NEW YORK _ It's over.
Florida's run through the NCAA Tournament ended Sunday as the Gators bumbled their way through a rough second half and watched South Carolina pull away for a 77-70 victory in the East Region final.
The Gators, who went into halftime riding a wave of momentum, left it in the locker room for the final 20 minutes and South Carolina took advantage. The Gamecocks clinched the school's first trip to the Final Four, where they will face West Region winner Gonzaga.
Florida missed all 14 of its second-half 3-point attempts and was a frigid 11 of 35 (31 percent) from the field in the final 20 minutes.
Now the Gators will have to watch SEC foe South Carolina, behind a second-half surge by conference player of the year Sindarius Thornwell, carry the league torch to Glendale, Ariz., during the Final Four. Thornwell scored eight straight points during a two-minute span in the second half, turning a 57-55 UF lead into a 61-59 South Carolina advantage with 4:54 left.
The Gators went nearly six minutes in the middle of the second half without a field goal and were 0-for-9 from 3-point range in the first 12 minutes of the final period, but South Carolina couldn't put the Gators away.
KeVaughn Allen's floating prayer as the shot clock expired banked high off the glass and in, giving UF a 55-53 lead with 7:17 left.
While UF struggled to string together enough buckets late in the game, the Gators showed signs they could extend their magical March during the first half.
Florida took control early with a barrage of 3-pointers. Chris Chiozza's banked 3 as the shot clock ran out showed things were going the Gators way. UF hit five consecutive 3-pointers, including two by Justin Leon, and UF turned a 24-20 deficit into a 35-30 lead in a three-minute span.
The Gators' momentum allowed them to overcome 11 first-half turnovers and sparked them to a 40-33 halftime lead, leaving UF just 20 minutes away from a Final Four trip to the desert.
Leon was on fire in the first half. He came out of the gates ready to roll with the Gators' first two buckets and he had 13 points, including three 3-pointers, by halftime.
Florida fed off Leon's offensive energy, hitting 7 of 12 3s and 56 percent of its overall floor shot (14 of 25) in the first half.
The offensive explosion, however, didn't last and Leon was among the Gators left to trudge off the floor as South Carolina celebrated its upcoming trip to the Final Four.
