BLUE AND COLD BRUINS' SEASON ENDS IN DISAPPOINTMENT WITH TITLE-GAME LOSS FLORIDA 73 UCLA 57.Byline: Brian Dohn Staff Writer INDIANAPOLIS - Hours before tip-off in UCLA's most crucial game in a decade, the Bruins' magical mojo was struck a blow when word circulated its revered former coach, legendary John Wooden, was hospitalized. It was not the lone jolt UCLA UCLA University of California at Los Angeles UCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University) UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX received Monday. Unable to slow Florida's quick feet and quicker decision-making on offense, and incapable of solving Gators shot-blocker Joakim Noah Joakim Noah (pronunciation: /ˡdʒoʌkim/;<ref name=>Brady, Erik (2004-03-22). Star high school athlete becomes his own man. USA TODAY. Retrieved on 2007-02-27. , the Bruins' quest for Verb 1. quest for - go in search of or hunt for; "pursue a hobby" quest after, go after, pursue look for, search, seek - try to locate or discover, or try to establish the existence of; "The police are searching for clues"; "They are searching for the a 12th national title fell woefully woe·ful also wo·ful adj. 1. Affected by or full of woe; mournful. 2. Causing or involving woe. 3. Deplorably bad or wretched: short. UCLA's dream season ended in a whimper, and with disappointment, as the third-seeded Gators overwhelmed the second-seeded Bruins 73-57 to win their first national championship in men's basketball Monday in front of 43,168 at the RCA Dome • • [ . The best news surrounding the program is the 95-year-old Wooden, the architect of the program and winner of 10 national titles in 12 years, is expected to be released from the hospital shortly. UCLA officials said Wooden's condition was not life-threatening. ``We came up in the national championship game short,'' said Ben Howland Ben Howland (born May 28, 1957 in Lebanon, Oregon) is an American college head coach of men's basketball. He has been the head coach of the University of California, Los Angeles since 2003, and recently signed a contract extension through 2013. , who was coaching the Bruins three years to the day he was hired. ``My message to the team is that our goal is to get back here and again next year and win it.'' The Bruins (32-7) still own an NCAA-record 11 national titles, but had their 12-game winning streak Noun 1. winning streak - a streak of wins streak, run - an unbroken series of events; "had a streak of bad luck"; "Nicklaus had a run of birdies" snapped and lost for the second time in a title game. UCLA's other loss also came in this city, a five-point decision to Louisville in 1980. At 40, Florida's Billy Donovan William John “Billy” Donovan, Jr. (born May 30, 1965 in Rockville Centre, New York) is the head coach of the Florida Gators basketball team. He has taken the Gators to three NCAA championship game appearances, in 2000, 2006 and 2007. , who lost in the 2000 title game to Michigan State, became the youngest active coach to win the NCAA NCAA abbr. National Collegiate Athletic Association championship since Bobby Knight did it at age 35. ``Everybody was talking about their defense,'' Florida wing Corey Brewer For the former University of Oklahoma player, see . Corey Wayne Brewer (born March 5, 1986, in Portland, Tennessee) is an American basketball player for the Minnesota Timberwolves. said. ``We proved who's the best defensive team and we're national champions. I felt like we were going to win the game by a large margin when we came in. Nobody gave us any respect all year. We proved it. We took our respect. It feels great. It's the best feeling in the whole wide world.'' The Gators (33-6) scored more points than any UCLA opponent since Arizona scored 73 Feb. 4. It tied for the third-most scored against UCLA this season. ``It wasn't one thing,'' UCLA point guard Jordan Farmar said. ``It was a combination of us having jitters jitters 'Butterflies' Psychology An episode of nervousness or anxiety that often precedes a public event; jitters is a type of performance anxiety which may affect actors in a stage production–stage fright or soloist musicians; it may respond to anxiolytics and not defending like we always have,and them executing real well. Hats off to Florida. They played well and they deserve it.'' Florida was led in scoring by Joakim Noah's 16 points. He also six blocked six shots, grabbed nine rebounds and had three assists and was named the Final Four's most outstanding player. Taurean Green had eight assists and Lee Humphrey had 15 points. Jordan Farmar paced UCLA with 18 points, but more disturbing was the lack of offense supplied by the Bruins' two leading