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ATLANTA, Georgia: Corey Brewer hit four
three-pointers and scored 19 points as top-seeded Florida once again
manhandled No. 2 UCLA with a 76-66 win in the NCAA Tournament’s
national semifinals.
Following up on last year’s
73-57 rout of the Bruins in the national championship game, the
Gators (34-5) moved another step closer to becoming the first team
since Duke in 1992 to win back-to-back titles.
They will face Ohio State for the
championship on Monday.
The Buckeyes defeated the
Georgetown Hoyas, 67-60, to reach their first national title game
since 1962.
Joakim Noah and Al Horford, who combined for 30 points and
16 rebounds in last year’s meeting, were nearly as dominant with
the numbers, finishing with 17 points and 28 boards for the Gators
on Saturday.
Noah, the son of French tennis
legend Yannick Noah, scored eight points on 3-of-7 shooting from the
field in 33 minutes of floor time.
“Last year our motto was PHD:
Poor, hungry and driven,” Noah said. “This year, I feel like our
motto is ‘Poor, hungry and driven,’ except there are filet
mignon and salami and all that kind of food being thrown around
everywhere.”
With strange looks staring back
at him, Noah went on with his explanation. “There is all this food
around,” he added, “but you have to just focus on the task at
hand and not worry about all that good food and stay hungry.”
While Brewer, who had 11 points
in the previous meeting, led a stellar 9-of-21 showing from the arc,
Aaron Afflalo—the Pac-10 Player of the Year—was once again
bottled up, collecting 17 points on 5-of-14 from the field only
after a late flurry.
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