ARLINGTON, Texas — It's on to the Elite Eight, again.
Florida
sent Florida Gulf Coast University back to “Dunk City,” overcoming some
shaky early moments to knock off the 15th-seeded Eagles 62-50 before
40,640 at Cowboys Stadium.
The crowd, which included former Gator
center Joakim Noah and former UF wide receiver David Nelson, watched
Florida hold an opponent under 60 points for the 25th time this season.
Florida
(29-7) advanced to the Elite Eight for the third straight season. The
third-seeded Gators will face fourth-seeded Michigan (29-7), which beat
Kansas 87-85 in overtime. The Wolverines rallied back from an 11-point
deficit late in the second half to pull off the upset against the
top-seeded Jayhawks. The start time will be 2:20 p.m. on Sunday on CBS.
Senior
guard Mike Rosario led Florida with 15 points, with Scottie Wilbekin
adding 13 points and Casey Prather scoring 11 points off the bench.
Florida also got a big lift defensively off the bench from Will Yeguete,
who finished with two points, four rebounds and four steals.
Up
30-26 at halftime, Florida started the second half on a 7-0 run, going
ahead 37-26 on a drive in the lane from Rosario. From there, Florida
maintained its lead. The Gators also did an excellent job on the boards,
outrebounding Florida Gulf Coast 35-28 and scoring 16 second-chance
points.
But knocking out the Cinderella story Eagles wasn't easy.
With a torrid start from the floor, FGCU built an early 15-4 lead. The
Eagles hit 5 of their first 6 shot attempts, including back-to-back
3-pointers from Bernard Thompson and Chase Fieler.
The Gators
struggled early from the field early, making just 2 of their first 8
attempts and 4 of their first 20. Two of Florida's first three baskets
came on putbacks. The Gators tried to pound the ball inside to Patric
Young and Erik Murphy, but failed to convert around the basket.
Casey
Prather provided a lift for the Gators with a dunk in transition, and a
Mike Rosario 3-pointer cut FGCU's lead to 21-14. Murphy then decked
FGCU guard Christophe Varidel behind the 3-point line, picking up his
second foul.
But after Varidel made all three free throws to put
FGCU up 24-14, the Gators answered with a 16-0 run. Freshman guard
Michael Frazier II started the run with back-to-back 3-pointers, then
Prather followed with a putback to cut FGCU's lead to 24-22. Scottie
Wilbekin followed with a jumper in the lane to tie the score at 24 and
Florida took its first lead of the half, 27-24, on a Rosario 3-pointer.
Kenny
Boynton's three-point play off a loose ball scramble put Florida up
30-24 with 56.8 seconds left in the first half. But a putback from FGCU
guard Sherwood Brown cut Florida's lead to 30-26 at halftime.
Florida
shot 34.4 percent from the field in the first half, but was strong on
the offensive boards. The Gators scored 11 second-chance points in the
first half and outrebounded FGCU 16-14. Florida also outscored FGCU 11-8
off turnovers.
