Florida flies past OSU for second straight title
Gators first to repeat in 15 years; Buckeyes hurt by poor 3-point shooting
Hans Deryk / ReutersThe Florida Gators celebrate after defeating the Ohio State Buckeyes for their second straight national title.
updated 1:55 a.m. ET April 3, 2007
ATLANTA - The Florida Gators took a chomp out of NCAA history with the repeat they simply had to have.
Now they want more. They want to be called one of the best teams of all time.
The Gators made their case Monday night with an 84-75 victory over Ohio State to capture the second straight national championship that was their only reasonable goal this season.
They became the first team to go back-to-back since Duke in 1992 and the first ever to repeat with the same starting five.
“I think this team should go down as one of the best teams in college basketball history,” coach Billy Donovan said. “Not as the most talented, and not on style points — but because they encompassed what the word ’team’ means.”
Al Horford had 18 points and 12 rebounds, Taurean Green had 16 points and Greg Oden’s 25 points and 12 rebounds weren’t enough for Ohio State (35-4) to stop the Gators (35-5) from completing the quest they set upon when all the starters delayed their NBA plans for a try at another title.
“We all love each other and we all love playing with each other,” Green said. “People made huge sacrifices. They all came back for this and wouldn’t have been satisfied without it.”
While the debate about the best teams of all time can truly begin, there is no denying that Florida’s overall athletic program is the best in the nation.
This win completes a 2007 championship-game sweep of the Buckeyes in the two biggest college sports — men’s hoops and football. Florida, a 41-14 winner in the football title game in January, remains the only program in history to hold both championships at the same time.
“I’ve said it a thousand times — once you think you’ve got it all figured out, you get in trouble,” Florida athletic director Jeremy Foley said. “We’re just enjoying tonight.”
The celebration looked much the same as last year. Lots of jersey tugging, jumping onto press row and Joakim Noah running into the stands to hug it out with loved ones.
Donovan added another gold star to his resume, which figures to command more than his current $1.7 million next season, whether he returns to Florida or bolts for a possible job offer at Kentucky.
“Right here at the University of Florida, I’m going to enjoy this moment right now,” Donovan said. “All that stuff will be addressed, but now isn’t the time to address it.”
His job this season was hardly just a matter of rolling the ball out there. He had to keep everyone motivated and focused — at first when things seemed too easy, then later when the Gators lost three of four toward the end of the regular season.
They finished with a 10-game winning streak and haven’t lost a postseason game in 18 tries, counting sweeps at the Southeastern Conference tournaments the last two years.
But all teams, no matter how good, need something to fire them up. On Sunday, the Gators found it when Ohio State’s Ron Lewis labeled Florida only “good,” not “great” or “excellent.”
Lewis probably shouldn’t have gone there.
“Great teams never lose to good teams,” forward Chris Richard said. “It’s special and it speaks for itself. We’re now part of history.”
All season — including in the 86-60 victory over Ohio State in December — the Gators have morphed into whatever kind of team they needed to be to win, and this one was no different.
Stopping Oden figured to be the key, but really it was more complex than that. The 7-foot freshman, who may be one-year-and-done with the NBA beckoning, stayed out of foul trouble and played 38 minutes — just what the Buckeyes figured they needed to have a chance.
Florida’s focus, however, was more on stopping the rest of the team. Oden drew mostly single coverage when the ball went into the post. Donovan played a lot of zone and mixed his big men in and out. Horford, Richard and Noah all took turns, and 6-10 freshman Marreese Speights was added to the mix to give Florida five more fouls to play with.
“They had four bodies running in at me,” Oden said. “Chris Richard, I swear he plays on the football team.”
Oden had to work for his points and Ohio State couldn’t take advantage of any other matchups, especially on the perimeter. Ivan Harris was the only Buckeye to make a 3-pointer over the first 39-plus minutes of the game, and he finished 2-for-8. Mike Conley Jr. finished with 20 points for Ohio State, but lots of them came late after the Buckeyes were playing big-time catch-up.
Meanwhile, one thing Florida has always been able to do is shoot the ball — a nation-leading 53 percent this year — and Monday night was no exception. The Gators went 10-for-18 from 3-point range.
And Florida also had quicker hands.
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