The three-seed Florida Gators (29-8) collapsed in their most important game of the season on Sunday as they got routed 79-59 by the four-seed Michigan Wolverines (30-7) in the Elite Eight of the 2013 NCAA Tournament at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, TX. After the game, head coach Billy Donovan and a number of his players met with the media to discuss what transpired in their failed Final Four bid.

OPENING STATEMENT

“They capitalized on our turnovers. I thought we dug ourselves a hole very early in the game. … I think in the first half we missed 11 shots within three feet of the basket. They got off to a hot start and us not being able to manufacture enough points I thought really, really dug us a hole. I thought we got the ball where we wanted to go. … But I thought our guys – to start the second half came out – we battled, we fought, but we hurt ourselves with the way we played. … I just didn’t think that we did enough things there on both ends of the floor. I thought our defense in the second half was a little bit more characteristic of the way we’ve played this year. I thought our offense in a lot of ways, because we had some very, very, I thought, good quality looks deflated us around the basket. Especially against a team that’s not a great shot blocking team.”

THIRD TIME IS NOT A CHARM

Florida became the first team in NCAA Tournament history (since the field expanded to 64 teams) to lose three-straight times in the Elite Eight. Yet while the Gators did drop the game, they did not even have the opportunity to choke it away like the previous two years because UF never led at any point in the game. In fact, once Michigan opened the contest on a 13-0 run, Florida never trailed by fewer than 11 points over the duration of the contest. It is for that reason why Donovan was not emotional after the game.

“This is a totally different feel than the last two. The last two to me we gave ourselves every opportunity to win,” he explained.

“The Butler game was an overtime game, the Louisville game was a two point game. This one we didn’t play well enough or deserve to win the game. Michigan deserved this game. They played better than us. They performed better. They did things that were necessary to beat us. The other two games I was heartbroken for our team because we were really, really close. We weren’t that close here [Sunday].”

Asked how, as a coach, it felt to lose in three-straight Elite Eights and not advance to the Final Four, Donovan brushed off those concerns. “Well, it’s not really about me. I’ve been fortunate enough to be there as a player and several times as a coach,” he said. “I feel more upset for [Kenny] Boynton, [Mike] Rosario and [Erik] Murphy, [guys] who don’t get a chance and have come so close. I’ve experienced the Final Four enough. I want our program to continue to experience it and our players.”

To their credit, the players also took the loss relatively well all things considering. Boynton kept his chin up about the situation, expressing his regrets but also his appreciation for what his teammates and coach have done for him.

Continue Reading » 3/31: Florida vs. Michigan post-game report

Tags: Big Ten, Billy Donovan, Cowboys Stadium, Elite Eight, Erik Murphy, Kenny Boynton, Michigan Wolverines, Mike Rosario, NCAA, NCAA Tournament, Patric Young, Scottie Wilbekin, Sweet 16

Location: Cowboys Stadium – Arlington, TX [Capacity: 42,614]
Time: 2:20 p.m. EDT

TV: CBS (Marv Albert, Steve Kerr, Craig Sager)
SiriusXM: 91 | Radio: Gator Radio Network [Affiliates]
Online Video: NCAA.com | Mobile Video: NCAA March Madness Live
Live Updates: @OnlyGators on Twitter and SportsYapper app

