JACKSONVILLE – One by one and from all corners of the Florida locker room on Friday, reporters peppered Gators players about recent history – a lot of history most of the players in the room has nothing to do with creating.
The theme of the questions had to do with why Florida had failed to advance past the first regional bracket of the NCAA Tournament.
The Gators, after all, lost to Villanova in the second round last March. They were upset by Manhattan in the first round in 2004, lost to Michigan State in the second round in 2003, lost to Creighton in the first round in 2002 and lost to Temple in the second round in 2001.
Reporters wanted to know, “Why, why, why, why?”
Florida sophomore sensation Joakim Noah, son of former French-African tennis star Yannick Noah, offered the reporters the most honest answer he could.
“A lot of us had nothing to do with those games,” Noah said. “Those games have nothing to do with this game. I know it’s your job as reporters and you have to ask those questions.”
Not anymore.
Not after yesterday’s convincing 82-60 rout of Wisconsin-Milwaukee at the Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Coliseum, a victory that has catapulted the Gators into the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2000, when they advanced to the NCAA title game.
This group appears poised to write its own history, creating an entirely new set of questions.
This Florida team – led by 23 points from Corey Brewer and 17 points, seven rebounds, six assists and four blocks from Noah – tied a school record for most wins in a season (29-6).
The Gators now advance to play the winner of today’s Georgetown-Ohio State game Friday in Minneapolis.
Wisconsin-Milwaukee, an upstart mid-major that was seeking its second Sweet 16 appearance in a row, finished its season 22-9. The Panthers were led by Adrian Tigert, who led all scorers with 27 points on 11-of-13 shooting.
Florida took an eight-point lead into halftime and never looked back, at one point forging to its largest lead 80-56 with three minutes remaining. As the second half wore on, the Gators kept pulling further ahead.
The Gators got off to a fast start and looked poised to blow open the game in the first have when it took a 24-11 lead.
Wisconsin-Milwaukee, with a 9-0 run, cut the Gators’ lead to 24-20 before falling behind 34-26 at the half.
Noah led the way in the first half with nine points, four rebounds and four assists in the first 20 minutes. Brewer scored eight first-half points.
For the Panthers, Tigert had 10 points in the first half and Boo Davis had eight. They combined to shoot 7-of-12 while the rest of the team went an abysmal 3-of-18 in the first 20 minutes.
The Gators shot 53.6 percent for the game while the Panthers shot only 36.1 percent. The Gators out-rebounded the Panthers 41-33.
Florida, which had never played Wisconsin-Milwaukee before, is now 4-0 all-time in this arena. The Gators are now 7-0 in neutral-site games this season.
mark.cannizzaro@nypost.com