UCLA falls to Florida 73-65, season ends
UCLA junior guard Lazeric Jones struggles against a double team set by Florida’s Scottie Wilbekin and Erving Walker. Jones turned the ball over, giving the Gators possession with a four-point lead and less than three minutes to play.
By Matt Stevens
March 19, 2011 2:35 p.m.
TAMPA, Fla. “”mdash; In one of the most evenly matched games in this year’s NCAA Tournament, No. 7-seed UCLA fell to No. 2-seed Florida, 73-65, ending the Bruins season after one of their best-played games of the year.
Until the last minutes, no team led by more than six, but the Bruins couldn’t close the gap and trailed for the majority of the game.
Four Bruins scored in double digits but it wasn’t enough to upset the Gators, who seemed to answer every UCLA run with a 3-pointer.
Florida’s Erving Walker led the Gators with 21 points and combined with Kenny Boynton to hit critical free throws down the stretch.
The Gators had four players with four fouls by the time the buzzer sounded, but none fouled out.
