National Basketball Association
Florida 71, Virginia 45
When: 2:10 PM ET, Friday, March 16, 2012
Where: CenturyLink Center, Omaha, Nebraska
Officials:
# John Gaffney, # John Higgins, # Tim Kitts
Attendance:
N/A
By SportsDirect Inc.
Florida 71, Virginia 45: Bradley Beal and Casey Prather scored 14 points apiece, and the Gators overcame a poor shooting start to cruise past the Cavaliers in the NCAA tournament’s Round of 64 in Omaha, Neb.
Seventh-seeded Florida (24-10), the nation’s leader at 9.9 made 3-pointers per game, missed its first 13 shots from long range before Scottie Wilbekin’s 3-pointer near the end of the first half resulted in a 30-22 halftime edge.
The Gators, who will face either second-seeded Missouri or No. 15 seed Norfolk State on Sunday, finished just 4 of 23 from beyond the arc.
Tenth-seeded Virginia (22-10), one of the slowest-paced teams in the country, wasn’t any better, failing to connect from downtown until Sammy Zeglinski’s back-to-back bombs cut the lead to 36-30 early in the second half.
But that was as close as the Cavaliers got. Florida stretched its lead to 53-32 on Beal’s jumper with 9:10 to go.
Virginia normally uses a grinding defensive style to wear opponents down, but the Cavaliers’ offensive ineptitude was too much to overcome. They shot only 38.3 percent, including a 3-of-18 effort on 3-pointers.
Game Notebook: Virginia closed the season by dropping four of its final five games … Florida moved to 30-12 all-time in the NCAA tournament, including a 26-9 mark under coach Billy Donovan … The Cavaliers, making their first tournament appearance since 2007, fell to 4-8 when scoring less than 60 points.
Top Game Performances
| Virginia |
|
Florida |
|
Mike Scott 15 |
Scoring |
Bradley Beal 14 |
|
Jontel Evans 5 |
Assists |
Kenny Boynton 2 |
|
Mike Scott 6 |
Rebounds |
Bradley Beal 11 |
|
Joe Harris 3 |
Free Throws Made |
Bradley Beal 3 |
|
Mike Scott 3 |
Steals |
Kenny Boynton 2 |
|
Joe Harris 1 |
Blocks |
N/A |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| Virginia
|
45 |
38.3 |
3-18 |
6-10 |
12 |
21 |
1 |
5 |
13 |
| Florida
|
71 |
52.8 |
4-23 |
11-17 |
11 |
36 |
0 |
6 |
12 |
For more information, contact us