ARLINGTON, Texas – When No. 3 seed Florida faces fourth-seeded Michigan on Sunday at 2:20, center Patric Young will have his toughest defensive assignment of the NCAA Tournament.
Young will guard Michigan forward Mitch McGary, who has averaged 19.7 points and 12.3 rebounds in the Wolverine’s past three games. During UM’s 33 previous contests, the 6-foot-10, 250-pound freshman recorded 6.2 points and 5.5 boards per game.
Michigan is known for its reliance on jump shots, but McGary has added balance to the Wolverines’ attack during their tournament run.
“I haven’t really seen him play,” Young said. “But I’m just going to do my job, block out, play good post defense.”
Added forward Erik Murphy: “Like Pat said, we haven’t seen too much of him, but he’s playing well right now. He’s physical. He plays with a lot of energy. He’s active. We’ve just got to match that and take it away from him.”
McGary replaced forward Jordan Morgan in the starting lineup before the tournament and has started the past three games. The freshman has averaged 31.3 minutes in the tournament – 13.6 more than during the regular season and Big Ten Tournament.
Against Kansas on Friday, McGary notched a game-high 25 points on 12-of-17 shooting and pulled down 14 rebounds.
“Everyone has been so keyed in on Trey (Burke) that it’s been able to free me up for looks and get easy drop‑offs,” McGary said. “He expects me to finish those, and I did just that.”
The 6-foot-9, 249-pound Young has averaged 8.3 points and seven rebounds in his past three games. He has done well defending the paint in this year’s Big Dance, as opponents have shot 43.4 percent on two-point attempts against Florida.
“He's a big, strong post player,” McGary said. “He’s got some good post moves. I know he’s got a jump hook that we’re going to have to go up against him, wall him up, give him strong chest and hope for the best.”
Florida bench keys run against FGCU: Florida looked sluggish in the early goings against FGCU and trailed 24-14 with 5:23 in the first half.
Then, UF’s reserves picked up the slack.
Forward Casey Prather scored 11 points – including a right-handed fastbreak slam down the left lane over Eagles guard Christophe Varidel midway through the first half – while guard Michael Frazier II scored six points on two threes from the left wing.
Both players combined for 13 points during UF’s 23-2 run, which helped it take a 37-26 lead with 18:32 remaining.
Despite scoring only two points, forward Will Yeguete gave the Gators an edge against the Eagles by diving for loose balls and drawing charges. He collected four rebounds, four steals and two blocks in the win, as UF intercepted many of FGCU’s lob attempts.
“When we started playing defense, all of a sudden our shots started going in,” Yeguete said.
Rosario’s trick play: With 1:58 left against FGCU, guard Mike Rosario rolled the dice.
As Rosario prepared to inbound the ball with Florida ahead 54-45, he threw the ball off Varidel’s back, drove down the left lane and finished with a one-handed slam after beating two defenders.
Rosario didn’t tell coach Billy Donovan he would make the risky decision.
“He just looked at me and he was like, ‘Uh,’” Rosario said. “He just shook his head.”
“I told Coach going into the timeout after that play that I was playing with the dice a little bit. I’d seen before I even took the ball out, the guy was turning his back to me already. That was the first thing that popped in my mind. … I felt like in that situation we we’re going to have a difficult time of getting it inbound. I had a play to make, and I wanted to be aggressive.”
The redshirt senior has led Florida in scoring during its past two tournament games. Against the Eagles on Friday, he scored a game-high 15 points on 6-of-14 shooting.
Rosario said he received positive feedback from his family and friends about the play.
“It was insane,” he said. “Everybody has seen it on TV. They kept replaying it. Everybody just was so stoked that I did that at a crucial situation in the game. And I just told them, ‘You’ve got to have fun.’”
Center Patric Young pulls down a rebound during Florida’s 78-64 win against Minnesota on March 24 in Austin, Texas. Young had surgery to remove a bone spur in his right ankle on Friday.