scorers during NCAA play. Arron Afflalo finished with 10 points, and didn't have a point until a free throw with 11:28 remaining. By then, Florida had 53-33 lead. Also, Luc Richard Mbah a Moute Luc Richard Mbah a Moute (born 9 September 1986 in Yaounde, Cameroon) is a 6' 8" Cameroonian basketball player who plays for the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Bruins in the Pacific Ten Conference of the NCAA. , who had 17 points in the Bruins' semifinal drubbing of LSU LSU Louisiana State University LSU Large Subunit LSU La Salle University (Philadelphia, PA) LSU La Sierra University LSU Link State Update (OSPF) LSU Learning Support Unit , was held scoreless in the first | Past_members = | Notable_instruments = }} Scoreless in the first is a Vancouver based sketch comedy group, formed in the summer of 2005. They have traveled to shows in Vancouver and Seattle, and are currently working on a series of shorts on youtube.com. half and finished with six points. ``I definitely have to find ways, if I'm going to be a leader, to remain strong and find ways to bounce back and help my team do whatever,'' Afflalo said. ``I wasn't capable of that. Corey Brewer is a good defender, and when you got past him, there were two shot blockers.'' Florida was expected to have the inside advantage in the dynamic Noah, and the Gators exploited it in every way. In the first half UCLA's trademark defense was caught slow-footed, burned consistently by quick passes off slow-developing double teams while the offense was at the mercy of Noah's extended right arm. When Noah wasn't passing out of double teams, tipping the ball to keep rebounds alive of dishing off the fastbreak for easy dunks, he was slamming in his own baskets. ``It kind of hit us very tough,'' UCLA wing Cedric Bozeman said. ``They're big men are very skilled. They passed out of double team excellent. We started switching, but all of them handle the ball well. They're a great team.'' The Bruins were forcing nearly 16 turnovers per game in the NCAAs, but Florida committed six. ``That's a very, very important stat because we were trying real hard,''Howland said. ``We came out, and I thought we got a little sped up by their pressure in terms of not shot-faking at the end of some plays. We got some shots blocked early in the game.'' Noah, who blocked five shots in the first half, also got under the skin of the usually calm Afflalo. After one play late in the first half, Afflalo turned out of character to twice jaw at Noah, who smiled, shook his head and had a few words to say back. Buoyed by the play of Noah and nine points and five rebounds from reserve Adrian Moss - he was averaging three and 2.3, respectively - the Gators took a 36-25 halftime lead and led by double digits the rest of the way. Lee Humphrey then sent the Gators fans into a frenzy with two 3-pointers to open the second half. Brewer added another three and Noah and Chris Richard followed with dunks as the Florida took a 49-29 lead with 13:35 to play. But it was all predicated on Florida's ability to break down UCLA's double team. ``They're skilled and they have a lot of good players and they were definitely ready for (the double team),'' Farmar said. ``I'm sure they watched a lot of tape of what we've been doing defensively, and they schemed exactly to counter it. They were very unselfish and just played whatever they had to do to win.'' Whereas Memphis and LSU, the Bruins' last two opponents, suffered miserably from the field early, Florida had no such problem. The Gators made five of their first six shots, taking an 11-6 lead on Green's 12- footer In a document or report, common text that appears at the bottom of every page. It usually contains the page number. . ``They outplayed us in every aspect,'' Bruins center Ryan Hollins said. ``We double team a lot and they got a chance to work on that. Our guys kind of had to hug a little more to their shooters, out playing the shot.'' Brian Dohn, (818) 713-3607 brian.dohn(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): 2 photos, 2 boxes Photo: (1) Ryan Hollins sits dejectedly de·ject·ed adj. Being in low spirits; depressed. See Synonyms at depressed. de·ject  ed·ly adv. in the locker room after the Bruins were defeated by Florida in the NCAA men's basketball title game. Michael Conroy/Associated Press (2 -- shorter caption ran in Valley edition) Florida's Adrian Moss (left) and Chris Richard react after a play against UCLA's Darren Collison during the second half of the Gators' national championship victory Monday night. Andy Lyons/Getty Images Box: (1) STORY LINES (2) TITLE TOWN |
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