The Florida Gators left two things behind Sunday night at the Carrier Dome:
An experienced, senior-dominated Oklahoma State basketball team that was no match for their quickness, their withering press or their abundance of young talent.
Absolutely no doubt.
No doubt that they deserve to be “moving on” (a favorite Gator expression) to Indianapolis for next weekend’s Final Four.
In knocking off Butler, Illinois and top-seeded Duke before rolling over the Cowboys on Sunday 77-65 in the finals of the NCAA East Regional in front of 30,388 fans, the Gators again showed their skeptics that age really is only a state of mind.
“Are we tired of everybody reminding us how young we are?” said sophomore guard Teddy Dupay? “No question, man.”
Are the Gators tired of reading that they start three sophomores, a freshman and a junior–as if that should mean something?
No question, man.
“It doesn’t matter how young we are,” said sophomore forward Mike Miller, who led the Gators (28-7) with 14 points and was named the regional’s outstanding player. “We’ve all been playing basketball a long time. I’ve been playing it 20 years. We’re a great basketball team when we play hard and execute.”
The Gators hung the Cowboys–except for the opening two minutes and a brief drought midway through the second half. OSU (27-7) put together an 11-2 run to climb within 56-53 with eight minutes to go, but Florida answered that charge and more.
Down 7-2, the Gators’ first big run (16-4) quickly established who was in charge. A three-pointer and a layup by Miller and a stuff by Kenyan Weaks were part of a seven-point streak in a 50-second span that put Florida up 30-18.
“Early, it looked like our team was in a daze,” said Oklahoma State coach Eddie Sutton. “We weren’t very aggressive defensively, we did a poor job on the boards and I looked up at the 10-minute mark and they had 27, 28 points and I said to the guys, `They’re going to get 100 if we don’t slow down.'”
The Gators’ full-court press didn’t baffle the Cowboys as much as it made them rush what they wanted to do. “Yes, it sped us up,” said OSU point guard Doug Gottleib. “They run at you in waves and have a system they believe in and sometimes you get the shots you normally get but they’re out of rhythm.”
Behind Glendon Alexander with 13 points, Joe Adkins with 12 and center Fredrik Jonzen, with a team-high 14 points and seven rebounds, Oklahoma State got within 43-31 at the half. But Udonis Haslem (10 points), Dupay and Brent Wright helped Florida build its lead to 50-33 early in the second half before OSU figured out a solution.
Dictating a half-court game on offense, forcing turnovers in the lane at the other end and capitalizing on Florida’s decision to briefly call off the press, Oklahoma State crept within 56-53 before Gator coach Billy Donovan sent his weary first string back in.
“I was really concerned today–not about the mental part, but about the physical part,” said Donovan. “Would we be able to play our style and keep Oklahoma State from turning it into a half-court game? I thought our kids showed a tremendous amount of character when they made their run. With about eight minutes left we had nothing left. We just gutted it out.”
Young? The roster sheet says so. But look a little harder and there’s no missing the cocky little chip the Gators carry have on their shoulders.
Florida will face North Carolina in the NCAA semifinals Saturday.
“They’re a scary basketball team,” Miller said dryly, “so we’ve got to remain focused. We’re still not done with what we came here to do.”
