Gators must overcome recent history; Ga. Tech faces GW

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Posted 7:19PM on Thursday, March 17, 2005

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) Florida insists it's a different team this NCAA tournament: older, more focused, healthier. The Gators say last year's first-round loss to Manhattan is merely a distant memory. They better be right. Florida faces 13th-seeded Ohio, which counters with a talented freshman and a very special good luck charm in Friday's first-round game. Assistant coach Kevin Kuwik, who started an 18-month tour of duty as an Army engineer in Iraq last October, is using his two-week leave to cheer on the Bobcats. ``It's such a motivational factor because of what he's been through and what he still has to go through after he leaves,'' junior guard Mychal Green said Thursday. ``He still has to go back. We want to win and make his time as enjoyable as we can make it.'' Ohio (21-10) plays Florida (23-7) in the first game at the Gaylord Entertainment Center in the Syracuse Regional, followed by No. 5 seed Villanova (22-7) and 12th-seeded New Mexico (26-6). The night session features No. 4 seed Louisville (29-4) playing 13th-seeded Louisiana-Lafayette (20-10) and fifth-seeded Georgia Tech (19-11) and 12th-seeded George Washington (22-7) in the Albuquerque Regional. If Georgia Tech can get past Georgia Washington, the Yellow Jackets are likely to face Louisville in the second round. The Cardinals could prove a tough hurdle. The Cardinals have won 18 of their last 19 games and captured their second Conference USA tournament title in three years. ``This year, I think we're the real deal,'' Louisville coach Rick Pitino said. ``We're a legitimate team and I haven't felt that way with any team I've coached at Louisville.'' Georgia Tech, which made it to the national championship game last year, stumbled through most of the regular season but beat North Carolina in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament last weekend before losing to Duke in the finals. The Ohio Bobcats need all the luck they can get in their 11th NCAA trip and first since 1994. Compare that to Florida, which is enjoying its seventh straight berth all under coach Billy Donovan. The Gators also are in very rare territory of being a top six seed in each of the past seven years along with only Kentucky, Kansas and Duke. The Gators have won seven straight games and the Southeastern Conference tournament, and have the distinction of being the first team in 85 years to beat Kentucky twice in a 10-day span. But until they win another first-round game, the 16th-ranked Gators may be more known for their first-round meltdowns against Creighton in 2002 and Manhattan last year. Florida is 1-4 in its last five NCAA games. ``I haven't had the best experience here in years past ...,'' Florida senior Matt Walsh said. Donovan downplayed last year's tourney loss. ``Last year's team I heard was soft, wouldn't guard, not a good rebounding team. And now this year's team, up to this point in time, we've done those things. I don't think there's any comparisons between last year and this year,'' Donovan said. Donovan thinks his Gators were emotionally drained last year and limped into the tournament. He also said Manhattan was better that day. The Gators feature the SEC's leading scorer in junior guard Anthony Roberson (18.2 average), and they are very deep with at least nine players scoring in 17 of their games. Ohio became the first Mid-American Conference team to win four games in taking the tournament title. Leon Williams, the MAC freshman of the year, scored 29 points and grabbed 15 rebounds to help beat Buffalo 80-79 in overtime of the MAC championship. Still, Ohio coach Tim O'Shea thinks the Bobcats played their way into the tournament a year early with two freshmen in the starting lineup. He expects Florida to play its best to erase last year's Manhattan loss from memory. ``I'm doing the sensible thing. I'm talking up my opponent. I don't want to give them any ammunition,'' O'Shea said. That makes Kuwik's presence that much more helpful to a team that has worn golden castle pins, the engineering branch ensignia, on its warmups. He swapped leaves with a fellow soldier to spend the postseason with the Bobcats and surprised them by showing up just before their first game of the Mid-American Conference tournament. O'Shea has had Kuwik deliver the pre-game speech before each of the last four games, including the MAC championship. Kuwik also will handle Friday's talk. ``I gave him a mandate you need to come up with something along the lines of the Gettysburg Address because we're up against it with Florida,'' O'Shea said. Both New Mexico and Villanova are making their first tournament appearances since 1999. The Lobos won their first-round game that year and see no reason why they can't do the same this year. The Mountain West champs are coming in with a nine-game winning streak. Villanova survived an injury-filled season by playing its way into the Top 25 for the first time since the 1996-97 season. The 19th-ranked Wildcats have won eight games before losing to West Virginia in the Big Ten tournament. Before Thursday, the Lobos hadn't heard much of the tournament's history of No. 12 seeds upsetting No. 5 seeds. They hope to prove quick studies, especially after Wisconsin-Milwaukee's upset of Alabama. ``After today, I know a lot,'' Lobos senior Danny Granger said. (Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)