UCLA men's basketball prepare to battle Florida Gators for the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament
Florida senior forwards Alex Tyus and Chandler Parsons, and the No. 2-seeded Gators, will face No. 7-seeded UCLA on Saturday at the St. Petersburg Forum in Tampa, Fl. in the third round of the 2011 NCAA Tournament.
By Matt Stevens
March 18, 2011 6:12 p.m.
TAMPA, Fla. ““ The way the media is shaping Saturday’s game, one would think a civil war is taking place in the South Bay.
The Bruins are bringing the tanks, the physical front court, and their “freight train” of a center, freshman Joshua Smith.
The Gators will be quicker, sending their cast of sharp-shooting artillery into battle.
A lot has changed since UCLA lost to Florida in consecutive Final Fours in 2006 and 2007 ““ personnel and team strengths have almost completely reversed.
But what hasn’t changed is the nature of the NCAA Tournament. It’s still one and done.
“This is a new year, but we don’t need what happened in the past to motivate us any more than we’re motivated,” UCLA coach Ben Howland said. “This is the NCAA Tournament. If you don’t win, your season is over.”
After narrowly escaping Thursday’s second-round game against Michigan State, the Bruins will essentially play an away game against the regular season SEC champions ““ a team they’ve never beaten.
But Florida coach Billy Donovan and the rest of the local media still seemed in awe of UCLA’s 6-foot-10-inch, 340-pound center.
It was Donovan who called Smith a “freight train,” saying he’s seen only two players who are remotely comparable: Vanderbilt’s Festus Ezeli and Mississippi State’s Renardo Sidney.
“And I would say he’s drastically bigger than those two guys,” Donovan said.
Such is the type of wonderment shown from Florida players toward Smith. Gator center Vernon Macklin gives up about 100 pounds to Smith but is the same height, and he said he has never defended anyone of Smith’s stature.
But Macklin is one of four players who recorded double digits in a 28-point drugging of UCSB on Thursday.
As Gator senior forward Chandler Parsons pointed out, UCLA and Florida’s box scores look very similar. UCLA also had four players in double figures in its win over Michigan State.
The difference lies in how the two teams get their points.
While UCLA will look to feed Smith and sophomore forward Reeves Nelson in the post, Florida will likely be content to scorch the Bruins from beyond the arc and count on its guards to carry the load.
Florida guards Kenny Boynton and Erving Walker are two of the quickest guards in the country, and they led the team Thursday with 13 and 18 points respectively. Walker got 12 of his 18 points on four-of-six 3-point shooting.
The Bruins then will have to defend the perimeter better than they did against Michigan State. The Spartans hit nine 3-pointers in the second half of Thursday’s game, cutting a 23-point Bruin lead to one.
“Their backcourt kind of runs their team, and as they go, their team goes,” junior guard Jerime Anderson said.
As usual, junior guard Malcolm Lee will be assigned to the opponent’s best little guy. Lee said he’s been assigned to Boynton a day after shutting down Michigan State guard Kalin Lucas.
Lee, however, is still recovering from a cartilage tear and played 34 minutes Thursday. Friday, he admitted he was tired late in the game, and his coach admitted that some of his players might have been gassed.
“But I knew I had to suck it up,” Lee said. “It’s the NCAA Tournament.”
Smith to start again
Thursday, Smith started for the first time since Jan. 9 against USC. Howland had made the change early in the conference season to help keep Smith out of early foul trouble. But he said Friday that he changed his mind after the team’s loss to Oregon in the Pac-10 tournament.
Howland said he plans to start Smith again Saturday.
“I thought about it myself, and ““ right, last night, I said, ‘He should be starting,’” Howland said. “We’ve got to get off to a good start.”
News and notes
Lee had three staples inserted into his head prior to Friday’s press conference after being struck by an elbow late in Thursday’s game. Lee will play Saturday. “¦ Smith fell hard on his right elbow in Thursday’s contest, and the elbow showed considerable signs of swelling Friday, but he too is expected to play. “¦ The Bruins participated in a walk-through Friday morning and will not hit the court again until their 11:45 PST tip-off Saturday. “¦ UCLA has traveled the third farthest distance of any team in the NCAA tournament, going 2,529 miles from Los Angeles to Tampa. Conversely, Florida has traveled the third shortest distance to the second-and-third round site, going only 131 miles from Gainesville.
