European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 2, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Monday april 2 2007 stars and stripes Page 39 buckeyes step up when Oden forced to sit with 2 fouls by Nancy Armour the associated press Atlanta not even three minutes into the game and the whistle blew Greg Oden dropped his head and started a slow walk to the Bench two Quick fouls and he was done for the half the turning Point in the game for sure but not in the Way any one expected take Oden away from Ohio state and the buckeyes still play for the National championship take Roy Hibbert away from Georgetown and the buckeyes still play for the National championship that much anticipated match up Between Oden and Hibbert fizzled because of foul trouble in Stead it was Mike Conley and the rest of the buckeyes who carried to seeded Ohio state to its first National title game since 1962 with a 6760 Victory Over George town on saturday night i just sat Back and watched my teammates take Over Oden said the buckeyes will face defend ing Champion Florida for the championship monday night in a title rematch of sorts this one comes on the Hardwood not the grass the gators upset the Buck eyes at the bus title game in Janu Ary Conley finished with 15 Points six assists and five rebounds for Ohio state Oden added 13 Points All in the second and eight rebounds in 20 minutes when he goes Down with two fouls our Guys did a tremendous Job stepping up Ohio state coach Thad Matta said Michael was tremendous Hibbert was tremendous too he scored 19 Points had six re Bounds and one blocked shot in 24 minutes for the hoyas and he More than held his own against the younger More celebrated Oden problem was he spent too much time As a Spectator so did the rest of the hoyas the 7f oot2 Hibbert gave Georgetown a decided size advantage especially when Oden was on the Bench and the hoyas 307 had the Edge on experience although it was a slight one but Georgetown could never take control of the game when Oden went out even with Hibbert on the floor when Hibbert was out the hoyas were simply lost Jeff Green the big East player of the year who had been scoring a team est 158 Points in the Mcaa tournament had just nine Points and took Only five shots the entire game he did have 12 rebounds but it want enough not when he went almost 17 min utes in the first half and 14 min utes in the second without a shot i  change anything Green said i didst want to Force anything youve got to credit their defense they had great weak Side defense that made it Tough on our teammates to try and throw the Ball Down to me Dajuan Summers who had averaged 175 Points the last two games added a measly 3 that at least was More than the George town Bench the reserves didst contribute a single Point not one Gerry Ohio state guard Mike Conley or 1 goes to the Basket As towns Patrick Ewing or 33 defends Conley finished with 15 Points the hoyas had 14 turnovers leading to 22 Ohio state Points and were out rebounded 3730 when you lose a game you can sit Here and find a million things you wish you did differently could have done differently should have done differently coach John Thompson he said that s the nature of this we fought and scrapped the whole time the Ball didst Bounce our Way it happens Hibbert left the game with his third foul just four minutes into the second half when he re turned Svi minutes later he scored a Quick five Points Jonathan Wallace then hit a three that tied the game at 44 with left but Hibbert picked up his fourth foul 20 seconds later i had to make smarter Deci Sions when in out there hib Bert said Ive got to be an Allaround better player when it comes to knowing when to foul when not to foul As he was heading Back to the Bench Oden was returning just like that the momentum turned again gators just As impressive this time against Urcla by Eddie Pells the associated press an instant replay next a classic repeat Florida and its i demand coach Billy Donovan moved to within one Victory of a Sec Ond straight National championship saturday night defeating Urcla 7666 in a game that looked very much like the meeting Between these two in last years final four Corey Brewer scored 19 Points Chris Rich Ard had 16 and Lee Humphrey had 14 As the gators got the Best of the Bruins again adding this semifinal Victory to a 7357 rout in last years title game were Back in the championship game and i  ask for anything else Brewer said this Victory for the gators 345 set up an other sort of rematch  play Ohio state on monday in the final hoping for the same kind of result As their 27point Victory in the championship football game earlier this year the basketball buckeyes beat Georgetown 6760 in the first semifinal saturday the football coaches opus Jim Tressel and Florida Urban Meyer were on the Side lines for this one too but Only As spectators the real stars were Brewer Humphrey three three pointers in the second Joakim Noah and of course Donovan who the Gator faithful Hope will Rebuff a possible offer from Kentucky come seasons end to keep building on the Young dynasty Hes created in Gainesville that drama will have to wait at least a Cou ple More Days thanks to a Weare Down kind of Effort that looked pretty much like what the gators did to the Bruins last year you have to give credit to them Urcla coach Ben Howland said they have out standing players and there very very Well coached that All being said were very disappointed about losing tonight and being Here for a second straight year without bring ing Home a championship Florida entire starting lineup put the Aba on hold and came Back for a Chance at a re peat with one More win the gators will be come the first team to go Bac Toback since Duke in 1992 and the first Ever to do it with the same starting five it Hast been easy Many believe Donovan did his Best coaching Job this year guiding this group of unselfish players to the Cusp of another championship despite the target on their chests these Guys Are As Coa Chable this year As they were last year Donovan said they Lis ten the Best thing i tried to emphasize to our team is to try and become the Best team we can if we do that then let the chips fall where they May Urcla still stuck on 11 titles thought it brought a More experienced better team to Atlanta and that might have been True but Bruins guard Arron Afflalo sat on the Bench for almost the entire first half with foul trouble and Center Lorenzo Mata joined him that took a bite out of Duclas Early Tena Cious defensive Effort and when Brewer started going swishing two three pointers in consecutive trips Down the gators were running to a 2616 Lead and Urcla never much threatened after that led by Hor Fords 17 rebounds Florida out boarded Urcla 4326 the gators blocked six shots and altered countless More Noah sup Posedly Florida Best player finished with Only eight Points but had 11 rebounds and four blocks typical of the Star player on a team that Hast seemed to care who gets the credit this season right now were in the final four and if s All about winning Brewer said its not about you its about the team final playing Best with target on its Chest final from Back Page the gators meanwhile seem to be playing their Best again Treyve won nine in a Row and have allowed Only two teams to score More than 70 during that stretch the Oden Orford matchup is the most intriguing Oden has come a Long Way in the last three months and if s Only been in the last few weeks that his full of skills has been on display he leads the buckeyes in scoring and rebounding and was named an a american Hor Ford gives up two inches and 35 pounds to the 7footer but the bigger the game the bigger Hor Ford plays though he Only had nine Points saturday night he had 17 rebounds the very margin by which Florida outre bounded Urcla still the championship game will Likely come Down to guard play Florida Lee Humphrey has a Knack for hitting big shots and he scored All but two of his 14 Points against Urcla from Long Range Taurean Green struggled with his shot hitting Only two of nine but he is Able to go off at any time Mike Conley or is overshadowed by Oden his High school teammate and childhood buddy but he is arguably the most Valu Able of Ohio states Thad five right now Hes carried the team in their last two games and was the reason Ohio state didst self destruct when Oden went out saturday night Jamar Butler is a steady shooter and Ron Lewis is the reason the buckeyes even got this far it was his Long three Pointer that forced overtime against Xavier in the second round this is the buckeyes first trip to the title game since they played in three straight from 196062 they won the title in 1960 and were runners up the next two Gerry Florida Joakim Noah signals to the stands saturday after the gators beat Urcla 7666 during the semifinals of the final four in Atlanta the gators will face Ohio state for the National title