Florida Survives Against ‘The Show’

SEATTLE —  Florida Coach Billy Donovan was still shaking his head, 20 minutes after his fourth-seeded Gators had beaten No. 14 seed Weber State, 82-74, in overtime Saturday in a second-round NCAA West Regional game.

“I’ve got to tell you,” Donovan said, “that Harold Arceneaux is one of the best, if not the best, players I’ve seen this year. He is flat-out ridiculous. That young man is going to make a lot of money some day playing basketball.”

And, indeed, Weber State’s Harold “The Show” Arceneaux was again spectacular. He scored 68 points in two NCAA games, including 32 against Florida, but there will be no more points for the junior forward in this tournament.

Because for the last four minutes of regulation and all of the overtime, Arceneaux barely touched the ball. It was partly strange that Arceneaux’s teammates didn’t look to him, but more than that it was because, as Donovan said, “we double-teamed him, we triple-teamed him, we based our whole defense on stopping him. And, finally, I think we tired him out. Thank goodness.”

So tired was Arceneaux that he couldn’t stay around to talk. The Weber State trainer took the exhausted player back to the hotel.

As on Thursday against Penn, Florida was behind at halftime. The Wildcats (25-8) had outscored the Gators, 20-9, in the last seven minutes of the first half to lead, 40-35. Arceneaux had 21 points by then but he had worked very hard, running miles, it seemed, on every possession, to get his open jump shots.

This game was never anything but close though. With 2:21 left, the score was tied at 64. With 58.9 seconds left in regulation, Florida freshman guard Teddy Dupay was deadly from the corner with a three-point basket to give the Gators (22-8) a 67-66 lead. With 27 seconds left, Florida center Greg Stolt (26 points) made one of two free throws so the Gators led by two. And with 8.2 seconds left, Weber State guard Noel Jackson managed to lean into Gator defender Kenyan Weaks. Weaks was called for a foul on a three-point attempt that had seemed hopeless. Jackson made the first of three free throws, missed the second, made the third. And then came overtime.

By now Arceneaux was barely able to catch his breath. He was left with the energy to make only one more basket and the Gators scored seven of the first eight points to build a lead that turned out to be untouchable.