The No. 15 Florida Gulf Coast Eagles' magical run came to an end Friday. The No. 3 Florida Gators won, 62-50, to advance to the Elite Eight for the third year in a row.
NCAA Tournament 2013 scores, Florida vs. Florida Gulf Coast: Gators defeat Eagles, 62-50
Florida ended FGCU’s Cinderella run and moves on to the Elite Eight for the third year in a row.
FGCU appeared to be in control of this game early, using a 15-4 run with their usual array of dunks and three pointers. However, Florida quickly clamped down on defense and started to wake up on offense. They ended the first half with a 19-3 run while the Eagles went nearly seven minutes without a field goal. They were also sloppy with the ball, giving up 13 turnovers and eight steals in the first half alone. The Gators went into halftime up, 30-26.
In the second half, Florida continued to pull away, building a double-digit lead. They let the Eagles hang around for a while, but FGCU never came within seven points again. In the end, Florida was just too big and athletic for the Atlantic Sun champions to handle.
Florida ran away with the game despite shooting only 37.5 percent from the floor. The big difference was in ball control; FGCU gave up 19 turnovers and 10 steals, and had sloppy passing all night.
Mike Rosario led the Gators with 15 points and Scottie Wilbekin added 13. Sherwood Brown scored 14 points and grabbed six rebounds to lead the Eagles.
Florida will go on to play Michigan in the South regional final.
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