After letting a 21-point lead drop to seven midway through the second half, Florida held on against Minnesota for its third straight Sweet 16 berth.
Guard Mike Rosario led the way with 25 points on 8-of-12 shooting as the No. 3 seed Gators (28-7) finished the second half on a 25-18 run to defeat 11th-seeded Minnesota (21-13) 78-64 on Sunday night in Austin, Texas.
“I give our guys a lot of credit in terms of battling and fighting off that run,” coach Billy Donovan said. “We weathered the storm and found a way to move on.”
UF will travel to Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, to face No. 15 seed Florida Gulf Coast on Friday in the South Region semifinals. FGCU defeated seventh-seeded San Diego State for an 81-71 win on Sunday to become the first No. 15 seed to ever advance to the Sweet 16.
Rosario and senior Erik Murphy sparked the Gators early. With Florida and Minnesota deadlocked 10-10 in the first five minutes, the pair scored 27 of UF’s first 37 points as the Gators went on a 27-5 run during a 10-minute span.
Murphy finished the game with 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting, while Rosario drilled his first three attempts from behind the arc.
“I just felt that I was put in the right situation at the right time,” Rosario said. “I told myself, ‘I’m not going to hesitate.’ That’s the one thing that coach told us going into this game, ‘Leave it out there, leave it all on the floor.’ I felt that every time I have an open look at it, I’m going to take it. They were falling tonight.”
Minnesota cut the lead to 39-25 with 3:13 left in the first half, but the Gators entered halftime with a 48-27 advantage. Florida’s 48 points break a school record for most first-half points in an NCAA Tournament contest.
With a chip on their shoulder, the Golden Gophers entered the second half on a hot streak.
Guard Andre Hollins and the Golden Gophers opened the second period on a 19-5 run to cut UF’s lead to 7 points with 12:36 remaining. Hollins scored nine of Minnesota’s points during the stretch.
The Gophers tightened their perimeter defense as the Gators opened the first 8 minutes of the second half shooting 0 of 3 from outside the arc.
Murphy picked up his fourth foul with 11:09 remaining and sat out more than 8 minutes.
“I just gathered the guys and said, ‘We just got to get the job done right now,’” Murphy said.
But when Hollins picked up his fourth foul with 9:21 left in the second half, the Gators began to find their groove.
In the final 9:21, UF made 12 of its 17 free throws and 3 of its 5 field-goal attempts. Minnesota went without a field goal from 9:42 to 2:56.
Florida stretched its lead to 17 with 3:13 left when point guard Scottie Wilbekin found Rosario in the right corner for a three-point bucket. Wilbekin finished with 12 points and six assists.
“I commend [Donovan] and my teammates and Scottie Wilbekin and the rest of the guys finding me when I was open,” Rosario said. “We did a great job just responding to the situation and just taking it and running with it.”
Minnesota won the rebounding battle 29-26, but the Gators held the Gophers to 40 percent shooting while finishing the game with a 56.8 percent clip.
Hollins led the Gophers with 25 points on 8-of-13 shooting and made 6 of his 10 three-point attempts.
Florida is 20-0 this season when scoring at least 70 points. Donovan now owns a 30-10 record in the Big Dance, as UF has reached at least the Sweet 16 in five of its past eight seasons.
The next step for Florida will be this year’s Cinderella in Florida Gulf Coast.
“Right now we don’t know too much about those guys,” Rosario said. “But I’m sure that [Donovan] will break down the next opponent to us and we’re going to … make sure we’re on edge.”
Redshirt senior guard Mike Rosario (3) reacts after hitting a three-pointer as Minnesota’s Rodney Williams Jr. (33) runs down the court during the Gators’ 78-64 win against the Golden Gophers on Sunday in Austin, Texas. Rosario led UF with 25 points in the victory.
