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In response to
"Dude, Beal is a badass. He shot 63% from the floor during the NCAA tournament. -- nm"
by
David
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To wit...
Posted by
David (aka David)
Jun 28 '12, 16:51
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PHOENIX � Almost every time he touches the ball, Bradley Beal does something special. His latest bit of basketball wizardry moved Florida a win away from the Final Four and set up Billy Donovan with a perfectly scripted matchup against his old coach and boss, Rick Pitino.
Beal, the freshman with NBA written all over him, scored 21 points on 8-for-10 shooting Thursday night to help the Gators to a 68-58 victory over Marquette.
Next up for No. 7 Florida (26-10) is a West Regional final Saturday against Louisville and Pitino, who taught ol' Billy The Kid a lot of what he knows.
Lesson No. 1 on any coach's list, of course, would be to get good players. On this night, Beal was the best on the court. He also had six rebounds, four assists, two steals and two blocked shots, including one on Jae Crowder while the third-seeded Golden Eagles (27-8) were desperately trying to claw back after trailing by 14.
Crowder, a senior and the Big East player of the year, never found his touch. He finished with 15 points on 5-for-15 shooting while another Marquette senior, Darius Johnson-Odom, also went 5 for 15 in a struggle to reach 14 points. Buzz Williams' team shot 31 percent and was held 18 points under its season average.
Erving Walker had 11 for the Gators, including a 3-pointer that came after Patric Young scrapped for an offensive rebound with 2:05 left. It snapped a 6-0 Marquette run that pulled the third-seeded Golden Eagles (27-8) to within six.
But the biggest difference maker was Beal, a high school national player of the year whom Donovan has been pushing to be more assertive.
In the second half, he served up about five perfect examples of what he can do when he steps up a bit. Blanketed by Marquette's Todd Mayo, Beal hesitated, took a stutter step, then breezed past him for a reverse layup that would've made George Gervin proud.
It was the second time he'd blown past Mayo for a layup. He also had a 3-pointer, a couple of free throws and a pretty assist to Young to help the Gators go up 56-44 with less than five minutes left. For cappers � he dunked for the last points of the game, leaving him one short of the high-water scoring mark of his one-year � one-and-done? � college career.
This is Florida's second straight trip to the regional final. Last year, the Gators lost to Butler � one of the NCAA tournament's great stories of 2010 and 2011. An early candidate for 2012 could be this coaching showdown. Donovan was the undersized-but-gritty guard who helped Pitino and Providence make a run into the Final Four back in 1987.
A bit later, Donovan went against his mentor's advice, quit a job on Wall Street then came to be Pitino's assistant. A great coaching mind was born and now Donovan has two national titles and three trips to the Final Four, compared to one championship and five Final Fours for his old boss.
Pitino is 6-0 against Donovan, two of those in Florida-Louisville matchups.
Marquette, meanwhile, exits the tournament in the round of 16 for the second straight year. Crowder picked up two early fouls and couldn't get into an early flow.
Mayo had 11 for Marquette, which was trying to get back to the Final Four for the first time since 2003.
Kenny Boynton (11 points) made 5 of 6 free throws down the stretch to ice it for the Gators, who won back-to-back titles in 2006-07.
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