Scottie Wilbekin led the Florida Gators with 23 points in their victory over Dayton in the Round of 8 on Saturday. Credit Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images
MEMPHIS — On his way out of FedEx Forum on Saturday night, the college basketball radio analyst Will Perdue looked back out on the floor where Florida had just cut down the nets in celebration of a Final Four berth. He shook his head, marveling over the Gators, and said, “I haven’t seen anybody yet that can beat these guys, not with that defense.”
Perdue, who played at Vanderbilt before embarking on a 13-year N.B.A. career, began to walk away before he turned back and said: “Think about this: They beat Tennessee three times. They beat Kentucky three times.”
On Friday in the Midwest Regional semifinals, Tennessee fell one possession short of beating Michigan, and Kentucky beat Louisville, the defending national champion. The Volunteers and the Wildcats, loaded with skilled offensive players, had no remedy for the Gators during the Southeastern Conference regular season and tournament in six games, so it was not surprising that Florida stymied 11th-seeded Dayton.
The top-seeded Gators were so sharp Saturday that they held the Flyers, who had defeated Ohio State, Syracuse and Stanford, to a season low in points in a 62-52 victory in the South Regional championship game.
By RAY GLIERMARCH 29, 2014
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