Jojo Doria

Bradley Beal recorded 14 points and 11 rebounds and Casey Prather added 14 off the bench and the Florida Gators crushed the Virginia Cavaliers, 71-45, in the second round of the NCAA tournament.

The Gators advanced to the next round of the NCAA tourney following their mastery over the Cavaliers in front of a raucous crowd at the CenturyLink Center Omaha.

Looking for its third NCAA title in seven years, Florida went toe-to-toe with Virginia early on before building a 30-22 cushion at the break.

Young, who shot 6-for-6 from the field, opened the second half with two thunderous slam dunks to set the tone for the 7th-seeded Gators.

Behind forward Mike Scott, Virginia tried to mount a comeback down the stretch but it was not enough to topple the Gators, who aim to make a deep run in the tourney.

Scott recorded 15 points and 6 rebounds, while Sammy Zeglinski and Jontel Evans recorded 8 points and 5 dimes each in the losing effort for Virginia.

Florida will next take on No. 15 seed Norfolk State, which pulled off a stunning victory over No.2 seed and NCAA tourney contender Missouri, 86-84, Friday.