TAMPA - Erving Walker scored 10 of Florida's last 12 points down the stretch and finished with a game-high 21 to key the No. 2 seed Gators to a 73-65 win over No. 7 seed UCLA on Saturday.
The Gators advance to play the BYU-Gonzaga winner later Saturday in next week's Sweet Sixteen Southeast Regional semifinal in New Orleans. It is the fifth time in Billy Donovan's 15 years as the UF head coach the Gators have reached the Sweet Sixteen.
Reeves Nelson and Joshua Smith led UCLA scoring with 16 points. Kenny Boynton and Vernon Macklin also had 12 and 10, respectively, for the Gators.
It's the third time in six years Florida has eliminated the Bruins from the NCAA Tournament, including Final Four wins in 2006 and 2007. But it was a tense, tight win until Walker took over.
Florida (28-7) shot 56 percent in the first half but UCLA (23-11) had a commanding 20-10 advantage on the boards. The Bruins had nine offensive rebounds and six second chance points while the Gators didn't get an offensive board.
Easy baskets inside and putbacks enabled UCLA to hang close despite making just one 3-pointer in the opening 20 minutes and getting little bench help (two points from anyone other than a starter).
The two teams traded small leads in the opening half. There were eight lead changes and neither team led by more than four. Boynton hit a 3-pointer to put the Gators up 33-29 late in the first half. Florida led just 35-33 at the break.
Macklin picked up two early fouls defending Smith. The 320-pound center scored the Bruins' first six points but was shut out the rest of the first half.
The second half was more of the same: the Bruins holding the ball and waiting for a chance to pound the ball inside. Florida managed to get a little bit of breathing space when Boynton and Erik Murphy hit 3-pointers to pull ahead 61-55.
But UCLA hung in and UF lost Boynton with just over four minutes to go with an ankle injury. He later returned.
It was Walker who then took matters into his own hands. He got a 3-pointer, then made one of two foul shots with 3:20 left to put the Gators up 64-60. After a Bruins turnover, Macklin got a bucket inside to make it a six-point lead.
UCLA's Tyler Honeycutt hit a 3-pointer and Smith scored inside to cut the margin to 66-65 with 1:30 remaining, but Walker answered again. He hit a huge three to push the lead back to 68-65 with 1:11 left.
Honeycutt missed another shot behind the arc and Walker was fouled with 32.8 seconds left and converted again to put the game out of reach.
