The Tales of a Sports Addict: Running Diary of March Madness, Day 3:

As for the Gators, they're marching on to the Sweet 16 in New Orleans for a date with the winner of BYU and Gonzaga. Right now, I'm lamenting my BYU you pick to the Elite 8; Florida is really impressive, and I especially like the versatility of F Chandler Parson, who can handle the rock, shoot, slash, and defend. Alongside steady and sometimes spectacular G's Erving Walker and Kenny Boynton, and the solid defense and muscle up front with F's Alex Tyus and Vernon Macklin, the senior-led Gators are a strong bet to end up in Houston for the Final Four.

And that'll do it. UF closes on a 7-0 run, aided by Walker's heroics, made free throws, and missed FTs by UCLA. The Bruins missed the front end of 2 separate one-and-ones, and finished with 9 missed free throws from the game. This will certainly serve as a learning experience for them, and this NCAA tournament experience should serve as a nice springboard heading into next season for them.
And there's Walker again!! A DAGGER 3 after a near-steal has Florida back up by 4. A now a UCLA miss and UF rebound, and foul on UCLA. Florida going to the line, up 69-65, 32.8 to go.

And right back comes the ice-in-his-veins shooting of Honeycutt: thats' the 2nd time in a row he's hit a 3 after Florida's lead stretched to 6. A Smith layup then brings UCLA to within 1.

And sure enough, Boynton's back. But it's been the Erving Walker show for UF of late. A crazy falling-away off-balance 12 footer off the glass, then a dish to Vernon Macklin for a layup. 6-point Florida lead.

Oh no: Kenny Boynton misses a 3, then lands on Smith's foot. Badly rolled his left foot. He's not walking with an overly pronounced limp though; he might be back before this game is over.

Huge momentum swing: Parsons stuffs Smith on a dunk attempt from behind (playing with 4 fouls, still 6 minutes to go), then Florida G Kenny Boynton and F Erik Murphy hit back-to-back 3's. 61-55 Gators, largest lead of the game, 5:46 to go. Timeout UCLA.

And that's the 4th foul on big UCLA C Joshua Smith, with 9:30 to go and Florida leading 55-53. Now we'll see if those energized Florida bigs take advantage.

2nd chances for Florida is starting to hurt UCLA. I've counted 4 offensive rebounds in the last 3 minutes or so, and F Alex Tyus in particular is crashing the glass with authority. UCLA's bigs may be starting to feel a little fatigue at this point in the contest.

WELCOME TO THE BIG DANCE, PATRIC YOUNG. This Florida frosh F has a very bright future ahead of him, and is providing an necessary infusion of energy to the Gators and their home crowd in Tampa.

A poor pass by Bruins F Reeves Nelson leads to a fast-breaking Erving Walker layup, and 1. Nelson loafed getting back on defense, and the Bruins paid for it. Then he compounded the mistake by turning it over on the next possession, and argued with the refs about it. Nelson better get his head in the game, quick.

Back and forth we go: neither team has led by more than 4 the entire way, and with 14 minutes to go, we're tied at 45-45. The tempo has increased: both teams are flying down the floor. Honeycutt (the Pac-10's leading shot blocker) just made a crazy block on a Chandler Parsons lay-up attempt. Very fun game to watch.

A 56% shooting half from the field from Florida, yet they lead only 35-33 at the half. Why? Because when they miss, they don't get a second chance to score. UCLA enjoyed a 20-10 rebounding advantage, and also outshot UF 15 to 5 from the free-throw line (making 10 to Florida's 4). UCLA has to feel good about itself heading into half number 2, but will need to get better looks at the basket to have a chance to win, as Florida's tough defense forced the Bruins into just 40% shooting so far.

I love the talent and potential of this UCLA team, and I'm bummed I didn't get to watch a minute of them all season. They rely on balanced scoring to win (4 double-digit scoring averages), and don't have a single senior on the roster. The sheer size of C Joshua Smith is impressive, as are the toughness and slashing ability of G Malcolm Lee and F Tyler Honeycutt. If they're able to add a solid point guard to the roster next season, the Bruins could easily be the Pac-10 favorite heading into 2012.

UCLA led the Pac-10 in turnovers this year, mostly due to a lack of a true point guard. It is because of this shortcoming that their 1st-half performance against favored Florida in Tampa has been impressive. They've turned the ball over just 4 times despite Florida allowing them to play their preferred up-tempo fast-break style. 30-29 Florida, 3 minutes to go, 1st half.

Kentucky's freshmen pair of Brandon Knight and Terrence Jones: 9/10 from the FT line in the final 1:01 of the game. Tight games are won at the charity stripe, and UK earned their 71-63 win over West Virginia to be the first participant in the 2011 Sweet Sixteen.

Highly questionable (to put it nicely) coaching by WVU coach Bob Huggins late in this game. Johnny West (Jerry's son) hadn't played the ENTIRE GAME prior to the final 2 minutes, then is inserted into the game, presumably for his 3-point shooting. Well, he had his first attempt blocked, then airballed is 2nd try. Oh, and UK extended its lead to 7 with less than a minute to go. How'd that work out for ya, Huggy?

It's been a tale of 2 halves for WVU. 41 points in the 1st half, 17 in the first 17:58 of the 2nd. Despite a solid game from senior G Joe Mazzulla (20 points, 3 rebs, 4 assists), he hasn't gotten much help.

And yet, despite all the attention given to the explosive talents of the Kentucky freshmen (and rightfully so), it is the stellar play of unheralded senior C Josh Harrellson that has led the way for UK. Harrellson has chipped in a solid 15 points on 7/10 shooting, coupled with 8 boards (4 offensive). 61-58 UK, 2:02 to play.

How about the aggressiveness of frosh G Brandon Knight for UK? After not making a shot from the field until the game-winner with 2 seconds left in Thursday's win over Princeton, Knight has fired 20 shots from the floor against West Virginia, making 9 for a team-high 23 points.

It's amazing how Kentucky coach John Calipari just completely eschews traditional offensive sets and gives total and complete freedom to his players to create their own offense. This rubs a lot of his contemporaries the wrong way, and rightfully so. But hey, if you can recruit the way Coach Cal can, why bother with an semblance of offense? Unfortunately for him, unless he has a transcendent talent on his team (i.e. Derrick Rose), his teams will never compete for a national championship. There is just too much talent, disciplined talent, around the nation that inevitably his team will lose. It happened with last year's star-studded #1-seeded Kentucky team, it happened with Memphis in the '08 title game (in the most agonizing possible way to lose), it happened with his UMass teams in the early '90s, and it will happen with this Kentucky team (I believe in the next round to #1 Ohio State).

I'm a little late to the party today, but better late than never: this West Virginia-Kentucky game has been great, and is a rematch of a regional final from last year (although Kentucky looks completely different). It's a fascinating contrast of styles, as WVU's well-tenured, experienced, and savvy seniors take on the quick-as-lightning UK freshmen.

The Tales of a Sports Addict