Gators have all the momentum but can't afford a letdown at Georgia

Boogie Fland has been been directing the Gators flawlessly (Photo by UAA Communications)

The Gators were hot when they rolled into Athens last season. Winners of six straight and already with a blowout 30-point win over Georgia in Gainesville. Another blowout was expected, but a funny thing happened on the way to an easy win. Georgia ran up a 41-16 lead before the Gators woke from their funk.

The Gators staged a furious rally, the likes we have rarely seen, in the second half to actually take the lead with 1:28 left in the game. Now, the Gators gave out of gas and lost the game, 88-83, but that was the last time Florida lost. Twelve wins later, the Florida Gators were the national champions.

So here we are a year later. The Gators (17-6, 8-2 SEC) have won eight of their last nine games, own a 92-77 blowout win over Georgia in Gainesville, and find themselves being taken very seriously as potential Final Four contenders as they face off with Georgia (17-6, 5-5 SEC) in Athens tonight (7 p.m., ESPN2). The Gator Boyz are hot and Georgia is desperate for a signature win. The closest thing to signature among Georgia’s five SEC wins are in overtime against Auburn and a blowout of then No. 17 Arkansas, both at Stegman Coliseum where the Bulldogs can be formidable. A win over the 14^th-ranked Gators would provide a real jolt to Georgia’s NCAA hopes. Right now, Florida ranks No. 9 in the NCAA NET rankings. Georgia is No. 35 and in real need of a Quad 1 win.

Georgia isn’t the only team with plenty at stake tonight There are both NCAA and SEC ramifications for the Gators in this one. Florida holds a half-game lead over Kentucky (17-7, 8-3 SEC) in the SEC standings with the Wildcats due in Gainesville Saturday. The SEC champion is the regular season winner, so getting a ninth SEC win against Georgia and then potentially gaining another game of separation with a win over UK in Gainesville would put Florida in outstanding position capture its first SEC title since 2014.

How do the Gators avoid an ambush like the one last year in Athens? Staying the course of what has been successful in recent weeks is a good place to start. That means defense, rebounding, taking care of the basketball and dominating in the paint. The eight SEC wins have been by a combined margin of 167 points with a rebounding margin of 119. The Gators have turned the ball over only 73 times in the eight wins while forcing 100 opponent turnovers. In the paint, the Gators have scored 408 points in the eight wins while allowing just 232.

Critical for the Gators will be to take this game seriously without looking ahead to the Saturday showdown at the O-Dome with Kentucky. If Florida shows up with its focus in the right place, this should be a good win for the Gators.

Anticipated starting lineups

No. 14 FLORIDA (17-6, 8-2 SEC): Alex Condon (6-11, 236, JR); Rueben Chinyelu (6-11, 265, JR); Tommy Haugh (6-9, 215, JR); Boogie Fland (6-3, 185, SO); Xaivian Lee (6-4, 185, SR)

Georgia (16-7, 5-5 SEC): Kanon Catchings (6-9, 220, SO); Somto Cyril (6-11, 260, SO); Jeremiah Wilkinson (6-1, 185, SO); Blue Cain (6-5, 195, JR); Jordan Ross (6-3, 195, JR)

Game notes: Alex Condon is 38 points from 1,000 for his Florida career. He has scored 962 in 95 career games. He’s averaging 10.1 points, 7.2 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game for his career … Tommy Haugh needs 59 points to make 1,000 for his career.  For 99 games he is averaging 9.5 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game … Rueben Chinyelu has more points (276) and more rebounds (264) in 23 games this year than he had in 40 games a year ago. Chinyelu leads the SEC in rebounding (11.5 per game), which ranks fourth nationally. He also leads the SEC in offensive rebounds ( and is fourth nationally … In SEC games only, Urban Klavzar is hitting 41 percent while Haugh is hitting 37.5 percent. Haugh has made a 3-pointer in 18 consecutive games … In SEC games, Boogie Fland has 55 assists against only 16 turnovers.

Tuesday’s scores

No. 19 Vanderbilt (20-4, 7-4 SEC) 84, Auburn (14-10, 5-6 SEC) 76: Tyler Tanner’s 25 points included 12-13 from the foul line as Vanderbilt became the first SEC team to get to 20 wins this season. Tanner, who also had four rebounds, six assists and two steals, got 22 points of support from Jalen Washington. Tahaad Pettiford scored 21 for Auburn, which lost its second straight game.

No. 21 Arkansas (18-6, 8-3 SEC) 91, LSU (14-10, 2-9 SEC) 62: The Razorbacks took only 12 threes (made three) the entire game, but they didn’t need them. Darius Acuff Jr. scored 28 and Meleek Thomas 20 to lead Arkansas. LSU, held to 3-21 from the 3-point line, got 18 points from Marquel Sutton.

