Florida ends upstart FGCU’s run

By STEPHEN HAWKINS

Associated Press

ARLINGTON, Texas — Florida Gulf Coast put on one last show at the NCAA tournament.

The high-flying kids from “Dunk City” — the No. 15 seed few people even knew of on Selection Sunday — were hitting 3-pointers, had a highlight alley-oop and seemed like they were just getting started against one of the big schools from Florida.

SEC regular-season champion Florida, the No. 3 seed, was getting an all-too-close look at what everybody has enjoyed watching this March. But Michael Frazier’s only two baskets of the night got the Gators on their own run, and FGCU’s improbable NCAA tourney run to the round of 16 came to an end just before midnight Friday.

Frazier’s 3-pointers came from the left side, directly in front of the FGCU bench, to start a 16-0 run late in the first half. That put the Gators ahead to stay on the way to a 62-50 victory.

“Stepping into a situation like this where you have everybody against us, we’ve got to block everything out. Just treat this like a road game,” said Mike Rosario, who led the Gators with 15 points. “I thought we did a great job of blocking everything out and focusing on the next play.”

Florida is going to its third straight NCAA regional final, even after the Eagles jumped out to an early 11-point lead. The Gators (29-7) and their roster filled with NCAA tourney experience were just too strong and too good. FGCU matched its season low for points.

Once Frazier hit his shots, things just rolled downhill for the Eagles (26-11), whose program is so new they were only in their second season of eligibility for the tournament. The baskets started a 4½-minute span when the Eagles couldn’t even get off a shot. They missed their only field goal attempt while turning the ball over four times in that stretch.

The slump finally ended when Sherwood Brown, the Eagles dreadlocked senior showman, made a layup in the final minute to get Florida Gulf Coast back within 30-26 by halftime.

“When they started their run, we didn’t have the energy we had in the other two games,” said Eagles forward Chase Fieler. “We weren’t playing with the same fire we were before.”

FGCU players walked down the steps off the raised court at Cowboys Stadium at the break with their heads down — much different from the team that looked so loose and ready for a good time after an early 11-0 run — similar to extended spurts they had in upsetting No. 2 seed Georgetown and No. 7 seed San Diego State.

The Gators play Michigan in the South Regional final at Cowboys Stadium on Sunday. They are trying to get to their first NCAA Final Four since consecutive national championships in 2006 and 2007.

Michigan overcame a 14-point deficit earlier Friday and beat No. 1 seed Kansas 87-85 in overtime.

After the Gators turned up the defensive pressure, the most fun team this side of the Harlem Globetrotters was suddenly having a lot fewer laughs. Those spectacular dunks and alley-oops weren’t there and Florida forced 20 turnovers.

FGCU heads back to Fort Myers (aka Dunk City), where they have man-made lakes and a beach on campus, having given the tournament a blast of fresh air while its players were just having a blast. The south Florida state school also got about the best free publicity its administrators could ever hope for.

“It was great to see the excitement across the country with the underdog and it’s just a real feeling when you’re the underdog and you’re the talk of the nation,” FGCU coach Andy Enfield said. “Our plan wasn’t to become some great national story. Our plan was to go in and compete and win games. It was unbelievable to see the excitement and passion of not only our local community, the students, but also the national level.

“Our players believed, and they accomplished something special.”

Scottie Wilbekin added 13 points for Florida and Casey Prather 11.

Brown led FGCU with 14 points, and Fieler had 12.

Fieler started the Eagles’ big run, the only one they’d have, with a 3-pointer from the top of the key before a few plays of the sort that earned them their “Dunk City” moniker.

After Brett Comer stole a pass, he ran down the court and threw up an alley-oop pass for the trailing Brown, who delivered a slam that sent the announced crowd of more than 40,000 into a frenzy — except for those in Gator orange.

Comer then flipped another backward pass to Bernard Thompson for a 3-pointer. Then Fieler had another 3-pointer — less than 3 minutes after the first one — for a 15-4 lead only six minutes into the game.

Could the first No. 15 seed to make it into the round of 16 actually go further?

Not against Florida, the team that had been here so many times before. The FGCU run came too early, leaving the Gators plenty of time to recover.

After Frazier’s second 3, Enfield angrily called timeout. But that didn’t stop the Gators surge.

Rosario knocked away a pass inside to Eric McKnight, sending the break the other way. Casey Prather grabbed an offensive rebound, and with his back to the basket, basically flipped the ball over his head — and it went in.

McKnight missed two free throws after that, and Wilbekin penetrated for a short jumper to tie the game at 24. Rosario hit a go-ahead 3-pointer after a steal by Will Yeguete.

Eddie Murray had a steal for Florida Gulf Coast, but Patric Young took it right back and got it to Boynton. He made the layup while being fouled, and added the free throw for a 30-24 lead.

The Eagles has 12 turnovers in the first half — one less than they had in each of their first two NCAA tourney games. They had taken only half as many shots (32-16) as Florida at the break.

There was still 10 minutes left on the halftime clock when FGCU returned to the court, and players started taking shots even as their mascot was on the court doing a halftime routine.

But Florida scored the first seven points of the second half. Boynton drove for a layup and was fouled before making the free throw. Rosario then drove for a shot off the glass and after another FGCU turnover had a floater that rattled in before Enfield called timeout with his team suddenly down 37-26.

But they never threatened and soon their NCAA run was over.