No. 10 Virginia vs. No. 7 Florida - NCAA Tournament West Region - Second-round game in Omaha, Neb. - 2:10 p.m. TNT
Virginia takes on SEC opponent Florida today in its first game in the NCAA tournament. It will probably be tough for the Cavaliers to win and get to a second game, but you never know with the tournament. Day one of the first round was bereft of upsets so maybe Virginia can provide one. Here is a look at the Gators:
Record: 23-10, 10-6 SEC
Last 10 games: 4-6
Best wins: Dec. 22 over Florida State 82-64 at home, Dec. 7 over Arizona 78-72 in overtime at home, Jan. 28 over Mississippi State 69-57 at home
Worst losses: Dec. 29 at Rutgers 85-83 in double OT, Feb. 11 home vs. Tennessee 75-70, Feb. 25 at Georgia 76-62
"Best" losses: Nov. 15 at Ohio State 81-74, Dec. 2 at Syracuse 72-68, March 10 in SEC tournament vs. Kentucky 74-71
Leading scorer: Kenny Boynton, 16.3 ppg
Leading rebounder: Bradley Beal, 6.5 rpg
Coach: Billy Donovan, 360-147 in 15 years at Florida (2 national championships)
Virginia is going up against a decorated coach and team. Billy Donovan has built the Gator hoops program into a perennial contender in the SEC. Florida won back-to-back NCAA titles in 2006 and 2007 but hasn't quite been able to achieve that level of success since then. The Gators' best finish since their last title was last year's exit in the NCAA tournament Elite Eight.
This year's Florida team is a combo of veterans and younger players that run an up-tempo style offense that leads the nation in 3-point field goals made (328) and is 27th in the nation in scoring (76.3 ppg). As a team, the Gators make 39 percent of their 3s. Virginia's pack-line defense is all about packing the paint and defending the 3-point line isn't necessarily a priority so that could hurt UVa. Still, coach Tony Bennett preaches closing out on shooters and it wouldn't surprise me if the defense plays a little closer to the 3-point line than usual. Boynton (42.7 percent) and Erik Murphy (44.7 percent) are the biggest threats from 3. The Gators also give 15 minutes per game off the bench to Scottie Wilbekin, who shoots 45 percent from 3.
Florida has a senior leader at point guard in Erving Walker who has been through many battles. He averages 12.1 points and 4.7 assists per game. Walker and Boynton, a junior, make a formidable backcourt duo and Jontel Evans and Sammy Zeglinski will have their hands full with them.
In the frontcourt, Florida is less experienced but very talented. The Gators start superstar freshman Bradley Beal (small at 6-foot-3, but scores 14.6 ppg), sophomore Patric Young (6-foot-9 sophomore and yes, that's Patric without a "k," and he scores 10.3 points and 6.4 rebounds per game), and big man Murphy (6-foot-10 junior who can stroke the 3-pointer as I already mentioned). I'm worried that Murphy will have a definite advantage over Akil Mitchell and Mitchell will have a tough time guarding him on the outside. Mike Scott will probably get his offensively, but I am worried also about how many shots he will need to take to get there and if he will get tired beating around the paint on Young.
Florida is a solid rebounding team despite being a little undersized (135th in the country), the Gators are good at racking up assists (15 per game, 34th in the country) and they also make 46 percent of their field goals (66th in the nation). They are decent at shooting free throws (71.2 percent).
I think UVa is really up against it in this matchup. All of Florida's starters average in double figures. It will be tough for UVa to keep Florida off the scoreboard, and UVa might get tired playing only seven players and running up and down the court. Hopefully, Zeglinski can go off from deep (using that Wilson ball in the tourney which he likes) and we can get another great contribution from Joe Harris (18 points last game vs. N.C. State and he is wearing less padding on his fractured left hand). Mitchell and Darion Atkins need to pitch in with a few points here and there, this will need to be a total team effort to knock off the Gators.
Record: 23-10, 10-6 SEC
Last 10 games: 4-6
Best wins: Dec. 22 over Florida State 82-64 at home, Dec. 7 over Arizona 78-72 in overtime at home, Jan. 28 over Mississippi State 69-57 at home
Worst losses: Dec. 29 at Rutgers 85-83 in double OT, Feb. 11 home vs. Tennessee 75-70, Feb. 25 at Georgia 76-62
"Best" losses: Nov. 15 at Ohio State 81-74, Dec. 2 at Syracuse 72-68, March 10 in SEC tournament vs. Kentucky 74-71
Leading scorer: Kenny Boynton, 16.3 ppg
Leading rebounder: Bradley Beal, 6.5 rpg
Coach: Billy Donovan, 360-147 in 15 years at Florida (2 national championships)
Virginia is going up against a decorated coach and team. Billy Donovan has built the Gator hoops program into a perennial contender in the SEC. Florida won back-to-back NCAA titles in 2006 and 2007 but hasn't quite been able to achieve that level of success since then. The Gators' best finish since their last title was last year's exit in the NCAA tournament Elite Eight.
This year's Florida team is a combo of veterans and younger players that run an up-tempo style offense that leads the nation in 3-point field goals made (328) and is 27th in the nation in scoring (76.3 ppg). As a team, the Gators make 39 percent of their 3s. Virginia's pack-line defense is all about packing the paint and defending the 3-point line isn't necessarily a priority so that could hurt UVa. Still, coach Tony Bennett preaches closing out on shooters and it wouldn't surprise me if the defense plays a little closer to the 3-point line than usual. Boynton (42.7 percent) and Erik Murphy (44.7 percent) are the biggest threats from 3. The Gators also give 15 minutes per game off the bench to Scottie Wilbekin, who shoots 45 percent from 3.
Florida has a senior leader at point guard in Erving Walker who has been through many battles. He averages 12.1 points and 4.7 assists per game. Walker and Boynton, a junior, make a formidable backcourt duo and Jontel Evans and Sammy Zeglinski will have their hands full with them.
In the frontcourt, Florida is less experienced but very talented. The Gators start superstar freshman Bradley Beal (small at 6-foot-3, but scores 14.6 ppg), sophomore Patric Young (6-foot-9 sophomore and yes, that's Patric without a "k," and he scores 10.3 points and 6.4 rebounds per game), and big man Murphy (6-foot-10 junior who can stroke the 3-pointer as I already mentioned). I'm worried that Murphy will have a definite advantage over Akil Mitchell and Mitchell will have a tough time guarding him on the outside. Mike Scott will probably get his offensively, but I am worried also about how many shots he will need to take to get there and if he will get tired beating around the paint on Young.
Florida is a solid rebounding team despite being a little undersized (135th in the country), the Gators are good at racking up assists (15 per game, 34th in the country) and they also make 46 percent of their field goals (66th in the nation). They are decent at shooting free throws (71.2 percent).
I think UVa is really up against it in this matchup. All of Florida's starters average in double figures. It will be tough for UVa to keep Florida off the scoreboard, and UVa might get tired playing only seven players and running up and down the court. Hopefully, Zeglinski can go off from deep (using that Wilson ball in the tourney which he likes) and we can get another great contribution from Joe Harris (18 points last game vs. N.C. State and he is wearing less padding on his fractured left hand). Mitchell and Darion Atkins need to pitch in with a few points here and there, this will need to be a total team effort to knock off the Gators.
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