The Patriots were all right with
that.
What did George Mason do? The
Patriots (27-7) won four straight games, including upset wins over powerhouses
UConn, North
Carolina and Michigan State en route to the Final Four. The
Patriots became the second 11-seed ever to reach the Final Four. LSU was the
first doing so in 1986.
GMU took care of the Spartans in
impressive fashion knocking off Tom Izzo’s team 75-65 in the first round.
Defending national champion North
Carolina became the Patriot’s second victim falling
65-60 in the round of 32.
In the meantime, the Wichita State
Shockers were in the process of pulling off some magic of their own advancing to
the Sweet 16 with an upset of No. 2 seed Tennessee. George Mason sent the Shockers home
beating Wichita
State 63-55 advancing to
the Elite Eight.
Surely the Patriots had run out of
gas by the time they reached No. 1 seeded Connecticut. But George Mason managed to hold
off the Huskies, even after UConn forced overtime, to advance to the Final Four
with an 86-84 victory.
All five Patriot starters score in
double figures with 6-7, 275-pound senior forward Jai Lewis leading the way with
14 points per game. The above mentioned Skinn scores 12 points per contest
followed by sophomore forward Will Thomas (6-7, 220, 11.6), senior guard Lamar Butler (6-2, 170, 11.4) and sophomore forward Folarin Campbell (6-4, 200,
10.2).
George Mason is a highly physical
team and will apply lost of pressure to the Gators, all the while not possessing
a player standing over 6-7.
While George Mason was upsetting
just about everyone, the Florida Gators (31-6) were doing the opposite taking
care of business. The SEC Tournament champions rolled through South Alabama and Wisconsin-Milwaukee before facing their
toughest task of the tournament in the Georgetown Hoyas.
Georgetown hung tough, but Florida persevered with a 57-53 victory
setting up a showdown with No. 1 seed Villanova. The Wildcats had been one of
the hottest teams in the land featuring a lethal four-guard rotation, but Nova’s
luck ran out as Florida routed the top-seed 75-62 to advance
to the program’s second Final Fur in six seasons.
The Gators enter this Final Four as
the favorite to clip down the nets in Indianapolis. The Florida is a polar
opposite from the Patriots in which they possess lots of height and size and
would rather slow it down and beat an opponent in a halfcourt game rather than
work in transition.
Florida is led by 6-11, 227-pound sophomore
center Joakim Noah. Quickly rising up the NBA Draft charts, Noah is a balanced
player and can effectively score in the paint or bounce outside and hit a jump
shot.
Like the Patriots, all five Gator
starters score in double digits. Behind Noah, 6-1, 177-pound sophomore guard
Taurean Green scores 13.9 per game followed by the 6-8, 185-pound sophomore
forward Corey Brewer (12.3). Al Horford, another talented big man for Florida standing 6-9, 242
pounds, scores 11.4 per contest.
Probably the most underrated but
equally lethal is junior guard Lee Humphrey. The 6-2, 192-pound Humphrey scores
just 10.8 points per game, but can hit big shots from the three-point arc at the
most critical times in a game.
Check back to TigerRag.com for
complete breakdowns and preview capsules for George Mason and Florida. Later in the
week, TigerRag.com will do the same for the LSU-UCLA matchup.