NEW YORK — Florida moved closer to a second consecutive
championship by defeating Purdue 74-67 Sunday to advance to the Sweet 16 in the
NCAA Tournament.
Juniors Al Horford and Corey Brewer each scored 17 points to
lead the Midwest Region’s top seed over Purdue, a physical team that had dreams
of an upset until the last few minutes.
"I think we knew coming into the game that it was going to
be very, very physical," said Florida coach Billy Donovan. "It probably took
our guys a little bit of time to adjust to how the game was being officiated.
"It was obvious their mentality going in was to be as
physical as possible. I thought our guys responded well. We kept our
composure."
While Florida (31-5) advanced to a third-round showdown with
Butler in the regional semifinals, second-seeded Wisconsin was stunned by
number seven Nevada Las Vegas 74-68 behind 22 points by senior guard Wendell
White.
UNLV improved to 30-6, the school’s first 30-win season
since the 1990-91 team advanced to Final Four. Next up is number three seed
Oregon, a 75-61 winner over Winthrop.
"We’re going back home and getting prepared for the Sweet
16," said Runnin’ Rebels senior forward Gaston Essengue. "We’re going to show
people we can be called one of the best teams in the country."
Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan lamented his team’s failure to
capitalize on a 16-2 second half-rally that saw the Badgers recover from a
12-point halftime deficit.
"We had our runs, they had their runs," he said. "The one
that really hurt us was when we went up five and let the momentum get away from
us. They hit some tough shots."
Kevin Kruger was shooting just 1-of-15 in the NCAAs–including
1-of-7 Sunday–when he found the range. He tied it with a 3, then hit another to
give the Runnin’ Rebels the lead with just under six minutes left.
"Coming off my hand it felt good," Kevin Kruger said. "I
just had a little faith. I feel like I’m going to knock down the next one every
time.
Seventh-seeded UNLV (30-6) led by 12 at the half, but
Wisconsin rallied with 11 straight points. The massive run gave the Badgers a
five-point lead to the delight of their red-clad fans at the United Center.
But Kruger, who transferred from Arizona State to play his
final season for his father, Lon, delivered. After his three 3-pointers, he was
fouled on another long-range attempt and made all three free throws to make it
64-56 with a little more than three minutes left.
"I kept telling him, `You are going to make some shots,"’
said White. "He did. That’s what happened."
Wisconsin’s Kammron Taylor sank a 3-pointer and converted a
three-point play with 59 seconds to go to get the Badgers to 70-67.
Curtis Terry had a free throw and a little jumper in the
lane to give the Runnin’ Rebels a five-point cushion with 29 seconds to go.
West Region top seed Kansas whipped number eight Kentucky
88-76 to set up a match-up against Southern Illinois in the round of 16.
Sophomore forward Julian Wright scored 21 for the Jayhawks, who hit 10 of 16
from three-point range.
The 64-team tournament’s top overall seed, Florida, has
returned to form after a swoon when the Gators lost three of their final five
regular season games.
Florida, bidding to become the first team to win
back-to-back titles since Duke in 1991-92, trailed at the half 31-29 as Purdue
slowed the tempo to a crawl.
"We didn’t shoot the ball well," said Donovan. "I thought
Purdue took us out of some things offensively with their aggressiveness."
Donovan said he knew ninth-seeded Purdue (22-12) would not
back down against his squad, champion of the Southeastern Conference.
"You can take seedings at this time and throw them out," he
said. "We’re both from major conferences playing against each other. They’ve
already played against the number one team in the country, Ohio State.
"They’ve played against great competition throughout their
league (the Big Ten). So you knew coming in here that anything we were going to
do was not going to be a surprise."
Two foul shots by Brewer with six minutes left gave the
Gators a 51-49 lead and they never looked back.
"I thought our guys did a great job of finding ways to make
some plays," said Donovan. "We had to battle all the way."
Carl Landry led Purdue (22-12) with 18 points and 10
rebounds. David Teague and Chris Kramer added 14 each.
"They just made big plays," Teague said. "They capitalized
on a couple of turnovers and a couple of miscues ... and that is what champions
do: they step up and make plays down the stretch.
"That was the difference in the ball game."
Florida trailed by five points in the first half and was
down at halftime for the first time in nearly three weeks.
But the Gators slowly started to impose their will on the undersized
Boilermakers. It started with the 6-foot-10 Horford, who backed down the 6-7
Landry all game. Horford’s post presence also opened several outside shots.
