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.
We will focus this first edition on big man Al Horford who won two championships during his time with the Florida Gators. Friday’s edition begins with the 2007 Round of 64 when Horford and the top-seeded Gators took on the 16 seed Jackson State Tigers.
Florida got off to a slow start as they allowed Jackson State to hang around and give the Gators a bit of a scare. It was a 41-35 lead for Florida for halftime and things were looking pretty good for the Tigers. Then, something changed at halftime.
Florida went on a rampage and outscored Jackson State 71-34 in the second half to run away and win it 112-69. Former 10-day Sixer Corey Brewer led the Gators with 21 points while Horford had 15 points on 6-for-8 shooting with 16 rebounds and another former Sixer, Marreese Speights, had 16 points off the bench.
After the win, Horford told reporters about the slow start and being able to win this one:
We’ve been ready for so long, and once we get out there, we were a little too antsy. We just had to settle down. Once we did that, we were fine.
The Gators will now move on to the Round of 32 to take on 9 seed Purdue after they upset Arizona. The Boilermakers will offer a bit more of a challenge than the Tigers did for the defending champion Gators. [lawrence-related id=27868,27861,27852]