Colleges/Gators

Gators lighten up

Victory for a Final Four berth lifts a burden for UF.

By BY ANTONYA ENGLISH
Published March 26, 2007

	The Florida Gators celebrate after winning the NCAA Midwest Regional Final at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis.
[Times photo: James Borchuck]

ADVERTISEMENT [Times photo: Brian Cassella] Florida's Taurean Green goes to the basket in the second half. [Times photo: James Borchuck] Lee Humphrey, left, makes a three point basket as Aaron Brooks, 0, right, tries in vain to block the shot in the second half. Humphrey had 23 points.

ST. LOUIS - The smile on Corey Brewer's face said quite a bit. His words said the rest.

As he sat in the victorious Florida locker room Sunday afternoon at the Edward Jones Dome, Brewer and his teammates admitted the weight of being the defending national champion has been resting heavily on their shoulders.

But as Florida celebrated its 85-77 win over Oregon in the Midwest Region final, and its second straight trip to the Final Four, the weight suddenly seemed lessened.

"I'm going to let ya'll know we're enjoying this win," said Brewer, the junior forward who had 14 points and five rebounds. "We're in the Final Four. It's still a little pressure because we still got to win two more games. But the wait is over. We're back in the Final Four."

Florida (33-5) plays UCLA (30-5) in the second game Saturday in a rematch of last year's NCAA Tournament championship. The Gators are the first defending national champion to reach the Final Four since Michigan State (2000 and 2001).

"I just really think about this and appreciate the opportunity that we're getting," junior forward Al Horford said. "Not a lot of teams get a chance to do this again."

After a seesaw first half, Florida led by as many as 10 with 8:16 remaining in the second half, but had to withstand a late rally. Oregon (29-8) pulled to within four on a 3-pointer by freshman guard Tajuan Porter with 17.2 seconds remaining, but top-seeded Florida hit 4 of 6 free throws to seal the win.

After senior guard Lee Humphrey hit back-to-back 3-pointers at 8:58 and 8:16 in the second half, the Gators didn't make another field goal. Florida went 18-of-28 from the free-throw line the rest of the way (28-of-43 total).

"Our guys battled and played," coach Billy Donovan said. "And it's not always pretty just because teams, the way they are coming out and playing us, but these guys just to continue to battle and compete and play. I'm very, very proud of them."

For much of the tournament, opponents tried to shut down UF's perimeter - particularly guards Humphrey and Taurean Green - leaving the frontcourt of Joakim Noah and Horford to dominate.

The third-seeded Ducks decided to double down on the frontcourt, which proved costly. Green and Humphrey combined for 44 points (23 for Humphrey, 21 for Green) and were 13-for-27 from the field and 11-for-21 from 3-point range. And while Horford was held to six points and Noah 14, Donovan said their ability to get the Ducks' frontcourt in foul trouble (two fouled out and guard Aaron Brooks had four fouls) was a key that won't show up on the stat sheet.

"I feel like we gave them too many 3-point shots in the game," Oregon coach Ernie Kent said.

The Gators held Porter, who had 33 points Friday against UNLV, to two field goals (10 points). Brooks had a game-high 27.

[Last modified March 25, 2007, 23:55:36]