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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) -- Lon Kruger left the Florida Gators behind four years ago. On Sunday, they turned the tables on him.
Florida's 93-76 victory over Illinois in the second round of the
NCAA East Regional put the Gators into the round of 16 for
back-to-back years for the first time in school history. It also
improved the Gators to 4-1 in NCAA tournament play under coach Billy Donovan, who succeeded Kruger following his departure to lead the Fighting Illini.
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Sunday, March 19
Florida finally discovered that an up-tempo style and pressure defense can work in the NCAA Tournament. The Gators tried but failed to dictate tempo with their style in a first-round squeaker over Butler. Illinois didn't mind running with the Gators and got burned.
Billy Donovan stayed with his system, even though the Gators looked vulnerable in the first round. The difference? The Gators played with more intensity against the Illini. Having former coach Lon Kruger on the opposite bench might have been a factor. But whatever the reason, the Gators found a balanced attack, played with a purpose and pressured the Illini into 15 turnovers.
Florida will get a running partner in Duke in the third round. If the Gators can play with the same kind of intensity, they can advance to the Elite Eight and reach the level Donovan thought could be attained when this group was recruited.
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"They pretty much had control of a lot of things throughout,"
Kruger said of the Gators, who harassed Illinois into 39-percent
shooting and 15 turnovers.
Florida will play top-seeded Duke on Friday in the regional semifinals in Syracuse, N.Y. Duke beat Kansas 69-64.
Freshman reserve guard Brett Nelson had 16 points and three
steals to spark the Gators on a day when they had to go through a
crucial first-half stretch without top player Mike Miller, benched
with foul troubles.
"Brett made great decisions," Donovan said. "I don't think
people truly appreciate how far that kid has come from the first
day he set foot on campus."
Nelson hit four of his six attempts from 3-point range, adding
more punch to a fast-paced Florida style that proved to be too much
for Illinois.
"This feels really good," Nelson said, "but we can't look
back on these two games. We want to keep advancing."
Miller had 13 of his 19 points in the second half as
fifth-seeded Florida (26-7) defeated the Fighting Illini for the
first time in their five meetings. Teddy Dupay added 16 points and
Udonis Haslem 15.
"We've got a lot of guys who can do a lot of different
things," Miller said. "That's our style."
Fourth-seeded Illinois (22-10) got 27 points from Cory Bradford
but little help from anyone else. Sergio McClain, with 11 points,
was the only other Illinois player in double figures.
|  | | Florida's Mike Miller, who scored 13 of his team-high 19 points in the second half, denies Illinois' Brian Cook. |
Freshman Frank Williams, who had a season-high 21 points to lead
Illinois past Pennsylvania in the opening round, got into
first-half foul trouble against Florida and didn't score until
nearly 23 minutes into the game. He finished with six points.
Marcus Griffin, who had 17 in the opening round, contributed just
nine against Florida.
"We weren't pleased with the way we performed," Bradford said.
"We could have done a better job, but it's too late to do that
now."
Florida was trailing by two points when Miller went to the bench
with 4:50 left in the first half after being assessed his second
personal foul. But Nelson scored five points and Matt Bonner added
four as the Gators closed the half with a 13-5 run for a 40-34
lead.
The Gators were particularly effective in the second half,
drawing Illinois into a running game and forcing nine turnovers.
Florida shot 54 percent in the half and scored 53 points.
"I thought our style of play was very, very effective,"
Donovan said. "The game really started to get going up and down
the floor in the second half, and that was to our liking."
Florida opened the second half by getting two 3-pointers from
Dupay and one from Nelson to stretch it to 53-41.
Illinois was unable to significantly cut into its deficit and
Nelson pushed Florida's lead to 67-53 with 11:01 left when he stole
an errant pass and hit a 3-pointer.
After the Gators pushed it to 14 again, this time at 74-60 on a
17-foot jumper by Miller with seven minutes remaining, Illinois was
unable to cut its deficit to single digits the rest of the way.
The Gators, who pushed their lead as high as the final margin,
sealed it by making 11 of 14 free throws in the last 3:14.
"Florida just never gave us much of a crack to make a run,"
Kruger said.
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ALSO SEE
Mens College Basketball Scoreboard
Florida NCAA Team Report
Illinois NCAA Team Report
Chat: NCAA Tourney
Battier saves Duke from upset-minded Jayhawks
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