Odds: Florida -3 | O/U 135

PRE-GAME READING MATERIAL

» Notes & Quotes: Florida and Michigan prepare for Elite Eight

HISTORY / STREAKS / STATS

» Florida is 31-10 in 13 NCAA Tournaments under Donovan and has reached at least the Elite Eight in five of the last eight (two national titles). The Gators advanced to the Elite Eight for the third-straight year with a 62-50 win over FGCU on Friday. Florida has lost consecutive Elite Eights and, should it lose on Sunday, would be the first team in the history of the tournament to drop three-straight regional finals since the event expanded to 64 teams. The Gators have not advanced to the Final Four since 2007.
» Donovan’s 31 NCAA Tournament victories are the most by any SEC coach.
» UF Is looking for its third 30-win season in school history.
» Florida is 1-1* all-time against Michigan with Donovan holding a 1-0 mark. He is also 9-8 against current members of the Big Ten (4-2 in the NCAA Tournament). [*Vacated]
» The Wolverines are in their third-straight NCAA Tournament but are making their first Elite Eight appearance since 1994. Michigan has not been in the Final Four since 1993*. [*Final Four appearances in 1992 and 1993 were vacated. UM has not been back to the round, according to the record books, since 1989.]
» Florida is 54-7 since the beginning of the 2011-12 season when holding opponents under 71 points in a game (28-6 in 2012-13).
» The Gators and Wolverines each have four starters that average in double figures with Michigan having two that average 14.8 points per game or more. No one on Florida averages more than 12.6 points per contest.
» UF is 4-1 against top-25 opponents this season after going 3-5 against ranked adversaries last season with all five losses coming to top-three teams.
» Florida is 0-6 this season in single-digit decisions while UM is 8-6 (2-1 in overtime).
» The Gators are ranked first nationally in scoring margin (+18.1), third in scoring defense (53.7), seventh in field goal defense (.379), 13th in field goal percentage (.480), 18th in three-pointers per game (8.3) and 24th in assist-turnover ratio (1.32). Florida is also seventh nationally in fouling (14.1) and 214th in free throw percentage (.681).
» The Wolverines are first nationally in assist-turnover ratio (1.55), sixth in field goal percentage (.486), 12th in scoring margin (+12.4) and 23rd in scoring offense (75.4) and three-point percentage (.381). Michigan is also second nationally in fouling (12.7) and 13rth in free throw percentage (.705).

Read the rest of the Florida-Michigan gameday preview…after the break!
Continue Reading » NCAA Tournament Gameday: (3) Florida Gators vs. (4) Michigan Wolverines

Tags: Big Ten, Billy Donovan, John Beilein, Kenny Boynton, Michigan Wolverines, Mike Rosario, Mitch McGary, NCAA, NCAA Tournament, Patric Young, Scottie Wilbekin, SEC, Trey Burke

The three-seed Florida Gators (29-7) advanced to the Elite Eight of the 2013 NCAA Tournament and will face the (4) Michigan Wolverines (29-7) on Sunday at 2:20 p.m. live on CBS from Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, TX. On Saturday, both coaches and their players met with the media to discuss the upcoming showdown.

AVOIDING A THIRD-STRAIGHT LOSS IN THE ELITE EIGHT

Florida’s accomplish of reaching three-straight Elite Eights certainly should not be overlooked, but the Gators also face the possibility of being the first team in NCAA history (since the tournament expanded to at least 64 teams) of falling in the round three years in a row. Asked Saturday if the experience of those losses will benefit Florida this time around, Donovan somewhat dismissed the notion.

“The opportunity, I think these guys are all excited about it and I’m excited for them to be back in this position again. It’s a different opponent than we’ve had the last two years. It’s a great opportunity. I’m not so sure what we take from those situations that could really help us get prepared for Michigan,” he said.

“This game stands on itself. It’s got its own separate identity as itself. It’s in the moment. It’s now. It’s here. It’s present. I think these guys have been in this situation. They’ve worked very, very hard to get here, but they also know when you get into this situation it’s a great, great challenge. And you cannot play 20 or 25 or 30 minutes, you’re going to have to play a whole complete game. I believe when you get to this point in the time in the season there’s eight teams left, these eight teams are playing very, very good basketball. And in these moments you’ve also got to play very well.”

Junior center Patric Young, a freshman during the Gators’ first Elite Eight loss in 2011, echoed his coach’s sentiments but said the heartbreak will only further motivate Florida.

Continue Reading » 3/30: Florida and Michigan prepare for Elite Eight

Tags: Big Ten, Billy Donovan, Cowboys Stadium, Elite Eight, Erik Murphy, John Beilein, Kenny Boynton, Mike Rosario, Mitch McGary, NCAA, NCAA Tournament, Patric Young, SEC, Trey Burke

Location: Cowboys Stadium – Arlington, TX [Capacity: 42,614]
Time: 9:57 p.m. EDT

TV: TBS (Marv Albert, Steve Kerr, Craig Sager)
SiriusXM: 93/191 | Radio: Gator Radio Network [Affiliates]
Online Video: NCAA.com | Mobile Video: NCAA March Madness Live
Live Updates: @OnlyGators on Twitter and SportsYapper app

