Florida Gators

WHAT HAPPENED: Guard Jordan Poole scored 19 points, which was eight more than UF's top scorer Saturday, as the No. 2-seed Wolverines took command early in the second half and finished off the game and the 10th-seeded Gators' season with a victory in second-round play of the NCAA West Region at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa. Poole was one of two Wolverines to finish in double figures, while UF was led by 11 points from fifth-year senior guard Jalen Hudson on a day the Gators shot just 34.5 percent from the floor and tallied the program's fewest points since a 64-49 loss to No. 1 Kentucky in the 2015 SEC Tournament, the final game under Coach Billy Donovan. Michigan led by just one, 29-28, with just over two minutes to play in the first half when backup forward Isaiah Livers hit a 3 a minute before intermission, as the Wolverines took a four-point cushion to the locker room. In the second half, they blitzed the Gators with 11 straight points in just over two minutes, giving U-M a 14-0 run spanning the two periods and a 15-point lead. UF managed to cut the Michigan margin to as few as six with more than 14 minutes remaining, as the Wolverines went more than seven minutes without a field goal. The Gators, though, could not fully capitalize, thanks to 29-percent shooting for the second half, including just 3-for-14 from the 3-point line. Besides Poole, U-M got 10 points from Livers, another nine points, nine rebound and nine assists from point guard Zavier Simpson, plus eight points and 10 boards from 7-foot center Jon Teske. 
 
WHAT IT MEANS: While Michigan (30-6) plays on, Florida's season ends with a 20-16 record and one win shy of the Sweet 16 for the second year in a row. UF is now 44-18 all-time in the NCAA Tournament, including 5-3 under Coach Mike White. 

IN THE SPOTLIGHT: The game marked the swan-song outings for UF seniors Kevarrius Hayes (6 points, 7 rebounds), guard KeVaughn Allen (8 points, all in the second half), and Hudson. White took the trio out of the game with 24 seconds left and they shared a collective hug in front of the UF bench.  

STAGGERING STATISTIC: Michigan forward Ignas Brazdeikis, the 2019 Big Ten Freshman of the Year, came into the game have reached double-figure scoring in 26 of 35 games, including 10 straight. "Iggy," U-M's leading scorer at 15.0 points per game, threw down a two-handed tomahawk for the game's first basket, but was held to just five points over 24 minutes -- and the Wolverines still won going away. 

STAGGERING STATISTIC II: Florida shot two free throws for the game, compared to 12 for Michigan. The officials let this one play out pretty loosely. 

UP NEXT: The Gators' season ended in the tournament that all teams want their seasons to end. Though UF failed to advance to the Sweet 16 for the first time in two years (and for the 12th time in school history), Florida, by virtue of its first-round defeat of Nevada, became one of just 10 programs in the country to win at least one game in the tournament the last three years, joining Duke, Florida State, Gonzaga, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, North Carolina, Purdue and Villanova. Next week, the UF coaching staff will start looking in earnest toward the 2019-20 season when the Gators must replace those three seniors and also assess the likelihood of any further attrition to add to the single scholarship opening currently available.