Al Horford and Corey Brewer scored 17 points each and defending champion Florida withstood a game effort by Purdue 74-67 in the second round of the NCAA college basketball tournament on Sunday.
Purdue slowed down the tempo, rebounding with a smaller lineup and keeping the game close much of the way. Carl Landry led the Boilermakers (22-12) with 18 points and 10 rebounds.
But the top-seeded Gators never panicked and made several clutch shots to advance to the round of 16. Horford had three big buckets in the final minutes and Brewer hit a spinning jumper and then made six consecutive free throws to seal Florida's 14th consecutive playoffs win.
PHOTO: AP
The Gators (31-5) advanced to play fifth-seeded Butler in the Midwest Regional semifinals on Friday in St. Louis.
Memphis 78, Nevada 62
John Calipari's Memphis Tigers have finally gained a victory worth bragging about with their run of 24 straight.
Chris Douglas-Roberts scored 16 points before leaving with a sprained ankle and his high-flying, versatile teammates took over from there for a 78-62 victory over Nick Fazekas and Nevada.
Memphis (32-3) will take the longest winning streak in the US to San Antonio for a showdown on Thursday against third-seeded Texas A&M.
Jeremy Hunt scored 16 and Antonio Anderson added 14 points and 10 rebounds for Memphis.
Oregon 75, Winthrop 61
At Spokane, Washington, Aaron Brooks scored 22 points and third-seeded Oregon smothered frazzled Winthrop to eliminate the last remaining double-digit seed.
The 11th-seeded Eagles (29-5), who upset Notre Dame in the first round, lost for the first time in 20 games to end their most successful tournament in seven tries.
USC 87, Texas 68
Southern California got 22 points from seasoned star Nick Young in a runaway victory and its 25th win set a program record.
Kevin Durant led with 30 points and added nine rebounds for fourth-seeded Texas, but he never came close to dominating this game. Many times when he got the ball, the offense ground to a halt for the Longhorns (25-10), who fell behind by 17 early in the second half and never made a serious run.
UNLV 74, Wisconsin 68
At Chicago, Kevin Kruger connected on three straight 3-pointers late in the second half and the UNLV Runnin' Rebels rallied to beat second-seeded Wisconsin.
The Badgers (30-6) became the highest-seeded team to lose in the tournament so far.
Kansas 88, Kentucky 76
Julian Wright scored 15 of his 21 points in the second half, Brandon Rush added 19 and top-seeded Kansas romped past Kentucky.
Mario Chalmers added 16 for the Jayhawks, who shot a blistering 57 percent to win their 13th in a row. Kansas (32-4) will play fourth-seeded Southern Illinois on Thursday in the semifinals.
Tennessee 77, Virginia 74
JaJuan Smith scored 16 points and led a second-half comeback, Chris Lofton scored 20 points and Tennessee held off Virginia.
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