STATS Writer

Florida's strength lies in the play of its outstanding sophomore frontcourt. UCLA is well-equipped to defend such players.

That matchup Monday night may decide who wins the national championship when the two teams of different styles meet in Indianapolis.

While Florida's Joakim Noah and Al Horford have led the high-scoring Gators (32-6) to four double-digit tournament wins - including a 73-58 victory over George Mason that ended the Patriots' stunning run Saturday - UCLA (32-6) has cemented a reputation as one of the best defensive teams in the country with a string of strong tournament performances, punctuated by a convincing 59-45 victory over LSU in Saturday's semifinals.

Both teams dominated in their victories, with neither game as close as the score indicated.

UCLA easily handled the Tigers' frontcourt, led by Glen "Big Baby" Davis and Tyrus Thomas, perhaps providing a blueprint of how the Bruins will defend the Gators' tough twosome. UCLA held LSU to 32 percent shooting and frustrated Davis and Thomas throughout the game, with most of Davis' 14 points coming after UCLA built a 24-point lead.

"I thought our intensity on defense for the entire 40 minutes was really, really incredible and that's what we needed," UCLA coach Ben Howland said. "That's the best we've played all year."

LSU - which relied heavily on its frontcourt in upsets of Duke and Texas to reach the Final Four - was unable to generate offense against UCLA big men Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, Ryan Hollins and Lorenzo Mata.

Mbah a Moute matched a career-high with 17 points and had nine rebounds and two steals. Hollins dealt with foul trouble, but Mata capably filled his role, with eight rebounds, two blocks and two steals in only 17 minutes.

The Bruins, seeking their 12th national title and first since 1995, have shut down opponents all season and have held three of their five tournament opponents to 45 points or less. On Saturday, UCLA allowed the second-fewest points in a Final Four game since the shot clock was instituted for the tournament in 1986. That followed a 50-45 win over Memphis in the Oakland Regional final in which the Bruins held the Tigers 36 points below their average.

"I think what UCLA did to LSU last night was extremely impressive," said Florida coach Billy Donovan, appearing in his second NCAA title game. "They are very, very disciplined with the way they play defense. They like to take you out of what you want to do.

"I think that they'll be as good of a defensive team as we've played all year."

The Bruins will have to focus on Noah and Horford, who have been nearly unstoppable on both ends of the floor in the tournament. Noah blocked the first shot of the game against George Mason and the duo combined for 18 points, 21 rebounds, six assists and four blocked shots. Each player had 15 rebounds against Villanova in the Minneapolis Regional final last week, and Noah has 23 blocks in five games.

"LSU's big men were real good and real strong," Mata said. "Florida is the same way and we're going to do the same thing and use the same strategy."

The presence of Noah and Horford allowed the Gators to outrebound the Patriots 40-27 on Saturday, creating several more shot opportunities that teammate Lee Humphrey took advantage of. Humphrey made three straight 3-pointers during a 16-4 Florida run to open the second half that allowed the Gators to blow open what was a five-point game at halftime.

Humphrey finished with six 3-pointers and 19 points, and the inside play of Noah and Horford wore down the Patriots' frontcourt.

"We're playing our best basketball all year and we're a really tough team," Horford said. "You can't stop us."

UCLA had struggled offensively for much of the tournament, including a dismal performance against Memphis in which it shot 14-for-40 from the field. That changed, however, against the Tigers. The Bruins shot 58.3 percent in the first half and set a pace of play that LSU couldn't keep up with.

"Florida wants to get up and down," Howland said, "they're going to try to press us, they're going to try to create a tempo that's up and down. That's great. We scored 86 points against Arizona at home. We can play any way you want to play."

UCLA is 11-1 in national championship games, the only loss coming in 1980 to Louisville in Indianapolis.

Florida lost to Michigan State in 2000, also in Indianapolis.

This is the first meeting between the teams.