Big Players in NCAA March Madness

The Gators faught the good fight against the Bruins but have their work cut out for them against Ohio State.

The Florida Gators are in the NCAA finals again this season. They beat the UCLA Bruins in their Final Four match up, 76-66. The Gators shot 53% to UCLA’s 39% and from three-point land, hitting 40% to their opponent’s 22%. Even though UCLA shot a higher percentage from the free throw line, the Gators had 31 free throws to the Bruins’ 13 attempts and scored 19 free throw points which was 8 more than the Bruins.

Corey Brewer hit for 19 points, including going 4 for 5 from the 3 point mark. Al Horford and Joakim Noah both had 17 and 11 rebounds each. Lee Humphrey scored 14 points and Taurean Green scored 10 points and 3 assists. Chris Richard had 16 points and 4 rebounds.

The Gators blocked 6 shots and grabbed 46 rebounds to the Bruins’ 25. The biggest problem for the Gators were turnovers. They had the ball stolen from them 6 times and gave it up 16 times. They'll have a hard time making that up when they play against Ohio State. Even though the Gators are playing well this season, their biggest problem is in their ball handling. They don't not want to give the Buckeyes' more opportunities by handing the ball over to them. In addition, the Gators can't afford foul trouble given that they lack the reserve depth that Ohio State has.

The Ohio State Buckeyes beat the Georgetown Hoyas in their Final Four, 67 to 60 and covered the college basketball point spread. Ohio State hasn't made it to the finals for the NCAA basketball title since 1962. Now, they're taking on the reigning champions, the Gators. They beat the Hoyas by being more disciplined and committing 10 fouls to Georgetown’s 15, sending the Hoyas to the foul line only 8 times. Ohio State shot 19 frees and accumulated 13 points at the charity stripe to the Hoyas' 3.

Conley got 15 points, 6 assists and 5 rebounds. Ron Lewis scored 9 points, going 7 of 8 from the free throw line. Jamar Butler had 4 assists and scored 10 points. Oden had 9 rebounds and scored 13 points. Ivan Harris had 7 rebounds and scored 9 points. The Buckeyes scored 11 points and 10 rebounds. nn