INDIANAPOLIS - Game, set, match and a championship, too for Joakim Noah and the Florida Gators.
The tennis star's son dominated UCLA with 16 points, nine rebounds and a record seven blocks Monday night to key a 73-57 blowout for Florida's first national title in basketball.
The championship for Billy Donovan's team comes 10 years after Steve Spurrier led the Gators to a title in that ``other'' sport. Spurrier is long gone, and the days of Florida being only a football school appear to be, too.
For 40 lopsided minutes, the Gators (33-6) were too big, too long and too quick for UCLA, which came up a win short of its 12th national title on a night when legendary coach John Wooden watched from a hospital bed in LA after being admitted for an undisclosed illness that was said not to be serious.
Florida and Noah won by putting on a thorough display of versatility and unselfishness, a trademark of this team all season.
The Bruins (32-7) were on a defensive tear coming into the championship game, shutting down LSU's Glen Davis in the semifinals and allowing a total of 90 points in the last two games. Florida, though, was just too much to handle.
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Monday
May 19th, 2025
11:34PM
