ATLANTA “”mdash; UCLA fell short in its second attempt to take down Florida. Now, Ohio State gets its own chance for redemption in tonight’s national title game.
Back in December, the Buckeyes (35-3) were slaughtered by the Gators (34-5) 86-60 in Gainesville, Fla., in a game that was nationally televised.
But the Buckeyes’ freshmen Mike Conley Jr. and Greg Oden aren’t normal freshmen anymore, and this time, the stakes are higher.
They are playing for the national title game.
“It was embarrassing,” Buckeye junior guard Jamar Butler said.
“As soon as that game was over, I wanted to play them again. … They outplayed us in every aspect of the game ““ hustle plays, knocking down big shots. They did everything good that game.
“We have a totally different team now. The way we’re playing right now, we would beat (our team in December) by 26.”
The Gators, on the other hand, made a statement against UCLA on Saturday about their toughness as a team. The Gators shellacked the court with the Bruins for the second consecutive year, dominating UCLA on both ends of the floor.
It was the same type of effort the Gators have shown all season as they try to become the first school to win three combined national titles in football and basketball within the course of a year.
The Gators are already the first team in NCAA history to own the football and basketball titles at the same time.
“I feel like right now we realize that it’s not about history,” Florida junior forward Joakim Noah said.
“We have to do what we do and that’s just play basketball for 40 minutes and focus on the task at hand, and then hopefully, we’re back here to talk about that.”
Ohio State and Florida also faced each other earlier this year in the BCS Championship game. The Gators were victorious and that loss serves as just another motivating factor for the Buckeyes.
“We want to win this game for our football team,” freshman guard Mike Conley Jr. said. “Seeing them lose that one hurt. It says a lot about both athletic programs to be in these games.”
Ohio State played its strongest game of the NCAA Tournament in their semifinal game against Georgetown on Saturday. The Buckeyes pulled away late behind a heroic effort by Oden, winning by a final score of 67-60.
After picking up two quick offensive fouls in the first three minutes of the first half, Oden came back with a vengeance in the second half, getting the best of Georgetown junior center Roy Hibbert.
Oden finished with 13 points and nine rebounds in his 17 second-half minutes.
“I just sat back and watched my teammates take over,” Oden said. “They did a great job in the first half rebounding without me in there. In the second half, I just wanted to come in and impact the game.”
The Buckeyes will need a similar performance from Oden against Florida. The Gators have beaten their opponents by an average of 15.2 points per game in NCAA play, and they have won their last three NCAA Final Four games by at least double digits.
When UCLA sophomore point guard Darren Collison was asked after his team’s loss on Saturday if he thought Florida would beat Ohio State, he didn’t even hesitate.
“If they play as well as they did against us, yeah,” Collison said.