Oft-injured reserve bails out Villanova against Florida

Monday, March 21, 2005 | 8:59 a.m.

SUN WIRE SERVICES

Curtis Sumpter limped to the Villanova locker room with a knee injury with 7:51 remaining in the first half of the Wildcats' second-round NCAA tournament game against Florida.

Villanova would have to go the rest of the way without Sumpter, the team's most complete player.

"If there was one guy I didn't think we could win without, it was Curtis Sumpter," Villanova coach Jay Wright said.

But Jason Fraser, a 6-foot-10 reserve from Amityville, N.Y., who has been plagued by injuries throughout his college career, filled the void. Fraser had 21 points and 15 rebounds in Villanova's 76-65 victory Sunday against Florida (24-8) in Nashville, Tenn.

"I wish Sumpter would have played because that means Jason Fraser wouldn't have had the game he had," Florida coach Billy Donovan said.

The Wildcats (24-7) will need a major upset to advance to the region final, but at least they will be playing on a familiar Big East Conference court in Syracuse. North Carolina, considered by many to be the favorite to win the national title, awaits Villanova at the Carrier Dome.

The fourth-seeded Gators were led by David Lee, who had 20 points, 10 rebounds, three blocks and three steals. But Lee, a 6-9 senior forward, fouled out with 3:09 remaining and the Gators trailing, 68-58. He picked up four fouls in the second half while battling Fraser for rebounds.

Fraser has sustained a broken hand, broken foot and torn ligaments in his knee in the three seasons he has been at Villanova. Against Florida, he had nine offensive rebounds, and he went to the free-throw line 17 times. He was 11 of 17 from the line and 5 of 9 from the floor.

"All year, everyone has been worrying about our guards, and somewhere along the line the inside came open and I was fortunate enough to have the Florida defense not paying that much attention to the inside," Fraser said.

Villanova had 17 offensive rebounds and outrebounded Florida, 44-34. Rebounding had been one of the Gators' strengths this season -- they outrebounded Kentucky by 17 in the Southeastern Conference tournament championship game -- but they could not contend with Fraser, who played 30 minutes against Florida, 10 higher than his season average.

The Wildcats were ahead, 39-32, at halftime, but the lead nearly slipped away four minutes into the second half. Florida hit its first four shots and closed the gap to 44-43 with 16:16 remaining.

But Lee, who had been the focus of the Gators' offense, picked up his third foul with 15:56 to play and went to the bench. Florida went 7:18 without scoring.

Williams scored 20 points -- tying his season high for the second consecutive game -- and Rashad McCants added 17 for North Carolina (29-4), which went to the Final Four in 2000 before the tournament drought. Now, coach Roy Williams has the Tar Heels back in a region semifinal in his second season, the 10th time he's made it that far in 17 NCAA tournament appearances.

Wilkinson and Morland, two 6-foot-8 forwards, consistently put themselves in all the right places, especially when things were tight in the second half, carrying the Badgers to victory in the second round of the Syracuse Region and sending 14th-seeded Bucknell back to its Pennsylvania campus with plenty to be proud of.

Morley, who was shut out in 28 minutes of a first-round win over Northern Iowa, was 6-of-7 from the field with three 3-pointers and 15 points. His tap-in with 8:41 left put the Badgers (24-8) ahead for good, then he protected the lead with rebounds on the next two defensive stands.