PHOENIX (AP) — They hand out the biggest trophy — the NCAA championship trophy — on the first Monday of April, not the first Monday of March.
No two teams could happier about this than Marquette and Florida.
The third-seeded Golden Eagles and seventh-seeded Gators each came limping into the NCAA tournament — Marquette losing two of three including its first Big East tournament game and Florida dropping four of five, including an ugly pair at Georgia and Vanderbilt to close out the regular season.
Yet here they are, ready for a meeting in the West regional semifinals Thursday — Buzz Williams’ team coming off two strong finishes against BYU and Murray State and Billy Donovan’s still high off blowouts over Virginia and Norfolk State by an average of 30 points a game.
Source: Associated Press
