US NCAA: Florida Gators win 30th straight, enter Final Four with win over Dayton Flyers 

MEMPHIS - Guard Scottie Wilbekin tied his career high with 23 points as top-seeded Florida proved to be too much for 11th-seeded Dayton, 62-52, on Saturday night in the NCAA South Regional Final at FedExForum to earn a berth in the Final Four.

Florida (36-2) won its 30th consecutive game.

This is the school's fifth trip to the Final Four and the fourth under coach Billy Donovan, who won his 450th game at Florida in 18 seasons.

Wilbekin, who voted the South Regional's Most Outstanding Player, hit 3-of-5 three-pointers and scored eight of Florida's 21 points at the free-throw line. Dayton scored only six points from the line.

The Gators controlled the paint, outscoring Dayton, 24-18, inside and out-rebounded the Flyers, 37-26.

Center Patric Young had 12 points and six rebounds for Florida, guard Michael Frazier II scored 10 points and forward Dorian Finney-Smith pulled down nine rebounds to go with five points.

Dayton (26-11) reached the Elite Eight for the first time in 30 years.

Trailing by 14 points at halftime, the Flyers opened the second half with back-to-back three-pointers to cut the lead to 38-30 at the 18:52 mark, when Donovan called a quick timeout.

Florida then went on a 15-6 run to hike its lead to 53-36 at 11:25.

Dayton made one last charge as forward Dyshawn Pierre, who had 18 points, scored nine straight for his team and got the Flyers to within 58-50 with 3:55 to play.

But the Flyers never drew closer.

Flyers forward Devin Oliver finished with 12 points and six rebounds.

Florida shot 37. 5 percent (18-for-48), and Dayton shot 38.6 percent (19-for-48).

Florida led, 38-24, at halftime, closing on a 19-3 run that took the Gators from down two points at 21-19 with 6:28 to play, to solid command of the game.

The half ended with Gators guard Scottie Wilbekin holding the ball for the last shot, and then off the dribble rising and hitting a straight-way three-pointer over a Dayton defender.

Wilbekin led all scorers with 14 first-half points

Dayton, which shot 31 percent for the half and 40 percent from three-point range (4-for-10), missed the first four three-pointers it took. But forward Devin Oliver's trey at the 12:53 mark, cut Florida's lead to 13-10, and started a string of four straight three-pointers by the Flyers.

The last of those, from freshman guard Scoochie Smith, gave the Flyers their only lead, at 21-19. It finished an 8-0 Dayton run.

Dayton had a 12-5 edge in bench points through the first 20 minutes. The Gators outscored the Flyers, 18-6, in the paint for the half. - Reuters