ARLINGTON, Texas – Florida big man Patric Young was hard on himself after the Gators lost to Connecticut back on Dec. 2. He stood in a hallway of Gampel Pavilion, surrounded by a small group of reporters, and tried to explain the series of events that led to Shabazz Napier’s winning basket in a 65-64 UConn victory.
“I think I should have tried to dive on the ball and see if I could come up with it,” Florida’s muscular center Patric Young said. “There’s nothing I can do about it now. Coach Donovan is going to address it and hopefully it’s going to help us in the long run.”
In Billy, the Gators do trust. And with good reason. Players come to Florida expecting to compete for national championships and that’s where Donovan and his players are this weekend – at the Final Four, just two wins away from a third national championship trophy under Donovan. Florida (36-2) and UConn (30-8) will stage their rematch in AT&T Stadium at 6:09 p.m. Saturday.
By the way, you may have heard, Florida hasn’t lost since that December night in Storrs.
“That early in the season, we’re all trying to get to know our team better, to see how we respond against high level competition,” Donovan said. “You’re also trying to get somewhat prepared for your league play because you know you’re going to go into some difficult places to play.”
Donovan believes Florida’s game at UConn, and a 59-53 loss at Wisconsin on Nov. 12, were “helpful to our team moving forward.” Those are the only two games Florida has lost all season and they were on the road. Of course Wisconsin has reached the Final Four as well and will play Kentucky in Saturday’s second semifinal game.
UConn coach Kevin Ollie has said repeatedly this week that there is no advantage from the recent encounter with Florida. But he knows it was a critical stepping stone for the rest of the season.
“We were playing good basketball before that win,” Ollie said. “But we have so much respect for the program of Florida and how hard we have to play to get a victory like that. It really helped going forward playing against a different scheme and playing against the [defensive] pressure that they apply each and every play. It really allowed our team to understand what level we have to play and compete to ultimately get to a Final Four.”
After the Huskies defeated Michigan State in the East Regional final, UConn guard Ryan Boatright let the world know that Ollie showed his team video of the Dec. 2 game before the NCAA tournament began.
“That tape is crazy,” Boatright said. “We were everywhere, we were helping each other [on defense]. We were closing out right and we were rebounding the basketball. So when we go out there to play them [Saturday], we’ve got to play great defense.”
Ollie decided to show the video of the Florida game as a way of getting the Huskies refocused after their 81-48 loss at Louisville on March 8.
“I just wanted our guys to see how we were rotating, how we were playing, how we were challenging them and that they can have that same experience again and play that same type of way,” Ollie said. “Florida’s No. 1. We competed at a high level against them. Don’t think that losing to Louisville that we all are going to stay here. We’re going to move on. We’re going to get better from it. I think that through struggle, you get progression. And that was a struggle for us.”
Napier not only provided the last-second dramatics in that win over Florida, he also scored 26 points. The Huskies had a hard time stopping Casey Prather (19 points) and Young (17). Point guard Scottie Wilbekin, who will likely be guarded by Boatright instead of Napier, had 15 points. Wilbekin was playing his third game of the season after being suspended for the first four and he missed the final 3:01 after injuring his ankle.
In addition, freshmen Kasey Hill and Chris Walker missed the first game. Hill was injured. Walker had not gained his eligibility and is now averaging five minutes since his debut Feb. 4.
“That’s four months ago,” Ollie said. “They had a different team. We’re a different team. They had some players hurt at the time, now they’re back in the rotation with Kasey Hill and Chris Walker now.
“So, we’re going to have to play at a level five. We’re going to have to play with energy and passion and we’re going to have to play together to hopefully continue to play on until Monday.”