By Rachel George, Orlando Sentinel
PHOENIX ? Bradley Beal made somewhat of a sheepish grin at the question. Was this your best game, the Florida freshman was asked.
He guessed so. Whatever bit of uncertainty the Gators' best player had in answering that was missing from his teammates and coaches.
It is largely because of Beal that the Gators are headed back to the Elite Eight. He led them on Thursday as they took a 68-58 win over No. 3 Marquette at the US Airways Center in the West Region semifinal
Beal finished one shy of his career-high with 21 points, making 8-of-10 shots on a night when the rest of the Gators (26-10) struggled shooting the ball. He added six rebounds, four assists, two steals, two blocks and two turnovers.
"Without Brad tonight, we definitely don't win that game," said senior Erving Walker, who added 11 points. "Our defense was great, but we still needed to put the ball in the hole and he was the guy to do that for us tonight."
Seventh-seeded Florida now finds itself in the Elite Eight for the second consecutive year and sixth time in program history. Waiting for the Gators (26-10) is No. 4 Louisville, a 57-44 winner over No. 1 Michigan State on Thursday.
The regional final pits mentor against prot?g? as Louisville's Rick Pitino will coach against Billy Donovan, the player that helped lead Providence to the Final Four 25 years ago. Fittingly, the Friars played in New Orleans, the site of this year's Final Four and where the winner of Saturday's game will advance to.
"I really do think the game is really about the players who are playing in the game," said Donovan, who called Pitino the most influential person in his life besides his parents.
"The competition part of it will never, ever get in the way with me for our relationship, ever."
Donovan has to like his chances of getting to his fourth Final Four with the contributions he's getting throughout his lineup now.
Beal ? who is projected as a top-five pick in the NBA Draft ? has led the Gators in the postseason. In their five SEC or NCAA tournament games, he is averaging 17 points and 8.2 rebounds per game while making 53.8 percent of his shots and 43.3 percent from 3-point range. He also has an assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.0.
"Nothing against Erving Walker, nothing against Kenny Boynton, Erik Murphy, Patric Young. But in a lot of ways, I think Bradley Beal is their swing vote," said Marquette coach Buzz Williams. "He plays multiple positions, whether they're small, whether they're big. He can beat you off the bounce using their ball screens, he can catch and shoot."
But Beal hasn't been the only one making contributions. Murphy had a season-high 10 rebounds, Young added nine and Boynton scored 11 points. Once again, the Gators got good minutes out of Casey Prather and Mike Rosario ? two players with limited roles during the regular season who have become more reliable in the postseason.
The bench contributed 11 points in the first half as Florida took a 36-30 halftime lead. The Gators took their biggest lead of the game early in the second half when Murphy and Beal made back-to-back 3-pointers to put them ahead 48-34. Prior to that basket, Murphy was 0-for-7 from the floor and 0-for-4 from 3-point range.
"Coach just told me to keep shooting if I was open. Obviously, I had a terrible shooting night," said Murphy, who finished with seven points after making 3-of-13 shots.
"If shots don't fall, you've gotta try to do other things and they didn't fall tonight."
UF went 4:08 without scoring and the Golden Eagles (27-8) got as close as within six as Todd Mayo's 3-pointer made it 58-52 Florida with 3:16 to play. They got to within seven in the final minute, but Boynton hit 5-of-6 free throws to seal the win.
The win put Florida in its sixth regional final in program history and set up the coaching matchup between two close friends. After losing three seniors from a frontcourt that led them to this round last season, these Gators overcame four losses in the five games leading up to the NCAA Tournament.
Now, they're one win away from the school's fifth Final Four.
"It's hard. It's really hard," Donovan said of getting to back-to-back regional finals. "We're a lot younger and a lot different and play a lot different than we did a year ago."
Copyright ? 2012, Orlando Sentinel
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