Florida stomps Illinois, 93-76

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Lon Kruger got firsthand evidence Sunday that the Florida Gators are doing just fine without him. <br><br>Freshman reserve guard Brett Nelson had 16 points and three steals to spark

Sunday, March 19th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Lon Kruger got firsthand evidence Sunday that the Florida Gators are doing just fine without him.

Freshman reserve guard Brett Nelson had 16 points and three steals to spark the Gators to a 93-76 victory over Illinois in the second round of the NCAA East Regional.

The victory put Florida into the round of 16 for back-to-back years for the first time in school history. It also improved the Gators to 4-1 in NCAA tournament play under coach Billy Donovan, who succeeded Kruger following his departure for Illinois four seasons ago.

Nelson's contributions were especially important because they came on a day when fifth-seeded Florida (26-7) had to go through a crucial first-half stretch without top player Mike Miller, benched with foul troubles.

Miller had 13 of his 19 points in the second half as the Gators defeated the Fighting Illini for the first time in their five meetings. Teddy Dupay added 16 points and Udonis Haslem had 15.

Fourth-seeded Illinois (22-10) got 27 points from Cory Bradford but little help from anyone else. Sergio McClain, with 11 points, was the only other Illinois player in double figures.

Freshman Frank Williams, who had a season-high 21 points to lead Illinois past Pennsylvania in the opening round, got into first-half foul trouble against Florida and didn't score until nearly 23 minutes into the game.

He finished with six points. Marcus Griffin, who had 17 in the opening round, contributed just nine against Florida.

Florida was trailing by two points when Miller went to the bench with 4:50 left in the first half after being assessed his second personal foul.

But Nelson scored five points and Matt Bonner added four as the Gators closed the half with a 13-5 run for a 40-34 lead.

Florida opened the second half by getting two 3-pointers from Dupay and one from Nelson to stretch it to 53-41.

Illinois was unable to significantly cut into its deficit and Nelson pushed Florida's lead to 67-53 with 11:01 left when he stole an errant pass and hit a 3-pointer.

After the Gators pushed it to 14 again, this time at 74-60 on a 17-foot jumper by Miller with seven minutes remaining, Illinois was unable to cut its deficit to single digits the rest of the way.

The Gators, who pushed their lead as high as the final margin, sealed it by making 11 of 14 free throws in the last 3:14.