Florida, Ohio State Reach NCAA Basketball Championship Game
Only Ohio State can prevent the University of Florida from becoming college basketball's first repeat champion in 15 years.
Florida beat UCLA 76-66 and Ohio State defeated Georgetown 67-60 yesterday to advance to the National Collegiate Athletic Association tournament final. The Gators and Buckeyes will play for the title tomorrow night at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.
A win will make Florida (34-5) the first team to defend its NCAA championship since Duke in 1992. Ohio State (35-3) won its only national title in 1960.
It will be their second meeting this season after the Gators won 86-60 on Dec. 23. It will also be the second time in three months schools meet for a title as Florida beat Ohio State for the football championship in January.
``This is the matchup everybody wanted to see -- Ohio State and Florida -- because of what happened in football,'' Florida's Joakim Noah told reporters after the game. ``It's a great matchup between two big programs and there's a lot of history at stake.''
Corey Brewer scored 19 points and Chris Richard added 16 as Florida ended UCLA's tournament run for the second straight season. The Gators downed the Bruins 73-57 in last year's final.
Florida scored 10 straight points late in the first half to break a 16-16 tie and would lead by six at halftime. Florida went on a 12-0 run in the second half to push its lead to 44-28 and UCLA (30-6) wouldn't threaten.
Josh Shipp had 18 points for UCLA, which was looking for its NCAA-record extending 12th title.
Foul Trouble
In the opening game, Ohio State overcame foul trouble for All-American center Greg Oden to win its 22nd straight game. Oden sat out all but three minutes of the first half and 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 in a news conference. ``In the second half, I just wanted to go out and play hard.''
Fellow freshman Mike Conley Jr. scored 15 points as the Buckeyes reached the championship game for the first time since 1962.
Roy Hibbert and Jonathan Wallace each scored 19 points for Georgetown (30-7). The 7-foot-2 Hibbert was also hampered by fouls and was out of the game when Ohio State took the lead for good in the second half.
Georgetown's Jeff Green, the Big East Conference player of the year, scored just nine points and took only five shots. Green, who finished with 12 rebounds, had been averaging 15.8 points during the NCAA tournament.
``We had a great season,'' Green told reporters. ``We beat some of the top teams in the nation to make it to this point, but tonight wasn't our night.''
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