With Jae Crowder and Junior Cadougan in foul trouble in the first half, the Golden Eagle's bench fought hard and were even up at 30-30 with 3:48 to go in the first half, before Florida scored three times to close out the half with a 6 point lead. "Jae Crowder only playing 12 minutes in the first half? That's never happened before. And with Junior picking up three fouls in the first half? That happened just once before," said Buzz Williams.
Not the high scoring affair it was expected to be, Florida came out in the second half and built on their 36-30 lead going on a 10-4 run, pulling ahead 46-34 5:30 into the second half. The Golden Eagles kept coming back, but each time they closed the gap, the Gators would make another run.
The story of the night was the lid on the hoop. Marquette dynamic duo of Jae Crowder and Darius Johnson Odom went just 10-30 from the field, 3-14 from three point range. They just weren't themselves. Tonight it was Florida's Bradley Beal who put on the clinic. The talented freshman connected on 8 of 10 shots from the field, finishing with 21 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 blocks and 2 steals.
Coming to the realization that a great season had come to a screeching halt, the scene in the locker room after the game was that of devastation, several players burying their heads in their hands, some unable to speak.
With that, here are some videos, that will tell much more than I can.
There will probably be 5 in all, I will keep adding them to this story board.....
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