Sophomore guard Nick Calathes had an incredible performance finishing with 21 points, and with help by teammate Alex Tyus tacking on a 13 point, twelve rebound double-double performance helped the Gators get past the Miami Hurricanes 74-60 in round 2 of the 2009 NIT tournament.

The Gators (25-10) tied the school record for the most home game wins in a season with 18. Florida has now advanced to the quarterfinals to face off against No. 2 seed Penn State next Tuesday night at 9pm which will be televised on ESPN.

Miami really started out slow from the very start and never found a grove to get in. The Hurricanes trailed by 22 points early in the game and never found a way to bounce back from Florida’s pressure.

I was really surprised to see a 31-9 Gator lead with a little over 7 minutes left. I did not expect for the Gators to jump off to such of a great start. Let’s hope this carries on over to the Penn State game on Tuesday.

Florida shot an excellent 63 percent from the field in the first half, which was a season high best. The Gators kind of slacked back in the second half but Miami still could not find a way to jump back in the game.

Calathes played exceptionally well, four 3 pointers, six rebounds and seven assists, he went all out. Junior forward Dan Werner finished the contest with 12 points and six boards.

Miami was led by Dwayne Collins with 17 points and eight rebounds while teammate Jack McClinton running behind with 13 points.