Colleges

Titletown, Fla.

Gators topple Ohio State 84-75 to defend title.

By ANTONYA ENGLISH
Published April 3, 2007

The Gators raise the trophy after beating Ohio State for the national title. Photo gallery
	[Times photo: Brian Cassella]

ADVERTISEMENT [Times photo: James Borchuck] Al Horford, left, and Joakim Noah block a shot by Mike Conley Jr. in the second half.

ATLANTA

Among the many coaches, former athletes and celebrities Billy Donovan brought in as motivational speakers this season for his Florida basketball team, the ones that resonated most with the players were those who talked specifically about how to become repeat champions. It's impossible to get back to the mountaintop in the same manner the second time around, the players were repeatedly told. You have to find another way back to the top. On Monday night, in a Georgia Dome that has become like a second home to the Gators, Florida completed its alternate route on a seasonlong journey back to the top. With an 84-75 victory over Ohio State, Florida won the NCAA basketball championship, its second consecutive and second in school history.

It was the Gators' second straight win over Ohio State for a national title - the football team did it in January.

The Gators are the first team to win back-to-back national titles in 15 years. When the final buzzer sounded, juniors Corey Brewer and Taurean Green jumped onto the scorers table and starting screaming "We got two."

"I'm so proud of my guys," Donovan said. "I think this team should go down as one of the best teams in college basketball history. Not as the most talented, and not on style points. But because they encompassed what the word 'team' means. They did it the first year with no expectations, then they did it again with all the expectations."

Florida's victory was the second over Ohio State this season; the Gators defeated the Buckeyes 86-60 Dec. 3 in Gainesville. Until Monday night, Ohio State had been 8-0 over SEC teams in the NCAA Tournament.

Florida (35-5) finished the season on a 10-game winning streak, extended its postseason win streak to 18 and is 22-1 in postseason play over the past three years. The Gators have also won eight consecutive games at the Georgia Dome, including this season's SEC tournament.

"We had a little motivation," said Brewer, who was voted most outstanding player of the Final Four. "I think we proved we're a great team, not a good team." He was referring to OSU's Ron Lewis' statement on Sunday that Florida was just a good team.

"We're the best team to ever play college basketball," Brewer said.

Florida won its title in the same fashion it won the first one - and the same manner in which it has played together the past two seasons: as a team.

The Gators led 40-29 at halftime and led by as many as 14 (61-47) with 8:59 left. But Ohio State wasn't about to go down the way it did in the Dec. 23 loss in Gainesville.

The Buckeyes (35-4) slowly chipped away, aided by a 13-5 run. When heralded Buckeyes center Greg Oden hit two free throws with 5:03 left, Ohio State had pulled within 66-60.

But on the next possession, Green hit a 3-pointer, then senior forward Chris Richard and junior center Al Horford hit consecutive baskets, followed by two free throws from Horford -and the lead was 13 with 2:31 left.

When Richard fouled out with 2:20 left, Brewer walked over to his teammate and said: "Don't worry, we got this baby."

He was right.

"There are no words to describe this feeling," Noah said. "This is better than anything. People can talk all the want, but at the end of the day, we've got two championships. There's no lying in championships."

The first question in the postgame news conference had to do with Donovan's future as speculation continues to swirl about him and the vacancy at Kentucky.

"I just got off the court," Donovan said with a laugh. "Right here at the University of Florida. I'm going to enjoy this moment right now. All that stuff will be addressed, but now is not the time to address it as it wasn't when it got asked over the last week. It's all about these kids, our program and what happened. It was a good try, though."

Florida led at halftime, having recovered from a slow offensive start (5-of-13 in the opening eight minutes) and foul trouble for its big men. With a 24-22 lead with 5:37 remaining in the first half, Florida went on a 9-0 run - led by consecutive 3-pointers from Humphrey, Brewer and Green to take a 33-22 lead with just over four minutes.

But with 2:06 remaining in the half, Florida's big men - Horford, Noah and Richard were all saddled with foul trouble. Horford had one, Noah and Richard had two each.

In the first half, Noah was 0-for-2 from the field and had two points; Richard was 0-for-1 with one point and Horford was 2-of-7 with five points.

Meanwhile, Ohio State's 7-foot Oden was dominating inside. The Buckeyes outscored Florida 22-12 inside the paint and Oden had 11 points and seven rebounds.

But UF hit 6-of-9 from 3-point range (66.7 percent), while the Buckeyes hit 16.7 percent from beyond the arc (2-of-12).

Antonya English can be reached at english@sptimes.com.

[Last modified April 3, 2007, 06:10:52]