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INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- Florida sent another opponent home from the NCAA Tournament looking worn out, frazzled and wondering just how many Gators are out there.
|  | | Florida's Mike Miller, left, and Brent Wright had Joseph Forte and the UNC offense fit to be tied in the second half. |
With the same relentless energy and stifling pressure that has become the trademark of coach Billy Donovan, Florida used the same 10-man rotation, full-court press and balanced scoring that brought it to the Final Four for a 71-59 victory over North Carolina on Saturday night.
The Gators (29-7) will play for its first national championship
on Monday night in the RCA Dome against Michigan State, which beat
Wisconsin 53-41.
"The one thing people don't understand about our style of play is you can be tired. You can have 10 guys tired," Donovan said. "I play 10 guys, 10 guys to be tired."
After an opening-round scare against Butler, fifth-seeded
Florida dispatched higher seeds Illinois, Duke and Oklahoma State
to reach the Final Four. Each of those teams struggled through the
game's final minutes as did North Carolina as its improbable NCAA
Tournament run ended.
"We really battled. I think we did wear out there," North
Carolina coach Bill Guthridge said. "This team gave us a great
ride to get here."
Freshman Brett Nelson led the Gators with 13 points, while Mike
Miller and Udonis Haslem added 10 each.
"I pay tribute to our style of play for that one," Nelson said.
An 18-3 lead in the opening eight minutes made it look as though
the Gators wouldn't need the late edge that brought them the
earlier wins.
But the Tar Heels (22-14), an eighth seed who many felt
shouldn't have even made the tournament field but found their way
to a record-tying 15th Final Four, were back in the game by
halftime.
"That run certainly hurt us and probably we had to expend so
much energy to catch up that that could be a fatigue factor,"
Guthridge said. "We got going in the second half and probably
expended a lot of energy there. And then came the foul problems and
the fatigue."
The Tar Heels had a 50-46 lead with 13:31 to play.
North Carolina point guard Ed Cota picked up his fourth foul
just 13 seconds later and despite not being removed the game, his
lack of aggressiveness played into Florida's hands. The rest of the
Tar Heels now had to handle the pressure and it helped wear them
down. The Gators took the lead for good on a 3-pointer by Major
Parker with 11:02 left and that started a 9-4 run.
During that span North Carolina managed just one field goal
mostly because Cota, who finished with eight assists, just wasn't
the same.
"It definitely changed the momentum of the game. My team wasn't
comfortable playing with me having four fouls," Cota said. "My
approach to the game was entirely different. I wasn't being
aggressive anymore. I was giving guys open shots. I didn't want to
pick up my fifth foul. Florida did a good job of just keeping the
pressure on us and they just played an overall great game."
The Tar Heels, making their third Final Four appearance in four
years, have lost four straight national semifinal games.
Brendan Haywood had 20 points, 16 in the first half, for the Tar
Heels, while freshman Joseph Forte had 15, 13 in the second half -- and 10 of those came in an early two-minute burst.
"We got up and down with them playing Florida basketball,"
Haywood said. "They did a good job of double-teaming the post
every time I got the ball in the second half."
This was Florida's second Final Four appearance, the first _ in
1994 -- ended with a semifinal loss to North Carolina's archrival,
Duke.
Led by Donovan, only the sixth man to play and coach in a Final
Four, these Gators have run by their opponents after surviving a
69-68 first-round scare from Butler. Miller won that game with a
shot at the buzzer, and Florida got to practice on Butler's home
court this week in preparation for the Final Four.
Parker's 3-pointer came less than a minute after he and Forte
were charged with double technicals for an incident under the
basket. Nelson sandwiched a jumper and a 3-pointer around a 3 by
Forte to keep the deciding run going.
Florida finished with a 43-42 rebound advantage with Brent
Wright, Donnell Harvey and Miller each grabbing seven. Haywood led
the Tar Heels with 12 and Jason Capel added 10.
"At the five-minute mark they started grabbing their shorts and
bending over," Wright said. "They weren't making shots and they
weren't getting back on defense. Our style is to play 40 minutes of
pressure, try to get up and down the court and see which team is in
better shape."
Florida finished 25-for-64 from the field (39 percent), the 17th
straight opponent North Carolina has held under 50 percent. But the
Tar Heels struggled themselves, shooting 35 percent (20-for-57).
Florida jumped to the 18-3 lead as the Tar Heels struggled from
the field, making one of their first eight shots, and with the
ball, committing five turnovers.
"I thought our guys had great intensity to start the game.
North Carolina took some ill-advised shots," Donovan said.
Kenyan Weaks' 3-pointer with 11:43 to play in the first half
gave the Gators the 15-point lead, but North Carolina made four of
its next five shots and Haywood's layup on a pass from Cota had the
Tar Heels within 21-17 with 7:50 left.
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North Carolina NCAA Team Report
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AUDIO/VIDEO
 Billy Donovan says Florida's shot selection let the Tar Heels back into the game.
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Bill Guthridge is proud of his team.
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Brett Nelson says he got into a rhythm.
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Ed Cota says Florida played a great game.
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Billy Donovan says Brendan Haywood caused problems for Florida in the frontcourt.
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