Florida hoops: Gators go for 12th straight win over Georgia
Since abruptly leaving Florida for the head coaching job at Georgia, Mike White has done a rather impressive job in his rebuild of the program in Athens. The Bulldogs have been competitive the first two years (36-33 record), but now in year three, White has Georgia (14-5, 2-4 SEC) playing like a team that has a legitimate shot at the NCAA Tournament.
Five days after White left Florida for Georgia, the Gators hired Todd Golden from San Francisco. Golden went 16-17 in year one, 24-12 last year when the Gators made the NCAA Tournament. In year three, Golden has the Gators (17-2, 4-2 SEC) ranked 5th nationally and looking like a team that could make the Final Four. The Gators are No. 6 in the NCAA NET rankings and No. 5 in the kenpom.com analytics.
When White left Florida he had beaten Georgia six straight times. He’s 0-5 against Florida since taking the Georgia job.
Florida’s 11-game win streak over Georgia as well as Golden’s 5-0 record against Mike White will be on the line today when the Bulldogs face the Gators at the O-Dome (3:30 p.m., SEC Network). Golden doesn’t exactly pay attention to streaks and personal records, but he knows the importance of taking out Georgia today. Momentum in the Southeastern Conference is incredibly important. The last thing the Gators need is to go into a midweek bye on the heels of a loss, particularly with their showdown game with 6th-ranked Tennessee next Saturday in Knoxville.
Florida brings a 2-game winning streak into today’s game. Since their 1-point loss to Missouri, the Gators have blown out Texas (84-60) at the O-Dome and pulled off a miracle rally to get a 1-point win (70-69) over South Carolina in Columbia. Against Texas, the Gators dominated the paint (44 points) and the backboards (41-33 margin). Against South Carolina, the Gators got only nine points from their big man rotation and UF was outrebounded 36-31. To beat South Carolina, Will Richard had his best game of the season, scoring the winning basket on a drive to the rack with 4.8 seconds left. Richard finished with 22 points, four rebounds, three assists, one blocked shot and three steals. Walter Clayton had 16 points and seven assists while Alijah Martin had 14 points and three steals.
Georgia, meanwhile, has lost three straight games since they cracked the Associated Press top 25. Ever since they were ranked No. 23, the Bulldogs have lost by 18 at No. 6 Tennessee (74-56), dropped a 70-68 white knuckler to No. 1 Auburn and lost to Arkansas 68-65.
Both the Gators and Bulldogs play a tough, physical style of defense. The Gators are giving up 65.7 per game, while Georgia is giving up 65.3. Both the Gators and Bulldogs hold opponents to 28.1 percent from the 3-point line.
With all things being even on the defensive end, it will be imperative for the Gators to win the battle of the backboards. Florida is third nationally in rebounds per game (44.53) and fourth in offensive rebounds (15.21). Georgia, on the other hand, is 71st (38.21 per game) overall and 86th in offensive rebounds (12.05). In their Tuesday night loss to Arkansas, Georgia was outrebounded by 10, which allowed Arkansas to score 33 second chance points.
Key for the Gators today will be neutralizing Georgia super freshman Asa Newell, a former 5-star recruit who averages 15.5 points and 6.9 rebounds per game.
Anticipated starting lineups
No. 5 FLORIDA (17-2, 4-2 SEC): Alex Condon (6-11, 230, SO); Rueben Chinyelu (6-10, 255, SO); Will Richard (6-4, 206, SR); Alijah Martin (6-2, 195, GR); Walter Clayton Jr. (6-2, 195, SR)
Georgia (14-5, 2-4 SEC): Asa Newell (6-11, 220, FR); RJ Godfrey (6-8, 230, JR); Tyrin Lawrence (6-4, 200, GR); Blue Cain (6-5, 195, SO); Silas Demary (6-5, 195, SO)
SEC BASKETBALL
Saturday’s games
Georgia (14-5, 2-4 SEC) at No. 5 FLORIDA (17-2, 4-2 SEC)
No. 6 Tennessee (17-2, 4-2 SEC) at No. 1 Auburn (17-1, 5-0 SEC)
LSU (12-6, 1-4 SEC) at No. 4 Alabama (16-3, 5-1 SEC)
No. 9 Kentucky (14-4, 3-2 SEC) at Vanderbilt (15-4, 3-3 SEC)
No. 13 Texas A&M (15-4, 4-2 SEC) at Texas (13-6, 2-4 SEC)
No. 14 Mississippi State (15-4, 3-3 SEC) at South Carolina (10-9, 0-6 SEC)
No. 16 Ole Miss (15-4, 4-2 SEC) at No. 22 Missouri (15-4, 4-2 SEC)
Oklahoma (14-4, 1-4 SEC) at Arkansas (12-7, 1-5 SEC)
It’s always a good time to knock off any Georgia Bulldog team. GO GATORS!