The outbreak of COVID-19 has taken over the sports world with the professional sports in suspension and the cancellation of the NCAA Tournament. So, Sixers Wire will bring back some of the best moments of March Madness for the current Philadelphia 76ers.
Friday’s edition goes back to Al Horford’s time with the Florida Gators and their 2007 run to a repeat. Florida had just knocked off a very tough Butler team in the Sweet 16 and they now had turned their attention to the Oregon Ducks who were led by some good talent such as Malik Hairston and Aaron Brooks. It was time for the defending champs to show off their mettle.
March 25, 2007
The Ducks were very physical as they made life tough on both Horford and Joakim Noah down low. Horford was pretty ineffective for most of the night while Noah was able to find some cracks here and there, but Florida had to lean on Lee Humphrey and Taurean Green in this one.
Oregon made it just a 40-38 game at halftime before Florida was able to pull away late and win it 85-77. Humphrey led the Gators with 23 points while Green had 21 with Corey Brewer chipping in 14 points and five rebounds. Noah did have 14 and 14 while Horford had six points and seven rebounds. The Gators were headed back to the Final Four as they took another step towards defending their title.
Afterward, a very excited Noah told the naysayers:
People really doubted us, especially when things were not going well. People were trying to divide this team.
Florida now heads to the Final Four to take on the UCLA Bruins who they knocked off the national title game in 2006. The Bruins will most certainly be looking for a bit of revenge in this one. [lawrence-related id=28799,28780,28773]