Florida fought, and fought, and fought. But the short-handed Gators just didn't have enough to win a third straight road game in the NIT — especially not in Washington, D.C., on George Washington's home floor, with the Colonials shooting the lights out from inside the arc.
George Washington made 23 of 41 two-pointers, a 56 percent clip, and pounded the Gators with 15 offensive rebounds, paving the way for an 82-77 victory that sends the Colonials to Madison Square Garden for an NIT semifinal.
For the Gators, that inability to stop the Colonials inside was the biggest problem for a team that sorely missed its biggest player.