VILLANOVA 76, UF 65: For the fifth straight year, the Gators, a No.4 seed, don't make it out of the second round.
By ANTONYA ENGLISH, Times Staff Writer
Published March 21, 2005
NASHVILLE - David Lee refused to sit, as if taking a seat on the bench after his fifth foul really meant the end. Matt Walsh sat, in tears, as teammate Adrian Moss draped his left arm around his shoulder for comfort. Anthony Roberson sat stunned, his towel gripped within his teeth.
The Florida season was coming to an end and there was nothing they could do about it.
The list of reasons why the Gators will watch the rest of the NCAA Tournament from their living rooms is lengthy, but here's the gist: the Big Three evaporated into just Lee, the Gators got dominated inside and in the midst of a comeback, Florida fell into a seven-minute scoring drought.
Lee, the senior forward, had a game-high 20 points and 10 rebounds, but junior guards Roberson and Walsh combined to go 5-of-20 from the field and No.4 seed Florida was outscored 40-26 in the paint in a 76-65 loss to Villanova in the second round of the tournament at the Gaylord Entertainment Center on Sunday.
No.5 seed Villanova (24-7) plays No.1 North Carolina on Friday in the Sweet 16. Florida's season ends with an SEC tournament championship, a 24-8 record and a fifth straight year without making it out of the tournament's first weekend.
"I don't think there's any doubt when Roberson and Walsh struggle for us, we're going to play a game that's generally going to be close," coach Billy Donovan said. "We've been able to overcome some of their bad shooting, but what we've been able to do is rebound the basketball. ... I would say Villanova is the best rebounding team we've faced this year. So we did a good job on first-shot opportunities, but we didn't do a great job when the ball came off the rim, being able to rebound."
The pressure and quickness of Villanova's backcourt forced Florida guards into poor shots, then the poor rebounding kept the Gators from any fastbreak opportunities (UF had three points off the break). The Gators trailed by as many as 14 in the first half, but managed to outscore the Wildcats 15-8 to pull within 39-32 at halftime.
Florida opened the second half with an 11-2 run to pull within 44-43 on a Walsh 3-pointer with 16:16 remaining, but the Gators didn't score again until Walsh's 3-pointer at the 8:58 mark, making it 54-46.
"We had great momentum," Lee said. "Then we had a couple of bad possessions when we were down one, then they got a couple of breakout buckets, we fouled a few times and they went to the line and hit and that shifted the momentum back. We had some open looks that didn't fall, and we weren't able to get as many stops as we needed and it got back up to (eight) quick. Give them credit."
Villanova manhandled Florida on the boards without starting forward Curtis Sumpter, who played just 10 minutes after injuring his left knee. The Wildcats had 17 offensive rebounds, 27 on the defensive end, led by reserve Jason Fraser, who finished with 21 points and 15 rebounds.
"These are the toughest kids I've ever coached," Villanova coach Jay Wright said. "Curtis is really our leader, he's the rock. Our guys know he's the guy that makes the big plays. For him to go down and all these guys step up, it's incredible."
UF freshman Corey Brewer had 11 points, but just one rebound, and the Gators shot 38.5 percent from the field. Randy Foye had 18 and Kyle Lowry added 15 for Villanova.
After Walsh and Roberson went 6-of-28 in Friday's first-round win over Ohio, Walsh "promised" the two would have better games Sunday.
"If there was another game tomorrow, I'd tell you the same thing," said Walsh, who was 4-of-13 for 12 points. "I have all the confidence in the world in Anthony and myself. Unfortunately for our team, me and Anthony didn't shoot well and obviously that hurt us."
It was supposed to be much different this time - a tournament run with a team that could play defense, unlike previous years. Many times this season, when the offense faltered, the defense held the team together. When it counted most, it didn't come through.
"Plain and simple, man, we got dominated in this game," Moss, the redshirt junior forward, said. "I'm going to be truthful with you. We just got dominated. No sugar-coating nothing, I'm going to give it to you raw with no chaser. We got dominated. They kicked our butts in every facet of the game. They defended us, they were more physical than us, they rebounded better than us and they played better D than us. Give them guys all the credit. They've got a good ballclub over there. They've got a chance to go far."
Roberson, who hasn't decided on his future with the Gators, might have ended his career on a horrible note. The SEC's scoring leader was 4-of-23 in the two tournament games, 1-of-12 from 3-point range.
"All I can say is that shots didn't go down for me that usually go down and went down for me during the season," he said. "This was a tournament I didn't play my best basketball. I made a big play the first round to help us win, but I wish I would have come out and helped my team a little more than I did (Sunday).
"I just didn't have one of my best days, but you've got to take your hat off to Villanova. ... I think they played one of their best games."
