SPORTS - NCAA Basketball Sweet 16 Florida vs. Georgetown

The Hoyas continued their storied tournament history with a 1st round win over Northern Iowa (54-49) and a 70-52 romp over Ohio State on the weekend. Florida may present some more meaningful competition.

Georgetown has a spotty 2-5 record in the regular season against Top 25 teams, having beaten only Duke and Pittsburgh, while dropping games to W. Virginia (twice), Illinois, Villanova and Connecticut.

Florida is 3-1 against Top 25 teams this season, besting Syracuse and Wake Forest back in December (then ranked 16 and 19), topping LSU in the SEC tournament (in addition to beating them in the regular season when they were unranked. Their only loss to a Top 25 team was to Tennessee, 76-72.

The Gators won both the SEC regular season title and the SEC tournament.

The Hoyas get lots of mileage from their defense and the interior play of center Roy Hibbert, who has been dominant in the tourney games, scoring 17 points and hauling down 9 rebounds against Northern Iowa and improving to 20 and 14 against Big 10 player of the year Terence Dials in the Ohio State game.

The 7'2" Hibbert will have plenty of company in the post with Florida's big men. Joakim Noah leads the team with 13.9 points and 6.7 rebounds and is complemented by Al Horford's 11.4 and 7.3.

If the Gators can't entirely clamp down on Hibbert, outside shooters Taurean Green and Lee Humphrey may pick up the slack, as they nail three-pointers at a 39.5 and 46.7% clip, respectively.

Aside from Hibbert, Georgetown will need considerable contributions from the likes of Ashanti Cook, Brandon Bowman, Jeff Green and Darrel Owens, pieces of the Hoya offense who average between 8 and 12 points each.

Florida's solid all-around game and balanced, flowing attack may be too much for Georgetown to handle. The Gators rolled in the first two rounds over so-so competition, beating South Alabama 76-50, and pounding Wisconsin-Milwaukee by an 82-60 score.

Half time update: Georgetown 30 Florida 28

Nothing decisive in this game, as indicated by the score. Neither team has been able to take the other out of what they'd like to do and the interior has been fairly neutral territory.

Jeff Green and Ashanti Cook led Georgetown with 12 and 10 points. Six different Gators combined for their 28 points.

Recap: Florida 57 Georgetown 53

With time running out, Cory Brewer lobbed in a short contested jumper while being fouled and turned a one-point Florida lead into a four-point victory for the Gators. Brewer ended with 9 points and 4 assists. The Gators were led by Joaquim Noah with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Green chipped in 14 and Horford 12 points for the Gators who move to the regional final against Villanova on Sunday.

The Gators may be the best free throw shooting team remaining in the tourney, cashing 14 of 17 vs. Georgetown.