Odds: Florida -14 | O/U 136.5

PRE-GAME READING MATERIAL

» Story: While FGCU soaked up praise, Florida worked on getting better in Dallas
» Notes & Quotes: Florida and FGCU prepare for Sweet 16
» Notes & Quotes: Odds and ends from Florida Gators in Texas

HISTORY / STREAKS / STATS

» Florida is 30-10 in 13 NCAA Tournaments under Donovan and has reached at least the Elite Eight in four of the last seven (two national titles). The Gators advanced to the Sweet 16 for the third-straight year with a 78-64 win over Minnesota on Sunday. Florida advanced to the Elite Eight in each of its last five appearances in the Sweet 16. The Gators have not fallen in the Sweet 16 round of the tournament since 1999.
» UF is 1-0 all-time against FGCU (94-60 on Dec. 8, 2010).
» The Eagles (2-0) are currently the only undefeated team in NCAA Tournament history. FGCU is also the first 15-seed to win two games and advance to the Sweet 16.
» Enfield (as an assistant at Florida State) was 3-2 against Donovan in his five-year stint with Florida’s in-state rival.
» Florida is 53-7 since the beginning of the 2011-12 season when holding opponents under 71 points in a game (27-6 in 2012-13).
» The Gators have four starters that average in double figures, while the Eagles have three including two that average more than 14.5 points per game.
» UF is 4-1 against top-25 opponents this season after going 3-5 against ranked adversaries last season with all five losses coming to top-three teams.
» Florida is 0-6 this season in single-digit decisions while FGCU is 9-3.
» The Gators are ranked first nationally in scoring margin (+18.2), third in scoring defense (53.8), fifth in field goal defense (.378), eighth in field goal percentage (.482), 14th in three-pointers per game (8.4) and 24th in assist-turnover ratio (1.32). Florida is also eighth nationally in fouling (14.2) and 214th in free throw percentage (.681).
» The Eagles are 15th nationally in steals per game (9.0). FGCU is also 225th nationally in free throw percentage (.677).

Read the rest of the Florida-FGCU gameday preview…after the break!
Continue Reading » NCAA Tournament Gameday: (3) Florida Gators vs. (15) Florida Gulf Coast Eagles

Tags: Andy Enfield, Billy Donovan, Brett Comer, Cowboys Stadium, Florida Gulf Coast Eagles, Kenny Boynton, Scottie Wilbekin

1 » If you think junior point guard Scottie Wilbekin winding up as a member of the Florida Gators was part of some well-orchestrated plan by head coach Billy Donovan, think again. In this feature on Wilbekin written by USA Today’s Nicole Auerbach, his father reveals that the idea of his son skipping his senior year of high school basically came up on a whim. Luckily for the Gators, Wilbekin joined the team at just the right time and is now a driving force for Florida’s defense as well as its offense as it looks to advance past the Sweet 16 on Friday.

2 » Though OGGOA has taken an extensive look at the college career of redshirt senior guard Mike Rosario, we have not had the opportunity to delve much into what happened before he arrived at Florida as a transfer three years ago. The Newark Star-Ledger’s Matthew Stanmyre penned this feature on Rosario, which notes the impact the has made at the Boys & Girls Club in Jersey City (there is now “an entire bulletin board at the Boys Club devoted to Rosario [filled with] pictures of him” from different points in his career). It also looks at the special relationship he has with assistant coach Rashon Burno whose pictures Rosario used to look at on a similar bulletin board in the Boys Club while growing up. Rosario scored a UF career-high 25 points in the Gators’ round of 32 victory and looks to continue his top-notch play for Florida in the Sweet 16.

3 » Earlier this week, junior center Patric Young spoke with The Gainesville Sun’s Kevin Brockway about his issues on the free throw line. Young, who is now shooting 50.4 percent from the charity stripe this season, was 5-for-6 (.833) from the line last Sunday after going 10-for-27 (.370) over the previous four games. “Your brain can’t tell the difference between don’t miss and miss,” he said. “So if you tell yourself don’t – I have so many different things going through my head, don’t miss, don’t airball, don’t shoot it too hard. My brain is telling me to do those things and it was a big reason why I was struggling.” He continued: “It’s just a matter of my confidence going up there. It felt pretty good knocking down some pretty clutch free throws [on Sunday].”

