The No. 15 Florida Gulf Coast Eagles advanced to the Sweet 16 of the 2013 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament after defeating the No. 7 San Diego State Aztecs 79-65. Florida Golf Coast became the first team to advance to the Sweet 16 and they could thank Sherwood Brown, Bernard Thompson and cold streaks by San Diego St. that allowed the Eagles to run away with this one.
Everything FGCU threw up was falling and at one point they had a 17-0 run as San Diego St. couldn't buy a shot in the second half of this ball game. FGCU's leaders held it down on defense and offense. Brown had 17 points and eight rebounds, while Thompson added 23 points, five steals and two assists. They were composed throughout the game and their defense immediately led to offense as they hit over 55 percent of their shots. They forced 14 turnovers and were finishing easily at the basket.
This game wasn't a blowout until midway into the second half when San Diego St. didn't score in over six minutes of action. At the conclusion of the first half, however, the scoreboard read 35-34 in favor of San Diego St. Lead changes dictated the early flow of the second period as both teams were toe-to-toe for about the first 10 minutes of the half.
San Diego St. scored a bucket on a Xavier Thames layup. That was with 11:35 left to play. They wouldn't score again until Thames shot a jumper with four minutes remaining in the game. By that point, however, it was 71-54 in favor of FGCU and they continued attacking the hoop.
San Diego St. shot 44 percent from the floor, which isn't terrible, but they simply chose a bad time to miss their buckets. At one point, before the closing of the game, they attempted to put on a full court press that eventually failed as FGCU was able to move the ball freely up court.
They are definitely the true Cinderella team of the tournament. Next up, they will play in an interstate matchup as they face the Florida Gators in the Sweet 16 of the Men's Basketball Tournament.
