After a promising first half that saw Florida down just four at the break, Michigan turned up the heat in the second half and the ten-seeded Gators couldn’t find their shot as the second-seeded Wolverines eventually cruised to a 64-49 victory, ending Florida’s season in the round of 32.
The Gators hit six of 12 threes in the first half and 11-27 field goals, but went just 3-14 from deep in the second half (8-28 overall) and only converted two field goals in the final seven minutes for their lowest scoring output of the season.
Florida simply couldn’t find an answer for Michigan’s size and athleticism when their deep shots weren’t falling. Jalen Hudson led the team in scoring with 11 on 4-15 shooting (3-10 from deep).
KeVaeughn Allen and Kevarrius Hayes both threw in eight and Hayes added seven rebounds. Keyontae Johnson didn’t score much (5 points) but had nine rebounds to lead the team on the glass and Andrew Nembhard finished with seven points and eight assists, but turned the ball over four times.
This game was all about mismatches. The Wolverines held a big advantage with size and rebounding while the Gators were better from deep. Both teams were lock-down defensively though entering this game.
Michigan started things off with three dunks to begin the game from Ignas Brazdeikis and Jon Teske. While the Gators struggled with their size disadvantage at times but were able to knock down a couple of early threes, making it an 8-6 Wolverine lead five minutes in.
Michigan would push out in front with an 11-0 run over the next three minutes to go up 15-6. They were generating second-chance points off offensive rebounds and knocking down some shots from outside.
The Gators responded following though, going on an 8-0 run themselves behind a couple threes from Locke and Hudson and a dunk from Hayes to make it 15-14 with 12:23 left in the half.
Michigan would then hit two straight and go up six but the Gators once again answered, making it a 20-19 Wolverine lead with nine minutes left.
The game was going exactly you might think it would given what each team had to work with. Florida was outmatched with size, athleticism and depth, but was hanging by converting their deep ball.
Locke has struggled through the second half of the season as he has been dealing with an injury and as Hudson has come on Locke has been transitioned out of the starting lineup and onto the bench.
But with 7:41 left in the half Locke showed he could still contribute, hitting a turn-around jumper to tie the game up at 21 for his eighth point.
Allen then found Hayes underneath the basket to take the lead just a minute later. But Michigan once again would go on a run, this time to take a 27-23 lead with five minutes left following a driving layup by Charles Matthews.
Nembhard would answer though with the great equalizer on a three with four to play to make it a one-point game once again. The Gators kept hanging around.
Matthews would dunk it on the next possession for the Wolverines following another offensive board and the Nembhard found Hayes down low for an easy bucket with two to play.
Isaiah Livers would hit a triple in the corner for Michigan with a minute left to end the half up 32-28. While Florida hit six of 12 threes in the half they lost the points in the paint battle 18-8. It was a battle of two very different styles of scoring.
The second half could not have started worse for the Gators. The Wolverines came out of the break on fire. Brazdeikis drained a three, Poole found Teske down low and then Poole hit on a layup and drew a foul and hit the free throw for an 8-0 run to open the second half.
Mike White was forced to call an early timeout, but it didn’t cool down to Wolverines. Following a turnover by Hayes Poole nailed a three to make it 43-28. Michigan scored 11 points in the second half before Florida could find one.
Hudson finally ended the drought with a three with 17:15 left in the game to put the Gators on the board in the second half. That spurred a run by Florida over the next three minutes. Hudson nailed a layup while Nembhard converted a pair of free throws and Johnson dunked it off a nice pass from Nembhard to pull Florida within six with 14 minutes to go.
Poole would then draw a foul on Hudson on a three-ball to push the lead back out to nine after he hit all three free throws. That was the start of the end for the Gators.
Florida simply didn’t have the same shot they had in the first half. Allen would hit a three with 7:22 left to make it a 51-44 deficit but it was just the sixth made field goal for the Gators in the half.
However, it was only a seven-point game with over seven minutes to go. There was still plenty of time to salvage the game and make a run. But Michigan noticed it too and put the clamps on Florida, only allowing two more made field goals for the rest of the game after that Allen three.
Zavier Simpson, Livers and Poole would start to take over and the Wolverines started dominating, both offensively and defensively. By the 4:42 mark they led 57-44. It was 60-44 with two minutes left and the nails went into the coffin after Poole drained a three with exactly two minutes to go.
In the end Michigan’s size and athleticism was simply too much for Florida as they cruised to a 64-49 victory to advance to the sweet 16. The Gators fought hard, but their season ends in the round of 32 after an up and down season.
Hudson, Allen and Hayes’s careers are now over at Florida and they finished exit having gone to three NCAA tournaments, going as far as the elite eight.
