With only one game remaining in the Elite Eight, a set between Connecticut and Florida is already ready to go for the Final Four in Arlington next Saturday. Florida defeated Dayton on Saturday afternoon while Connecticut pulled yet another upset in this tourney against Michigan State Sunday afternoon.
Let’s take a quick look at how Florida and Connecticut reached the Final Four as Michigan and Kentucky decide who Wisconsin will take on next weekend.
Florida’s run to the Final Four has been pretty anticlimactic, as its defeated it’s first four opponents by double digits. The Gators took out UCLA (once again) on Thursday evening by the score of 79-68. The closest UCLA got in the second half was 56-55 with just over 10 minutes remaining in the second half. Florida would outscore the Bruins 23-13 down the stretch for the win.
Michael Frazier II led the Gators in scoring with 19, while back court partner Scottie Wilbekin added 13 in the winning effort.
Florida would then take down a surprise Dayton Flyers team in the Elite Eight by the score of 62-52, earning its 30th consecutive victory on the season. Wilbekin led all scorers with 23 points on the night.
In an interesting turn, Florida will actually take on the last team it lost to in the form of the Connecticut Huskies, who won an early-season matchup between these two Final Four teams by the score of 65-64 on a last second put back by Shabazz Napier.
Unless you’ve been a complete Connecticut homer this season, you did not expect them to be in this position. This team lost by 33 points to the Louisville Cardinal earlier in March and fell to that same team in the AAC Title game just a couple weeks ago.
Replacing legend Jim Calhoun on the sideline back in 2012, Kevin Ollie led the Huskies to 20 wins despite the fact that they were ineligible for postseason play due to recruiting violations. Calhoun himself retired one month before practice began during the 2012 preseason, leaving an utter mess and a talent-stricken roster.
What Ollie has done in the 17 months or so since is absolutely amazing.
Connecticut’s 60-54 victory over Michigan State in the East Region final at Madison Square Garden on Saturday wasn’t only alarming for the fact that its moving on to the Final Four for the first time since winning the national title back in 2010-2011, its path to next weekend has been downright surprising. On top of beating the No. 4 seeded Spartans, the Huskies have defeated the top three seeds in the region in route to the Final Four.
Napier scored 25 points in the six-point win over Michigan State. It represented his fourth consecutive tourney game with 19-plus points. He also led a parade to the free throw line in which the Huskies combined to shoot 21-for-22.
Now that Florida and Connecticut are slated to play Saturday, it’s time to see who Wisconsin will take on. In any event, the Gators are going to be the sole No. 1 seed heading into the Final Four in Arlington next weekend. They will go up against that last team to defeat them. The story lines promise to be aplenty over the course of the next week.
Photo: Robert Deutsch, USA Today
