STILL DANCING: Florida is next

UNIONDALE, N.Y. -- Having upset the sixth-seeded Nebraska Cornhuskers last night, the Penn men's basketball team advances to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1980. The 11th-seeded Quakers (25-2) face the third-seeded Florida Gators (27-7, 12-4 SEC) Saturday at Nassau Coliseum. The Gators defeated the 14th-seeded James Madison, 64-62, last night. "It's almost like an Ivy League weekend or a tournament situation where you are so focused on the first team that we haven't thought about Florida," Penn coach Fran Dunphy said. The Quakers' schedule for today includes a team breakfast and a practice at Nassau Coliseum from 2 p.m. to 3:30. Dunphy expects the team will also get a chance to kick back and watch the Madness on TV tomorrow evening. Dunphy admitted he wasn't too familiar with the Gators but he did scout them out at Villanova in December. On that night, Florida beat the Wildcats, 85-77, despite shooting 35 percent in the first half and committing 22 turnovers. That outing is typical of this year's Gator squad, which finished as runner-up in the Southeastern Conference tournament and set a school record for wins with 25. The Gators motto is "find a way," and so far it's fit the way they've pulled out victories. Last night's win against the Dukes was typical of that spirit as they were outrebounded 40-38, shot 30 percent from the field in the first half, were held to 18 points in the first stanza and shot 57 percent from the charity stripe for the game. The contest went down to the wire and was won by Florida on a layup by junior guard Dan Cross in which he beat the weak-side defense to the rim. That may not sound too impressive, but consider their lackluster stats against top teams they have beaten. Against Kentucky, the Gators shot 32 percent and went eight minutes in the second half without a field goal. Still they found a way to win 59-57. This is part of the reason they've been dubbed "Team Intangible" by the Gainesville media. The other reason is this team's main strength lies in its qualities of leadership, hustle, unselfish and hard-nosed play. Sound familiar? In fact, the Gators are very similar to the Quakers in that they are strong defensively, allowing 68.7 points per game, and hold opponents to 42-percent shooting. Also, their main strength is the backcourt of Cross and Craig Brown. Cross was a first-team all-SEC selection and averages 15.7 points and 3.8 assists per game. Brown averages 14.9 points per game and is the Gators' career trey leader with 171. Center Dametri Hill is Florida's fan favorite. The 6-foot-10 center weighs in at 286 pounds and that's after he lost 60 pounds this summer. Although Hill lumbers down the court, he has a surprisingly soft touch and a hook shot labelled "Da Meat Hook." Hill averages 12.7 points and 5.1 boards per game. While the Quakers haven't faced anyone quite as big as Hill, Dunphy is confident the Penn frontcourt rotation can handle him. "Eric [Moore] is pretty strong, Andy [Baratta] is very active and the other three guys, they'll be banging out there, so it shouldn't be a problem," Dunphy said. Forwards Andrew DeClercq and Brian Thompson round out the balanced starting lineup. The characteristic most disconcerting to the Quakers may be the Gators' ability to open up the second half with massive runs. Like Penn, Florida considers the first five minutes of the second stanza to be crucial. They play like it too, as 20 of its 32 games have been keyed by strong spurts. The Quakers' only losses this season were marred by strong runs by the opposition. Penn and Florida have met only once before. The matchup was in 1974 at the Rainbow Classic in Hawaii where the Quakers won 100-88. The Gators have a 5-4 all-time record in the NCAA Tournament. This is their first trip to the Dance under coach Lon Kruger, who has a 72-50 record in four years at Florida. Overall in his 12 seasons as a head coach, he is 204-55. Prior to coaching the Gators he was at Kansas State.

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