Breaking down Saturday's matchups

Southeast Region

No. 2 Florida vs. No. 8 Butler

WHERE: New Orleans Arena
TIME: 4:30 p.m.
TV: CBS
ANNOUNCERS: Gus Johnson play-by-play, Len Elmore and Reggie Miller analysts
THE SPREAD: Florida by 3
ENROLLMENTS: Florida 52,112; Butler 4,200
ELITE EIGHT APPEARANCES: This is Florida’s fifth; the Gators are 4-0. This is Butler’s second; the Bulldogs are 1-0.
RECORDS: Florida 29-7, Butler 26-9
HOW THEY GOT HERE: Florida d. No. 15 UC Santa Barbara 79-51, d. No. 7 UCLA 73-65, d. No. 3 BYU 83-74 (OT); Butler d. No. 9 ODU 60-58, d. No. 1 Pittsburgh 71-70, d. No. 4 Wisconsin 61-54.
KEY STAT: Butler shoots 73.1 percent from the free-throw line; Florida is at 66.5 percent.
THE BUZZ: Florida can’t be as sloppy offensively as it was against BYU if it wants to beat Butler. The Gators need to be patient against a smart Butler team on both ends of the court. Offensively, the Gators have more size up front and need to take advantage, not jack up 3-pointers. Defensively, Butler runs a lot of screens, and Florida especially has to worry about Bulldogs G Shelvin Mack from beyond the arc. Look for Butler’s guards to have success applying defensive pressure against Florida’s backcourt. Mack, Ronald Nored and Shawn Vanzant – a Florida native (from Tampa) – should be able to force some turnovers from Erving Walker and Kenny Boynton. Walker, especially, has to play smart basketball; he makes too many ill-advised trips into the paint and can be prone to wild passes. When he plays under control, Florida is difficult to beat. Keep an eye on the boards. Florida’s size helps it outrebound opponents by 5.8 per game, and the Gators need that type of advantage in this one. But Butler’s Matt Howard, who is 6-8, always seems to find a way to neutralize bigger opponents, and he has cut way down on his fouls this season. As for those who say Butler prefers a slow pace, each team averages 72.1 points per game. Still, Butler probably wouldn’t care if this game were in the low 60s because the Bulldogs generally are more patient on offense than Florida.
THE KEY INDIVIDUAL: Florida’s wild card is swingman Chandler Parsons, who is 6 feet 10 but also an excellent ballhandler. Parsons, who was the SEC player of the year, should be a matchup nightmare for Butler because of his height and athleticism. Parsons has a nice 3-point stroke, but he can’t be content firing away from the perimeter; he has the strength to get to the rim and finish against Butler’s big men, and the more often he makes forays to the basket, the better off the Gators will be.

West Region

No. 3 Connecticut vs. No. 5 Arizona

WHERE: Honda Center, Anaheim, Calif.
TIME: 7:05 p.m.
TV: CBS
ANNOUNCERS: Verne Lundquist play-by-play, Bill Raftery analysts
THE SPREAD: UConn by 3
ENROLLMENTS: UConn 28,383; Arizona 38,800
ELITE EIGHT APPEARANCES: TThis is UConn’s 10th; the Huskies are 3-6. This is Arizona’s ninth; the Wildcats are 4-4.
RECORDS: UConn 29-9, Arizona 30-7
HOW THEY GOT HERE: UConn d. No. 14 Bucknell 81-52, d. No. 6 Cincinnati 69-58, d. No. 2 San Diego State 74-67; Arizona d. No. 12 Memphis 77-75, d. No. 4 Texas 70-69, d. No. 1 Duke 93-77.
KEY STAT: Arizona shoots 40.3 percent from 3-point range; UConn is at 33.8 percent.
THE BUZZ: Both rely heavily on one player – UConn on junior G Kemba Walker and Arizona on sophomore F Derrick Williams. Williams is the only Arizona player who averages in double-figures, while Walker and freshman swingman Jeremy Lamb are the only Huskies who average more than 10 points. Thus, it’s important for both teams to limit the complementary players. The Wildcats love to get the ball inside to Williams, who is proficient at getting the ball back to open shooters on the perimeter. Arizona is coming in off a dominating second-half performance in its victory over Duke, and if the Wildcats can somehow carry that over, they will win this. But playing at that high a level for a second game in a row is going to be difficult. UConn shoots just 43.5 percent from the field, but the Huskies also average 14.1 offensive rebounds per game, which enables them to get off 60 field-goal attempts per game; Arizona averages 54 field-goal attempts. The Wildcats allow 9.8 offensive rebounds per game, and keeping the Huskies off the offensive boards is going to be vital for Arizona. Both teams will be comfortable with a fast pace, and while Arizona certainly looked tough in beating Duke, the Huskies are the more physical team. In addition, in Walker, UConn has a player who can create his own shots when the offense bogs down.
THE KEY INDIVIDUAL: UConn has to get some offensive production from big man Alex Oriakhi. Arizona’s perimeter defense has been excellent this season (foes shoot just 29.3 percent from beyond the arc), and the Huskies have to find a way to get some points in the low post. Oriakhi is the guy most likely to supply those points. He averaged 11.2 in five Big East tourney games, but that figure has dropped to 6.0 in three NCAA tourney outings.