While Florida hustled and defended with its season on the line, Michigan used Saturday’s NCAA Tournament second round matchup to show it was Sweet 16 worthy yet again.
The No. 2 seed Wolverines (30-6) stifled coach Mike White’s Gators inside a full Wells Fargo Arena, earning a 64-49 win and ending UF’s tournament run during the first weekend.
Florida (20-16) struggled to replicate its first round offense against the nation’s 10th-ranked team and was left with a second round exit for the second year in a row.
The 2018 national runner-up shot just 42 percent against the game Gators, but pulled away with 19 points from sophomore Jordan Poole and more than eight points from four others.