MEMPHIS, Tenn. — In the midst of a shooting slump — one that saw him shooting 2 of 10 against UCLA for much of Thursday night’s contest — Scottie Wilbekin did not panic.
As the Gators led 58-55 with 7:18 left and struggled for much of the second half to pull away from the feisty Bruins, the senior point guard refused to dwell on his missed attempts. Instead, he made three key shots down the stretch and sent UF to its fourth consecutive trip to the Elite Eight.
Wilbekin was the hero for No. 1 seed Florida, making his final three field-goal attempts to help it cruise past No. 4 seed UCLA 79-68 in the FedExForum in the South Regional semifinals.
“Just trying to keep attacking, stay aggressive and take what they gave me,” Wilbekin said.
“My shots weren’t falling … in the first half, even in the beginning of the second half. So I just tried to stay the course and keep playing my game.”
Saturday at 6:09 p.m., UF will face 11th-seeded Dayton — the Cinderella of this year’s tournament — for a spot in the Final Four. And much of why UF is where it is now is because of Wilbekin.
In the game’s final minutes, Wilbekin proved why he is Florida’s seasoned leader — and perhaps its most valuable player. After shooting guard Michael Frazier II knocked down a jumper to give UF (35-2) a five-point lead, Wilbekin sunk a three from the right wing on the next Gators offensive possession to lift the advantage to 63-55.
Out of a UCLA timeout, Wilbekin kept the streak moving. Drawing a foul on UCLA guard Norman Powell, Wilbekin took it to the hole and made a circus shot off the glass. He sunk his free throw to increase the Gators’ lead to 11 points, tying its largest advantage of the contest.
From there, Florida held on.
With 2:38 on the clock and the Gators running an isolation play for Wilbekin, he dribbled through two defenders, maneuvered his way around Travis Wear in the paint and sunk a hook shot over the UCLA forward to give UF a 70-63 lead.
“I was just trying to get a shot up on the backboard and at least give the bigs a chance to rebound, but it ended up going in,” Wilbekin said.
Added coach Billy Donovan: “He got kind of put into a difficult situation. Wear did a good job on him a couple plays before that. We put four guys on the baseline when Wear got switched on Scottie and drove around him and got a layup.”
Wilbekin also helped his teammates thrive Thursday. Playing alongside freshman Kasey Hill for much of the second half, the senior shifted at the two spot as the younger point guard notched a game-high 10 assists.
“Scottie, for the most part, when Kasey’s off the floor, the ball’s in his hands,” Donovan said. “It takes a pretty mature player to say, ‘I’m going to slide off the ball. I’m going to give the ball to a freshman.’”
Frazier finished with a game-high 19 points on a 7-of-13 clip from the field and 5-of-8 three-point shooting. The sophomore helped UF to a 28-21 lead in the first half thanks to three early three-pointers.
Freshman forward Chris Walker, who finished with seven points and three rebounds, also played a key role for UF in the first half. Checking in with about four minutes left in the first half, he scored five straight points to give UF a 36-30 advantage at halftime. Walker helped the thin Gators manage when Casey Prather and Patric Young battled foul trouble down the stretch, as each had four fouls.
“He’s getting better, and he’s growing,” Donovan said. “You know, it was really a game where I never felt Patric was ever in the flow of the game at all, and I thought Prather’s fouls probably hurt us a little bit. So Chris coming off the bench gave us good, quality minutes.”
Now on a 29-game winning streak, the Gators head into a matchup with the Flyers, who handled No. 10 seed Stanford 82-72 prior to the Florida-UCLA game.
Florida has a history of crushing the hopes of Cinderellas under Donovan. Last year, UF knocked off No. 15 seed FGCU 62-50 in the Sweet 16 and in 2006 routed No. 11 seed George Mason 73-58 in the Final Four.
But in order to make their first Final Four appearance since 2007, the Gators must put their past Elite Eight failures behind them.
“Me personally, I don’t feel like there’s anything to enjoy,” Frazier said. “We’re trying to keep advancing, and you can’t take a breath because every team now is a good team. So we can enjoy what we’ve done after the season.”
Writer Jordan McPherson contributed to this report.
Follow Landon Watnick on Twitter @LandonWatnick
Scottie Wilbekin drives down the court during Florida’s 79-68 win in the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA Tournament against UCLA on March 27 inside the FedExForum in Memphis, Tenn.
Chris Walker attempts a shot during Florida’s 79-68 win in the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA Tournament against UCLA on March 27 in FedEx Forum in Memphis, Tenn.
