Green Gators get a lesson

NEW YORK -- As the game grew older Tuesday night, the age difference between UMass and Florida grew more evident.

Florida's a very young, talented team," UMass coach Travis Ford said after his elder Minutemen beat the two-time NCAA champion Gators 78-66 in the NIT semifinal. "But I knew we had three fifth-year seniors and there was going to come a time when it would show that our guys have been in college a little longer."

Though the fruits of experience did not come to fruition early against Florida, the Minutemen found them ripe in the second half. Time after time, the green Gators, featuring three freshmen, committed mistakes of inexperience, throwing balls away and stepping in early for a free-throw lane violation. Missed attempt after missed attempt, the Gators shot themselves out of the game as they went 2-of-12 from three and 8-of-23 from the free-throw line.

There to lead UMass were the fifth-year Minutemen, Gary Forbes, Dante Milligan and Etienne Brower, all New York natives, feeling at home. "They're still Florida and have All Americans," UMass point guard Chris Lowe said. "We respected them, but once the game begins, we just play everyone the same."

Nearly a year after his team cut down the nets some 800 miles away at the Final Four in Atlanta, Florida coach Billy Donovan, who lost five starters from the championship team, was far away from the title chase. Bite-sized point man Jai Lucas (5-foot-11), the spindly Chandler Parsons (6-9, 205 pounds) and spike-headed Nick Calathes came in with McDonald's All-American and Jordan Brand pedigrees, but they didn't make anyone forget the O-Fours.

In the chase to go back-to-back-to-back, the baby Gators went belly up down the stretch, losing four straight in one stretch and eight of 11 in the worst of it. Silly mistakes, missed free throws and unforced errors grayed Donovan's hair all season, aging the two-time championship coach as he tried to raise the team. "I think our biggest issue [heading into the off season] is how we mentally handle this season," Donovan said. "Just because you're a year older does not mean you improve."

After Billy the Kid ended his Orlando Magic engagement and returned to his Magic Kingdom of championship trophies and plush facilities in Gainesville last spring, he knew he couldn't simply sprinkle winning dust over the new kids. After the house fell down with an SEC tournament loss to end their NCAA hopes, Donovan, who felt his players still saw confetti falling from the rafters, kicked them out of the $12 million practice facility. He forbid the wearing of Gator attire and challenged whether the best thing about freshmen is that they become sophomores, saying he was uncertain this group would grow into a team to remember. " Joakim Noah made an incredible jump from his freshmen to sophomore years," Donovan said. "But it wasn't physical. It was mental."

For the first time in three years, there will be no title taken home. There also will not be a title game redux as the team the Gators vanquished in last year's final, Ohio State, will play UMass for the NIT title after beating Ole Miss 81-69 Tuesday night.

Feeling similarly challenged by youth during the season, Buckeyes coach Thad Matta, who added five freshmen to his roster, exchanged calls and text messages with Donovan to compare notes on dealing with the youth. "I think Thad's situation was a little different because he had more guys who played roles on last year's team," said Donovan, who lost to the Buckeyes 62-49 on the road in late December. "But we talked about practice habits, disposition and focus all the same."

With a little more experience mixed with his freshmen, Matta and the Buckeyes outlasted the Gators this year. What Donovan knows about his team a year after winning a title was that it again played into April, and they will be older next year. Whether they will be better is the question that only time will tell.