENT WITH 76-50 LOSS TO FLORIDA

sportsbooks NO. 14-seed South Alabama line spread put up a valiant fight in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday, but fell to 3rd seed Florida, 76-50 wagering spread. The Jaguars finish with one of the best records in school history at 24-7, while Florida improves to 28-6. It was the Jaguars' first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1998.

Both teams came out of the gates very cold as neither team scored through the first 3:24 of the game. Florida's Lee Humphrey scored the first bucket of the game at the 16:36 mark. USA came right back with a bucket by senior Chey Christie seconds later. Florida extended the lead to 17-10 through the first 11:04, but an 8-2 run by the Jaguars cut the deficit to one with 5:49 left.

USA used back-to-back treys by junior Leandro Buboltz and a jumper by sophomore Demetric Bennett to close the deficit.

Right as the momentum was about to change to South Alabama, the ncaa Gators had the answer and went on a 10-0 run to build a 29-18 lead with 2:58 left. USA kept its poise and didn't panic as it battled back cutting the deficit to six to end the half, scoring the last five points.

The halftime statistics were pretty even as the Jaguars finished 9-of-27 from the floor and 5-of-13 from beyond the arc and 2-of-4 from the line. The six point difference in the half was Florida had three more made field goals, going 12-of-30. The Gators were 5-of-15 from beyond the arc and were 2-of-4 from the line.

Buboltz led all-scorers with 11 points at intermission. USA held a 20-19 edge in rebounds.

The Jaguars struggled out of the gates in the second half, too. The teams exchanged 3's right as the half began, but USA went scoreless for the next 3:23 until senior Mario Jointer hit a trey to cut the Florida lead back to seven with 15:39 left. Florida scored the next 14 of 20 points to go up 48-34 with 11:44 to play.

The Jaguars got as close as 12 points on a jumper by senior Michael Phillips with 9:11 to play, but the Gators proceeded to outscore the Jags 24-10 the rest of the way for a 76-50 win.

The Jaguars were 19-of-55 from the field for the game for 34.5 percent and were 9-of-20 from beyond the arc and were a season-low 3-of-6 from the line. Florida was 29-of-59 from the field and 10-of-25 from beyond the arc. The Gators were 8-of-10 from the line.

Buboltz had a team-high 14 points on 5-of-7 from the field, including 4-of-5 from the 3-point stripe. Jointer had 10 points in his final game as a Jaguar. Florida had four players in double-figures with a game-high 20 from Lee Humphrey who had a career-high six made 3-pointers and was 7-of-8 from the floor.

7:40 AM - Apr. 3, 2006