TODAY’S NCAA ELITE EIGHT CAPSULES

NO. 2 FLORIDA VS. NO. 8 BUTLER

■ WHERE: New Orleans

■ WHEN: 1:30 p.m. PDT

■ TV: CBS (8)

■ ANNOUNCERS: Gus Johnson play-by-play, Len Elmore and Reggie Miller analysts

■ 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 Brigham Young, 83-74 in OT; Butler d. No. 9 Old Dominion, 60-58, d. No. 1 Pittsburgh, 71-70, d. No. 4 Wisconsin, 61-54

■ ELITE EIGHT APPEARANCES: This is Florida’s fifth; the Gators are 4-0. This is Butler’s second; the Bulldogs are 1-0.

■ LINE: Florida -3½; total 132

■ KEY STATS: Butler shoots 73.1 percent from the free-throw line; Florida is at 66.5 percent.

■ BUZZ: Florida can’t be as sloppy offensively as it was against Brigham Young 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 guard Shelvin Mack (15.6 ppg) from beyond the arc. Look for Butler’s guards to have success applying defensive pressure against Florida’s backcourt. Mack, Ronald Nored (5.3 ppg) and Shawn Vanzant (8.1 ppg) — a Tampa, Fla., native — should be able to force turnovers from Erving Walker (14.8 ppg, 3.4 apg) and Kenny Boynton (14.1 ppg, 2.6 apg). Walker 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 an average of 5.8 per game, and the Gators need that type of advantage in this one. But Butler’s Matt Howard (16.5 ppg, 7.8 rpg), who is 6 feet 8 inches, 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 are generally more patient on offense than Florida.

■ KEY INDIVIDUAL: Florida’s wild card is 6-10 swingman Chandler Parsons (11.5 ppg, 7.8 rpg, 3.8 apg), who is an excellent ballhandler. Parsons, the Southeastern Conference 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 trips to the basket, the better off the Gators will be.

WEST REGION

NO. 3 CONNECTICUT VS. NO. 5 ARIZONA

■ WHERE: Anaheim, Calif.

■ WHEN: 4:05 p.m. PDT

■ TV: CBS (8)

■ ANNOUNCERS: Verne Lundquist play-by-play, Bill Raftery analyst

■ RECORDS: Connecticut 29-9; Arizona 30-7

■ HOW THEY GOT HERE: Connecticut 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

■ ELITE EIGHT APPEARANCES: This is Connecticut’s 10th; the Huskies are 3-6. This is Arizona’s ninth; the Wildcats are 4-4.

■ LINE: Connecticut -3; total 145

■ KEY STATS: Arizona shoots 40.3 percent from 3-point range, Connecticut 33.8 percent.

■ BUZZ: Both rely heavily on one player — Connecticut on junior guard Kemba Walker (24.0 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 4.5 apg) and Arizona on sophomore forward Derrick Williams (19.5 ppg, 8.4 rpg). Williams is the only Arizona player with a double-figure scoring average, while Walker and freshman swingman Jeremy Lamb (10.9 ppg) 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 carry that over, they will win. But playing at that high of a level for a second game in a row will be difficult. UConn shoots just 43.5 percent from the field, but the Huskies also average 14.1 offensive rebounds, 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 will be vital for Arizona. Both teams will be comfortable with a fast pace, and while Arizona looked tough in beating Duke, the Huskies are the more physical team. Also, in Walker, UConn has a player who can create his shots when the offense bogs down.

■ KEY INDIVIDUAL: Connecticut has to get offensive production from big man Alex Oriakhi 9.7 ppg, 8.7 rpg). Arizona’s perimeter defense has been excellent this season (opponents shoot 29.3 percent from beyond the arc), and the Huskies have to find a way to get 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 Tournament outings.

MIKE HUGUENIN/RIVALS.COM