Gators draw high praise from UCLA players

Reeves Nelson, one of the key players on the UCLA basketball team that lost to Florida in Saturday’s Southeast Region game at the St. Pete Times Forum, believes the Gators can go far in the tournament.

“I can definitely see them in the Elite Eight and possibly the Final Four, whoever comes from the top of the bracket. So they're a good team, they can beat you a lot of different ways, and they definitely earned our respect today,” said Reeves who had 16 points and a team high 11 rebounds in the Bruins 73-65 loss to the Gators.

UCLA forward Tyler Honeycutt, who had 13 points and four assists, believes Florida has something very special in their diminutive junior guard Erving Walker, who scored 10 points in the final four minutes to carry the Gators to their victory.

“You don't see too many point guards who are 5'8" these days,” Honeycutt said. “Point guards are usually bigger. He can shoot from almost 30 feet. It's hard to get out there on him because he's so quick and so able to get to the basket.