It was billed as a battle of contrasting styles but in
the end the University of Florida had too many options and moved on to the
third round of the NCAA Tournament with a decisive 71-45 victory over Virginia.
Brad Beal registered a double-double with 14 points and
12 rebounds and the Gators (24-10) who hit 72.7 percent from the floor in the
second half, taking a game that was tight early and turning it into a blowout. Casey
Prather came up with a career outing, scoring 14 points and grabbing four
rebounds while Patric Young had 13 points and 7 rebounds.
The Gators compensated for a rough day shooting beyond the
arc – just 4-23 – by hitting an eye-popping 24-30 shots from two-point range.
Florida will next face the winner of No. 2-seed Missouri
vs. No. 15-seed Norfolk State on Sunday (time TBA).
The Cavaliers (22-10) jumped out to a 10-2 lead but it
was all Gators after that, as Florida closed out the first half on a 28-12 run
to take a 30-22 lead into the locker room.
Neither team shot well in the first half, as the Gators
went just 1-15 on 3-point attempts but overcame that by hitting 11-15 on
two-point attempts.
As the second half began the Gators simply had too many
weapons and started to run away with game as the threes began to fall. After
Virginia cut the Gators’ lead to six points at 36-30 early in the second half
the Gators went on a 17-2 run and put the game away for good.
Florida outscored Virginia 41-23 over the final 20
minutes, holding Virginia to a UF NCAA Tournament record low 45 points
(previous low was 50 by South Alabama in 2006 NCAA opener).
In his breakout performance, Prather hit 6-of-7 shots and
Young was a perfect 6-6 from the floor.
