On a day where Florida didn’t bring their best effort, some timely buckets down the stretch helped steer the Gators past UConn into the Sweet 16 with a 77-75 win.
Florida shot a paltry 64.7% from the free throw line, and had as many turnovers (12) as they did assists. But Walter Clayton Jr. buried several key 3-pointers down the stretch to help the 1 seed Gators eliminate the Huskies, ending their bid for a threepeat in the process.
Dan Hurley’s squad had a tumultuous season, where the coach was frequently clashing with fans and media alike. However, their championship pedigree was undeniable as they bounced Oklahoma 67-59 in the first round, and gave top seeded Florida everything they could handle on Sunday.
Seeking to become the first team to win three national championships in a row since the fabled John Wooden led UCLA teams in the early 70’s, UConn led for the first 17 minutes of the 2nd half at PNC Arena. However, some costly turnovers, and sloppy play led to fast break points, dunks off missed free throws, and a pair of Clayton Jr. three’s which ultimately did them in.
The Gators would use an 8-0 run late to pull away and put UConn into foul, and pray mode for the final minute of play.
Heading into the matchup, Hurley praised Florida’s roster construction, citing their wings as an area that UConn would need to focus on if they hoped to win. “The bigs, it reminds me of kind of what we had with Sanogo and Clingan and Samson Johnson these last couple years where they just keep trotting out big, skilled, tenacious two-way players that are all over the glass,” Hurley said. “They’ve got a lot of depth on the perimeter, and they’re old. I mean, they’ve got a lot of great pieces.”
And for most of the game, it appeared as though the Huskies’ pregame scouting report was being executed flawlessly. Florida looked disjointed, had trouble switching on defence, and had to work for every point they got. Something few would have predicted based on how UConn’s season had gone, and the Gators’ double digit spread heading into the game.
Unfortunately, the Huskies “live by the 3, die by the 3” approach on offence hamstrung them in the waning minutes of the game. Shooting an uncharacteristic 8 for 29 (27.6%) from beyond the arc, UConn couldn’t find their rhythm from range. Overall, they took 24 more shots on the day than the Gators (93-69), but couldn’t get enough shots to drop to come away with the upset victory.
Florida will now face the winner of Colorado State vs. Maryland with a trip to the Elite 8 on the line on Thursday.
Photo: Blervis. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.