How frustrating it must have been for Ohio State to watch Oden block shot after shot, only to see the Gators grab the rebound and feed back out to Lee Humphrey for a 3.

That happened twice in the second half, both times when an Oden block looked like it might spark Ohio State, which kept the game in reach but couldn’t get the deficit below six.

“The difference was they made some incredible plays, and we took away what we wanted to take away,” OSU coach Thad Matta said. “They were shooting runners in. When you’re playing a great team like Florida and those guys step up and make the plays, there’s not a lot you can do. They made some incredible plays on us.”

Green finished 3-for-3 from 3-point range and Humphrey was his usual killer self, going 4-for-7 and scoring 14 points. Florida’s versatility showed most in the first half when those two and Brewer (13 points) hit back-to-back-to-back 3s to push Florida’s lead to double digits.

Horford had a monster game, bodying up with the 7-foot Oden on defense and more than holding his own on the other end. Those runners Matta was talking about — a bunch came from Horford, who spotted up and made three 15-plus-foot jumpers and twisted and turned for a few more hoops.

Clearly, another year in college has helped this 6-10 junior, who no looks every bit like a lottery pick.

Noah, on the other hand, probably sacrificed the most. He might have been the top pick had he left last season, but the presence of Oden and Kevin Durant, to say nothing of Noah’s dwindling stats, have pushed him down.

He finished with eight points and three rebounds in this one, but big individual numbers were never the point with the Gators this year.

They came back for the championship and anything less would have felt hollow.

But there will be no regrets. Instead, how about a nice little debate about the best programs of all time?

“It’s in the book,” Noah said. “It’s not going anywhere.”

Slide show   Week in Sports Pictures Flying on the hardwood, racing on the rink, getting physical on the gridiron, and much more. more photos

Repeats will almost certainly go down as a rarity in this age of one-year-and-done college players, and nobody in the last 15 years — even before the NBA money started skyrocketing — could do it anyway.

“Kids don’t stay long when they have a high level of success,” Donovan said. “To keep a program together these days, it’s very, very hard. Twenty years ago, all the kids would be coming back and the whole thing would start, ‘now can you three-peat?”’

There were, indeed, a few fans yelling: “One more year. One more year. One more year,” as the trophy presentation began.

Nothing wrong with dreaming, right?

In a way, though, the Gators have already lived out their dream.

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