Brewer leads Gators past Hoyas

Florida will play top-seeded Villanova on Sunday in a regional final.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Florida's Corey Brewer made one basket in the second half, and he made it count.
Brewer's tie-breaking, falling-down shot turned into a three-point play with 27.5 seconds left lifted the third-seeded Gators to a 57-53 victory over Georgetown Friday in the Minneapolis Regional semifinals.
Brewer and rest of Florida's super sophomores are erasing memories of the Gators' recent tournament failures. The Gators hadn't been past the second round since 2000, when Mike Miller led Florida to the championship game.
Those Gators tied a school record for victories, set by their 1993-94 Final Four team. These Gators have done them both one better in the win column.
Florida (30-6) will play top-seeded Villanova on Sunday in the final, with the winner advancing to next weekend's Final Four in Indianapolis.
Strong effort
Joakim Noah had 15 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks in yet another all-around effort. Fellow sophomore Taurean Green scored 13 points, and Al Horford, yep, another sophomore, added 12 points to give the Gators what they needed to get past the tenacious, seventh-seeded Hoyas (23-10).
On a wild possession with a bunch of misses, thanks mostly to Georgetown's swarming interior defense, Brewer was the last one to grab the ball on the right wing. He threw up an off-balance shot that somehow went in as he fell to the court and got fouled by Bowman.
After whirling around and pumping his fist, Brewer made the free throw, making it 55-53.
Georgetown had a great chance to take the lead, when Brewer got faked out by Darrel Owens at the top of the key. Owens had a wide-open 3-pointer, but it bounced off the back of the rim. Horford was fouled and made two free throws to make it 57-53 with 6.6 seconds remaining.
Jeff Green led the Hoyas with 15 points, and Ashanti Cook added 12 points -- as their team's quest for a Final Four return fell two wins short.
Coaching legacy
Coach John Thompson III, his father wearing a headset across the court as part of his broadcasting duties, brought Georgetown to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2001.
On the verge of restoring the dominance that the elder Thompson oversaw in the 1980s, the Hoyas came to the Metrodome in search of their first berth in the regional final since 1996. They haven't been to a Final Four since 1985, when they lost to Villanova for the national championship.
Bowman had 10 points and seven rebounds, as did Roy Hibbert -- the fulcrum of the Hoyas' motion offense that never quite got going. They played the defense they wanted, keeping their opponent under 60 points as they often do.
But Florida was just as tough with its backs to the basket, choking the passing lanes, bothering Hibbert inside and forcing Georgetown to shoot 5-for-21 from 3-point range.
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