George Mason's run over, but it won't be forgotten

	Lamar Butler and George Mason became the first small-conference school to reach the Final Four since 1979. Streeter Lecka/Getty Images
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INDIANAPOLIS -- For the first time in three weeks, Lamar Butler wasn't smiling.

Florida's Lee Humphrey had just drained a 3-pointer over Butler's outstretched arm -- Humphrey's third within the first two minutes of the second half -- to lift the Gators to a rapidly widening 12-point lead. As Butler, whose seemingly perpetual grin had become a familiar image to those who have followed George Mason's magical NCAA tourney run, turned toward the Patriots' bench on his way back down court, a previously unseen look enveloped his face: that of frustration.

It was about this point in George Mason's Final Four game against Florida on Saturday it became apparent to all but the most blindly optimistic Patriots loyalists that, unlike in their previous upsets of Michigan State, North Carolina, Wichita State and Connecticut, the stars were not aligning for America's darlings. Mason had managed to stay within striking distance of the Gators in the first half, 31-26, despite failing to make a single 3-pointer and getting dominated on the glass, but as Humphrey and Florida made their 12-2 run to start the second period, it was clear Cinderella was not among those on hand at the RCA Dome.

"Basically, human nature comes into it, and these kids are human," Mason coach Jim Larranaga said following his team's 73-58 defeat. "They've played as consistently and as well as they're capable of playing for an extremely long time."

How did this night differ from Mason's previous four? Where to begin?

The open looks it had gotten against North Carolina and Connecticut weren't there, and the ones it did get didn't fall. The Patriots made just two 3-pointers the entire game, both late in the second half, and missed a slew of short-range looks. They hit just 11-of-29 shots (37.9 percent) in the first half and 2-of-11 3-pointers for the game.

Undersized post players Will Thomas and Jai Lewis, who had excelled all tournament, couldn't maneuver around Florida giants Joakim Noah (who had four blocks) and Al Horford like they did against UConn's Josh Boone and Hilton Armstrong. Having outrebounded the Huskies by three, they lost this battle of the boards by a decisive 40-27 margin.

But most of all, a Mason team that prides itself on its perimeter defense got torched by Florida's Humphrey (19 points on 6-of-12 3-pointers) and Corey Brewer (19 on 3-of-6).

"We didn't play Mason basketball," said a forlorn Butler. "All due respect to Florida, they're a great team, but we felt like this was a game we should have won."

Not that the Patriots didn't go down swinging. When Mason rallied from a 19-point deficit to cut it to 60-47 with 7:17 left, the Patriots' band belted out one last desperate edition of its signature anthem, Living On A Prayer, and Tony Skinn and Folarin Campbell provided one last glimmer of hope for the faithful, draining a 3-pointers to get back within single digits with 4:48 remaining.