Preparation is the key. Just ask Billy Donavan and Ben Howland.

With a week to prepare for Saturday’s Final Four matchups, the coaches of Florida and UCLA, respectively, each designed exquisite game plans that completely neutralized their opponent’s attacks and led to one-sided victories. Thus, while Saturday’s contests didn’t offer the drama that had been so common in the tournament’s previous rounds, they did provide ample fodder for anyone interested in the game’s strategic elements.

Let’s start with Florida, which used Donovan’s design to cruise past George Mason 73-58 in the opener. Donovan clearly studied the mistakes Connecticut made in losing to the upstart Patriots in the regional final, and was determined not to repeat them.

In beating UConn, the focal point of the Patriots’ attack was big man Jai Lewis. The 6-foot-7-inch widebody repeatedly burned Connecticut with a deadly right-handed jump hook, and when the Huskies double-teamed, he was able to find open 3-point shooters. Donovan’s strategy removed both elements from Lewis’s arsenal.

Connecticut’s mistake was to double-team Lewis “small” rather than “big.” In other words, a guard would race down from the perimeter to double-team Lewis instead of having a second big man come from behind him. When UConn doubled “small,” it left one of George Mason’s 3-point shooters open on the perimeter, and the Patriots’ guards proved very effective at converting the shot.

Donovan used a different strategy, doubling “big” by sending over center Joakim Noah. There’s an inherent risk in this strategy because it left Noah’s man, Will Thomas, wide open underneath the basket. But two factors prevented an easy lay-up more often than not. First, Noah came at Lewis from the exact angle that he would need to make the pass – in other words, the only way to get the ball Thomas would be to throw the ball over Noah. Since Noah is four inches taller than Lewis, this wasn’t a likely scenario.

The Gators’ defense also rotated effectively behind Noah. On more than one occasion, Gator guard Lee Humphrey was guarding a player in the opposite corner from Lewis when Noah came to double, and Lewis was able to get the ball around Noah for a pass to Thomas. But each time, Humphrey read the play and rotated down to the block in time to disrupt the pass.

Donovan also had Noah avoid committing to the double-team until Lewis had already started dribbling, further reducing the big man’s options once he found himself with additional company.

Thanks to those adjustments, a GMU team that had shot 50% and scored 86 points in a regional final win over UConn could produce only 41.1% shooting and 58 points against the Gators. Florida just needed to play mediocre offense to win and was more than up to the task, with Humphrey nailing three straight 3-pointers to start the second half and send the Gators to tonight’s final.

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Florida’s opponent, UCLA, also utilized a clever game plan en route to a surprisingly easy win on Saturday. Like Florida, the Bruins focused on neutralizing the opponents’ dominating widebody – 6-foot-9, 310-pound center Glen “Big Baby” Davis. But UCLA went about it in a much different way.

UCLA’s strategy was two-fold. First, they pushed the tempo at every chance and substituted liberally, allowing them to take advantage of the LSU star’s questionable conditioning. Second, they pressured the perimeter so that entry passes to Davis were difficult and the onus was on LSU’s shaky backcourt to produce offense.

It worked like a charm, too. Davis repeatedly was beaten downcourt by UCLA’s 6-foot-7 freshman Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, providing some much-needed easy baskets for a Bruin offense that hasn’t exactly set the court afire. And the additional heat on LSU’s back court meant that Davis rarely caught the ball close to the rim. Forced to do much of his work off the dribble from 15 feet or further and exhausted by UCLA’s punishing pace, Davis struggled to a 5-for-17 performance before fouling out with two minutes left. And the perimeter players couldn’t pick up the slack, making 8-of-27 shots and committing nine of the Tigers’ 15 turnovers.

So what does all this portend for tonight’s contest? For starters, it should be another low scoring affair. UCLA has allowed more than 60 points only once in its past 11games, while Florida hasn’t allowed more than 65 in its past seven despite playing several heavyweight opponents. With shot-blockers like UCLA’s 7-foot Ryan Hollins and Florida’s 6-foot-11 Noah, defensive energizers like UCLA’s Mbah a Moute and Florida’s Corey Brewer, plus the lack of a dominant scorer on either side, it may take as few as 50 points to win this one – even though the pace should be relatively fast.

UCLA’s advantages in this game are the same ones it enjoyed against LSU – a superior bench and a major edge in the backcourt. The Bruins’ two best players are guards Jordan Farmar and Arron Affalo, and reserve guard Derrick Collison has also had a very strong tournament. As for the bench, Howland played his reserves nearly as many minutes as his starters in the first half on Saturday, and by the end of it had a 15-point lead. Collison and backup center Lorenzo Mata were particularly effective, but no fewer than 10 UCLA players are capable of making major contributions.

Despite those strengths, I expect Florida will prevail. The Gators have been the best team throughout the tournament, throttling opponents by an average of 16 points per game. UCLA, on the other hand, has had good fortune just to get to this point – think of the missed final shot by Alabama’s Ronald Steele or the late steal against Gonzaga. And as well as UCLA played in beating LSU by 14, the Gators beat those very same Tigers by 16 a week before the tournament began.

Moreover, nobody has had an answer for Noah yet. I don’t expect UCLA to change that pattern. While not a dominant one-on-one scorer, Noah’s breathtaking all-around skills have allowed him to dominate games even when his shooting touch has deserted him – such as Saturday, when his eight rebounds, four blocks, two assists, and one steal augmented a mediocre shooting effort.

Overall, the Gators have outstanding chemistry, great coaching, and most important, the best player on the court. That’s why, at the end of the night, I expect them to have one other thing – the national championship.

jhollinger@nysun.com