Gator Men’s Basketball Preview

The Gator men’s basketball team travels to Portland, Oregon to participate in the Phil Knight Legacy tournament. Its first opponent of the tournament is the Xavier Musketeers. Both teams are coming off of emotional games. Xavier lost a close one to a top 15 ranked team, and the Gators came back to win against FSU.

Xavier

The Xavier University Musketeers are preparing to face the Gators in the first game of the tournament after coming off a close two-point loss to No. 12 Indiana. Xavier is hoping this loss will motivate them against a Florida team that is coming off a win against its in-state rival. The Musketeers are 3-1 on the season but have had past success against SEC teams in the regular season. Graduate student Jack Nunge is the player to keep an eye on, he was named Preseason All-Big East First Team. Nunge leads Xavier in scoring at 17.0 PPG., has the second best rebound percentage on the team with 6.8 RPG. and is tied for second in blocks at 1.5 BPG.

Eye on the Gators

The Gators are coming off a hot second half comeback win against in-state rivals, the Florida State Seminoles. The Gators overcame a 19-point deficit from the first quarter but rallied as a team to come back and win the game by nine. This was the Gators’ first win in Tallahassee in a decade. Castleton snagged 25 points and nine rebounds on the game. The Gators along with the Xavier Musketeers have yet to play conference game this season and both teams enter the game with 3-1 record.

Phil Knight Legacy Men’s Tournament

If the Gators take the win on Thursday, they will play whoever wins the Duke v. Oregon State game. The Gators leave Gainesville Tuesday the Nov. 22 for the tournament in Portland Oregon that lasts from Nov. 24-27. The winner of that will face one of these four teams: Gonzaga, Portland State, Purdue or West Virginia.