Contrasting paths lead to familiar matchup
NEW YORK — There is no need for introductions in the East Regional final. Scouting reports aren’t really necessary.
Fourth-seeded Florida and No. 7 South Carolina, two Southeastern Conference foes, will meet Sunday at Madison Square Garden with the winner advancing to the Final Four.
This will be the third meeting between the teams this season, with the home team winning both. They are two tough, defensive teams that can get out and run in transition.
“They’re super physical. They pressure a lot, deny a lot of passes. They’re all pretty fundamentally sound. They take a lot of charges and kind of swarm the ball when you drive,” the Gators’ Canyon Barry said of the Gamecocks on Saturday. “I think it could be a defensive battle, and whoever can execute better has a good shot of winning.” Allen confident after slow start
The first game between the teams was a slugfest, with South Carolina prevailing 57-53. The Gators missed all 17 of their 3-point attempts, and KeVaughn Allen, Florida’s first-team All-SEC guard, scored one point.
“I learned that they’re a very aggressive team,” Allen said. “We can’t let them turn us over. We just got to be patient. They’re a team that likes to force you into turnovers. We just got to stay poised, stay together.”
The Gators won the rematch 81-66, with Allen scoring 26 points, and they held the Gamecocks to 39 percent shooting.
Allen struggled in the first two NCAA Tournament games, scoring a total of 11 points on 3-for-21 shooting. He broke out with a career-high 35 points in the regional semifinal.
“I’m very confident. Whether I miss shots, I still just got to keep shooting it, because if I don’t, I kind of feel like I’m hurting my team by not shooting it,” Allen said. “The first two games, it didn’t go well for me, how I wanted it to go as far as shooting it. I think I found ways on de- fense to help my team and just try not to hurt them.” No backing down by either side
This is South Carolina’s deepest run in the NCAA Tournament, while Florida has been in the Elite Eight six times since 2006, including back-to-back national championships in 2006-07.
Their paths to this regional final could not have been more different. The Gamecocks beat third-seeded Baylor 70-50, while the Gators dispatched eighth-seeded Wisconsin 84-83 in overtime on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Chris Chiozza.
Chiozza described South Carolina’s defense as “hectic. They have guys flying all over the place.”
The Gamecocks’ star is Sindarius Thornwell, the SEC Player of the Year and a consistent scorer who has averaged 26 points in the NCAA Tournament.
“Their defense is similar to ours,” he said. They’re so long, and they’re fast. It’s just tough. They make it hard for everything. They don’t back down.”
South Carolina coach Frank Martin said he finds the physical reputation for both teams funny.
“We’re not physical because we foul and push, we’re physical because we don’t get out of the way,” Martin said. “Some teams get out of the way. We don’t get out of the way.”