March 31, 2007

By PA SportsTicker
Florida and Ohio State battled for the national championship on
the gridiron.  The schools also will fight for a title on the
hardwood.
In a rematch that resembled last year's national title game,
Florida again overpowered and frustrated UCLA en route to a
76-66 victory Saturday in the second semifinal at the Georgia
Dome in Atlanta.
With Greg Oden battling foul trouble and fellow big man Roy
Hibbert, freshman Mike Conley Jr. helped carry Ohio State to a
67-60 victory over Georgetown in the first semifinal.
Seeking to become the first team since Duke in 1992 to repeat as
national champion, Florida (34-5) will meet Ohio State (35-3)
for the title Monday night.
Less than four months ago, Florida won the national title in
college football with a 41-14 rout of Ohio State.  Gators
football coach Urban Meyer and Buckeyes coach Jim Tressel were
in the stands Saturday night.
Just like last April, when they rolled to a 73-57 over UCLA in
the the title game, Florida proved to be too good as it won its
11th straight NCAA Tournament contest.
Corey Brewer again harassed Bruins star Arron Afflalo on the
defensive end, while also scoring 19 points to pace the Gators,
who took control of the game with a 12-0 run early in the second
half.
Chris Richard and Al Horford dominated the interior and
sharpshooter Lee Humphrey also made his presence felt for
Florida, which is 23-1 in March the last three seasons.
Richard scored 16 points, Horford grabbed 17 rebounds and
Humphrey made four 3-pointers and finished with 14 points.
Richard's dunk with 13:51 remaining gave the Gators a 44-28
cushion.  They never were threatened thereafter by the Bruins
(30-6), who came to the Final Four in search of their 12th
title.
A victory over the Buckeyes would be extra special for the
unselfish Gators, who returned all five starters from last
season's team in hope of winning another title.
The Gators will be looking for another repeat.  They coasted to
an 86-60 victory over the Buckeyes in Gainesville on December
23.
Afflalo, who scored 24 points in the West Region final win over
Kansas, again was taken out of his game by Brewer.  He picked up
two quick fouls, struggled with his shot and scored 17 points -
most of them coming when the outcome already had been decided.
Afflalo scored 10 points on 3-of-10 shooting in last year's
title game.
In the second round of last season's NCAA Tournament when Oden
and Conley were high school teammates, Georgetown coasted to a
70-52 victory over Ohio State.  It was a different story this
time around.
With Roy Hibbert forced to the bench with under nine minutes
remaining, Oden and Ohio State went on a decisive run to turn
back Georgetown (30-7).
Despite being with saddled with three fouls himself, Oden was
inserted into the game when Hibbert picked up his fourth
attempting to box out Othello Hunter on a long rebound with 8:50
left and the contest tied at 44-44.
"There was a foul I got for holding somebody," Hibbert said.  "I
just needed to make smarter decisions when I was out there."
After failing to score in the first half, Oden had a inside
layup and a free throw during a 10-2 spurt, with Jamar Butler's
3-pointer capping it for a 54-46 advantage with 5:47 remaining.
With their 22nd consecutive win, the Buckeyes will play for the
title for the first time since losing to Cincinnati in
consecutive years from 1961-62.
Despite playing just three minutes in the first half due to two
fouls, Oden finished with 13 points and nine rebounds.
"It was real tough in the first half, just sitting there,
because I wanted to contribute," Oden said.
Keeping the Buckeyes afloat in Oden's early absence was Conley,
who scored 11 of his 15 points before the break.  He also had
six assists against one turnover.
"When (Oden) came out of the game, all of us had that mind set
that we had to step up our level of play," Conley said.  "We had
to pick it up the best we could.  I felt I did that in the
first half."
Being sloppy with the ball is what doomed Georgetown, which
finished with 14 turnovers, leading to 22 points for Ohio State.
"At times, we got a little careless with the ball," said Hoyas
guard Jonathan Wallace, whose team averaged just 10 turnovers in
the previous four games of the tournament.  "It's kind of
uncharacteristic of us.  We just had to fight through it but
kind of came up on the short end."
Wallace also scored 19 points and Jeff Green added nine and 12
boards for the Hoyas, who failed to advance to the title game
for the first time in five trips to the Final Four.