NCAA Final Four Preview: Buckeyes vs Hoyas; Bruins vs Gators
Which of the Final Four – Florida, UCLA, Ohio State or Georgetown – will have a shining moment come Monday evening?
OSU vs. Georgetown (-1): When OSU and Georgetown face off in the Final Four there will be more than 14 feet, 560 pounds of center clogging up the lane. At 7-2 and 7-0 respectively, Roy “the Doctor” Hibbert versus Greg “the Wookie Rookie” Oden represents one of the largest physical one-on-one matchups ever to manifest itself in March Madness.
While Oden is easily the superior of the two athletically, Hibbert is a much improved player who may have had more impact down the stretch than any other Hoya, including Big East player of the year Jeff Green.
Hibbert has averaged 13 points and 11.5 rebounds in the NCAA Tournament while Green is averaging 15.8 points and seven rebounds.
Hibbert’s wing span creates havoc on the inside against all opposition and in his previous game versus North Carolina Hibbert had six blocked shots, several of them in the last few minutes of the Hoyas’ comeback win.
UCLA vs. Florida: (-3.5): The UCLA Bruins know the frustration of the waiting game. They’ve spent damn near a year for a chance to exact revenge.
For Arron Afflalo, the waiting game was a lot of weeks pining for the chance to avenge the 73-57 whooping Florida laid on his Bruins in last year’s NCAA championship game.
“Winners who do things special are never forgotten and to come in second best is not enough,” Afflalo told the Los Angeles Times. “To come in second best last year was very painful.”
For Ben Howland, the waiting game was a lot of days spent mentally replaying every possession of UCLA’s worst loss since his first season, when the Bruins were beaten at Arizona 107-83.
“We were dominated,” he said of the championship game. “It’s hard to watch because we were not very good and they were very good.”
And for every UCLA hoops fan wanting the chance to smack the Gators, the waiting game was an eternity.
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