Gators Faces a Challenge Against No.11 Gonzaga

The Gators are coming off of a win over Seton Hall, a tough NCAA tournament team. At the Big Dance last season Seton Hall fell to Gonzaga.

Now the Gators will have their chance at the Gonzaga Bulldogs tonight.

Shoot-around wrapped. #Gators (5-0) vs No. 11 Gonzaga (4-0) in less than 5 hours at HP Fieldhouse. On ESPNU. pic.twitter.com/HF6xWjPkXb

— Chris Harry (@GatorsChris) November 25, 2016

Gonzaga, ranked 11th in ESPN’s college basketball rankings, defeated Quinnipiac Thursday night with a final score of 82-62.

Gonzaga is coached by Mark Few and has led the Bulldogs to an NCAA tournament every season that he’s coached for 18 seasons.

The Zags average 90 points per game and Gonzaga is dangerous offensively as they have all their starters averaging in double figures. The team’s best three point shooters guards Josh Perkins and Jordan Matthews, who have percentages of 46.7 and 47.8 respectively are the best three point shooters.

Their 7″1 300 pound center Pzemek Karnowski is a huge part of the offense with 14.7 points per game. The Gator defense will really need to be on it tonight to stop the size and accuracy of this team. Speaking of accuracy, their sixth man Zach Collins is another seven footer who averages 13.8 points per game and is 75 percent from the floor as well.

 

The Gators will definitely need to use their size to help with defensive efforts. John Egbunu and Kevarrius Hayes will definitely need to help with this. The Gators will need to use their athleticism to quickly shoot, but make shots consistently to run circles around the Zags. Although Devin Robinson struggled with fouls last game and was fouled out at the end, he will need to use his length, continue to get those rebounds, and make his shots to help out his team. KeVaughn Allen seems to have his mojo back as the team’s top scorer, with having a season best of 21 points against the Pirates on Thursday. He will need to keep it up along with Canyon Barry. Although Barry comes off the bench he has been scoring more and more points each game with 20 points last bight. Barry also had six rebounds and increased his team high scoring average with 14.6 per game. Turnovers will need to not happen against this team. Kasey Hill has 11 points and 11 turnovers in his last three games, but his defense has been good and will need to be even better against this team who is very familiar with the NCAA tourney.

The Florida Gators continue the Advocare invitational in Orlando and face the Gonzaga Bulldogs at 9:30 on ESPNU, with live radio coverage on ESPN Gainesville 95.3 FM.

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