4 » Fans of the Gators and Florida Gulf Coast Eagles participated in a student spirit segment that aired on NBC‘s TODAY early Friday morning following a feature that was mostly about FGCU’s Cinderella run in the 2013 NCAA Tournament. Check out the clip below for the segment from TODAY. By the angle of the camera, it is pretty easy to tell which team had more fans up at the crack of dawn for the shoot.

Tags: Billy Donovan, Florida Gulf Coast Eagles, Mike Rosario, NCAA, NCAA Tournament, Patric Young, Rashon Burno, Scottie Wilbekin, Sweet 16

The three-seed Florida Gators (28-7) advanced to the Sweet 16 of the 2013 NCAA Tournament and will face the (15) Florida Gulf Coast Eagles (26-10) on Friday at 9:57 p.m. live on TBS from Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, TX. On Thursday, both coaches and their players met with the media to discuss Friday’s showdown.

FAMILIARITY MAKES MATCH-UP EVEN BETTER

While on the surface it looks like Florida and FGCU would have no reason to know much about one another, the relationship between the head coaches makes the Gators and Eagles a more intimate match-up than most realize.

In fact, Billy Donovan and Andy Enfield are so familiar with each other that the two discussed running a scrimmage between their teams before the season began, something that obviously did not come to fruition.

“Andy had called me wanting to try to get together to scrimmage. At that time, we were looking at a couple options. They were one,” Donovan explained. “One of the things that I was really looking at as a coach going into our scrimmage was our first game of the year was against Georgetown. Just going against that Princeton style of play – and also having Air Force on our schedule as well – that’s a unique system and style of play that you don’t normally see. At that time, I decided that we needed to play against Rollins in the scrimmage to get us prepared for the Georgetown game.”

Donovan said that as part of the conversation, Enfield bragged about his team and said he expected them to have much-improved chemistry in their third year.

“I know in talking to Andy on the phone, I’m not one bit surprised of the year they’ve had because when I had a conversation with him, he was telling me how really good they were and how special he thought his team could be and that he had a lot of really good players and they were going to have a really good year,” Donovan said. “What they’ve done up to this point in time hasn’t surprised me just based on my conversation with him back in early September and October.”

Enfield is especially familiar with Florida – the team and its players – considering the job he held prior to taking over the FGCU program.

“I was an assistant at Florida State for five years. We played Florida every year. I got to see Coach Donovan, his brilliance, and see what a great coach he was as we prepared for the team,” Enfield said. “He makes adjustments during the year, during the season and even during the game. He’s as good a coach as I’ve ever seen. And the players, I know them personally because I recruited a lot of them while I was at Florida State. They’re terrific young men. I know their families. It’s very ironic that we’re playing Florida in the Sweet 16. I blame this on the Selection Committee. This should be a Final Four game, not a Sweet 16 game. [Laughing]”

GATORS NOT UNDERESTIMATING THE UNDERDOG

Florida is not heading into Friday’s game looking at their opponent as a high seed lucky to have advanced this far. Instead, the Gators see the Eagles as a formidable opponent and have been planning for them as such.

Continue Reading » 3/28: Florida and FGCU prepare for Sweet 16

Tags: Andy Enfield, Billy Donovan, Cowboys Stadium, Erik Murphy, Florida Gulf Coast Eagles, Kenny Boynton, Mike Rosario, NCAA, NCAA Tournament, Patric Young, Scottie Wilbekin, Sweet 16

The three-seed Florida Gators and 15-seed Florida Gulf Coast Eagles have been rightfully contrasted in a myriad of ways but what is most pertinent to Friday’s Sweet 16 showdown at Cowboys Stadium is how the teams have been preparing for the game since the first weekend of 2013 NCAA Tournament action concluded last Sunday.

After making history as the first 15-seed in the history of the tournament to advance past the round of 32, the Eagles immediately returned to home to a huge ovation from a student body that may not have known it had a basketball team a week ago. Florida Gulf Coast’s campus was swarmed with local and national media and the team complied with most requests by making its coaching staff and players available to all comers. There was also a now-infamous pep really held as the newly-passionate students chanted an expletive at their upcoming opponents on national television.

