Florida Gators
Pre-NCAA Meet(@ Indiana)
March Madness Flashback: Gators survive James Madison scare
Saturday, March 17, 2012 | Men's Basketball, Cross Country, Chris Harry
GATORZONE MARCH MADNESS FLASHBACK
On this day in Florida NCAA history: March 17, 1994
They found a way.
Under Coach Lon Kruger (pictured left), the 1993-94 Gators -- with not a high-profile recruit among them -- confounded their opponents and their critics on the way to winning a school-record 25 games and claiming a No. 3 seed in the NCAA East Region at Uniondale, N.Y., just the four tournament appearance in school history.
UF drew James Madison, coached by the legendary Lefty Driesell, who had the pace very much to his liking for the better part of the game. The Dukes held the Gators to 29 percent shooting in the first half, including 0-for-5 from 3-point range, and led 22-18 at the break.
That was a season-low points for a half.
The next half was much different.
UF hit 55 percent after intermission, but still trailed by a point with less than 50 seconds left when little-used freshman Greg Williams -- a most unlikely hero -- nailed a 3-pointer from the corner to push the Gators in front by two points.
Two JMU free throws tied the game in the final 20 seconds, but All-Southeastern Conference guard Dan Cross banked in a running, one-handed layup with 7.2 seconds to go, and a desperation shot bounced away in the final seconds to give the Gators a 64-62 win and their first NCAA win since 1988.
That Kruger team had a motto: "Find a way."
And they did.
That was on St. Patrick's Day 18 years ago today.
Cross finished with 16 points and backcourt mate Craig Brown threw in 15. Junior center Andrew DeClercq had six points and nine rebounds. JMU's Clayton Ritter led all scorers with 27 points.
With the win, the Gators advanced into the second round to face Ivy League champion Penn.