“It’s been overwhelming,” head coach Andy Enfield said on Thursday, “but we’ve been trying to do everything we can as a team, as a program, to not only handle the media requests but to promote the program and the school itself. And our players have done an amazing job of that.”

“We took Monday off,” he continued, “and it took us a day and a half to recover mentally and physically. So Tuesday’s practice was just OK. [Wednesday] was better and [Thursday] was better. But it’s all business now. We have a game [Friday] to play. And I’m very appreciative of the job the media has done. We’ve met some terrific people over the last week and a half, two weeks. And I really give the media credit for being so enthusiastic and professional on their coverage of us.”

Continue Reading » While FGCU soaked up well-deserved praise, Florida worked on getting better in Dallas

Tags: Andy Enfield, Billy Donovan, Cowboys Stadium, Erik Murphy, Florida Gulf Coast Eagles, Kenny Boynton, Mike Rosario, NCAA, NCAA Tournament, Sweet 16

After coming out of the first weekend of the 2013 NCAA Tournament with two big wins, the three-seed Florida Gators chose to remain in Texas – travelling from Austin, TX to Arlington, TX on Monday – rather than fly home only to be forced to fly back out a few days later. Head coach Billy Donovan has participated in two media availabilities since then and the team has been doing plenty of work on and off the court as well. Here are a few odds and ends that would not fit into some of the other posts here on OGGOA.

» Former Florida center Joakim Noah will be in attendance on Friday. The Chicago Bulls happen to be playing against the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday afternoon, so Noah will be in town and able to attend the Sweet 16 game.

» The Gators had a pair of celebrity visitors as guests in practice this week as Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle took in the team’s first workout on Tuesday and Texas Rangers catcher A.J. Pierzynski wound up in Cowboys Stadium on Thursday to watch the team’s shootaround. Pierzynski is a life-long UF fan.

» Donovan and Carlisle were both members of the 1987-88 New York Knicks though both were just bench players on the team. Also on that squad? Sidney Green, the father of former Florida point guard Taurean Green. Donovan and Carlisle also played with Patrick Ewing, Kenny “Sky” Walker, Bill Cartwright, Gerald Henderson, Mark Jackson and Gerald Wilkins among others. Donovan and his Gators coaching staff actually went out for dinner with Carlisle and his assistants when Florida got into town on Monday. The Gators then went to the Mavericks game on on Tuesday and saw Dallas pull off an exciting 109-102 win over the Los Angeles Clippers.

» According to Florida Today’s David Jones, junior forward Will Yeguete had been approached in the past to leave Florida early to play professional basketball in France. He declined. “Not happening. My parents want me to graduate,” he said.

» Students from Florida and Florida Gulf Coast will be featured on NBC’s The Today Show on Friday morning. There will be a live spirit competition between the students on a split screen. Gators fans should wear orange, blue and gear with the team logo and arrive at Gate 1 of the Stephen C. O’Connell Center at 6:30 a.m. sharp. The segment will air on NBC at approximately 7:15 a.m.

» Senior guard Kenny Boynton on trying to get to the Final Four after consecutive losses in the Elite Eight: “Basically you need to remember, but you don’t think about it. We remember the pain it caused for us last year. I think we used it to learn for the next few games. We’ve been close, and our goal is to get further this year.”

» Donovan on being forced to suspend junior point guard Scottie Wilbekin before the first game of the season: “I’ll never forget this. It was one of the most heartbreaking things I have ever experienced as a coach when I told him in my office, ‘We’re not taking you on this trip. You’re not playing.’ And all of our team is on the bus and we’re driving to Jacksonville. And he’s got his book bag over his shoulder and our bus is leaving and he’s walking down past our facility to walk back to his dorm. He’s obviously very emotional and he’s crying. I think those kinds of events sometimes really change you. … I think there’s no question that situation with Scottie helped him.”

Continue Reading » Odds and ends from Florida Gators in Texas

Tags: A.J. Pierzynski, Billy Donovan, Cowboys Stadium, John Pelphrey, Kenny Boynton, Matt McCall, NCAA, NCAA Tournament, Scottie Wilbekin, Will Yeguete