Wednesday’s games

No. 14 FLORIDA (17-6, 8-2 SEC) at Georgia (17-6, 5-5 SEC)

Alabama (16-7, 6-4 SEC) at Ole Miss (11-12, 3-7 SEC)

Tennessee (16-7, 6-4 SEC) at Mississippi State (11-12, 3-7 SEC)

Missouri (16-7, 6-4, SEC) at Texas A&M (17-6, 7-3 SEC)

The Athletic top 25: 1. Arizona; 2. Michigan; 3. UConn; 4. Duke; 5. Illinois; 6. Hourston; 7. Nebraska; 8. Iowa State; 9. Purdue; 10. Michigan State; 11. Kansas; 12. FLORIDA; 13. Texas Tech; 14. Gonzaga; 15. Virginia; 16. St. John’s; 17. North Carolina; 18. Saint Louis; 19. Vanderbilt; 20. Alabama; 21. Arkansas; 22. Iowa; 23. Tennessee; 24. BYU; 25. Louisville

SEC teams in ESPN (Joe Lunardi) bracketology

West: 1. Arizona; 2. Nebraska; 3. FLORIDA; 4. Gonzaga (Other SEC teams: 5. Alabama; 8. Texas A&M)

South: 1. UConn; 2. Houston; 3. Purdue; 4. Virginia (SEC teams: 5. Tennessee; 11. Texas)

Midwest: 1. Michigan; 2. Iowa State; 3. Michigan State; 4. North Carolina (SEC teams: 6. Arkansas; 7. Kentucky; 8. Auburn)

South: 1. Duke; 2. Illinois; 3. Kansas; 4. Texas Tech (SEC teams: 5. Vanderbilt; 10. Georgia)

SEC teams in CBS bracketology

Midwest: 1. Michigan; 2. Iowa State; 3. FLORIDA; 4. Gonzaga (Other SEC teams: 6. Arkansas; 7. Tennessee)

South: 1. Houston; 2. Illinois; 3. Michigan State; 4. Vanderbilt (Other SEC teams: 8. Georgia; 11. Missouri)

West: 1. Arizona; 2. UConn; 3. Nebraska; 4. Texas Tech (SEC teams: 6. Kentucky; 9, Texas A&M)

East: 1. Duke; 2. Kansas; 3. Purdue; 4. Alabama (Other SEC teams: 8. Auburn; 10. Texas)

SEC teams in The Athletic bracketology

West: 1. Arizona; 2. Nebraska; 3. FLORIDA; 4. Gonzaga

South: 1. UConn; 2. Iowa State; 3. Michigan State; 4. Virginia (SEC teams: 5. Vanderbilt; 11. Texas)

Midwest: 1. Michigan; 2. Houston; 3. Purdue; 4. Texas Tech (SEC teams: 5. Alabama; 6. Kentucky; 8. Auburn; 10. Georgia

East: 1. Duke; 2. Illinois; 3. Kansas; 4. St. John’s (SEC teams: 5. Tennessee; 6. Arkansas; 9. Texas A&M)

 SEC teams in Sports Illustrated bracketology

West: 1. Arizona; 2. Nebraska; 3. Kansas; 4. Gonzaga (SEC teams: 5. Vanderbilt)

Midwest: 1. Michigan; 2. Houston; 3. Purdue; 4. North Carolina (SEC teams: 6. Arkansas)

East: 1. Duke; 2. Illinois; 3. FLORIDA; 4. Texas Tech (Other SEC teams: 5. Kentucky; 9. Texas A&M; 10. Georgia)

South: 1. UConn; 2. Iowa State; 3. Michigan State; 4. Alabama (Other SEC teams: 7. Tennessee; 8. Auburn; 11. Texas)

The Sporting News bracketology

No. 1 seeds: Arizona; Michigan; Duke; UConn

No. 2 seeds: Iowa State; Houston; FLORIDA; Illinois

No. 3 seeds: Nebraska; Michigan State; Gonzaga; Kansas

No. 4 seeds: Purdue; Virginia; Vanderbilt; St. John’s

No. 5 seeds: Texas Tech; Alabama; North Carolina; Louisville

No. 6 seeds: BYU; Arkansas; Clemson; Tennessee

No. 7 seeds: Kentucky; Saint Louis; Iowa; North Carolina State

No. 8 seeds: Texas A&M; Villanova; Auburn; Utah State

No. 9 seeds: Saint Mary’s; SMU; Wisconsin; UCLA

No. 10 seeds: Indiana; Georgia; Texas; UCF

No. 11 seeds (** play-in): Miami (OH); Southern California; Santa Clara; San Diego State; Miami (FL); California

No. 12 seeds: Tulsa; Belmont; Yale; Liberty

No. 13 seeds: Stephen F. Austin; Utah Valley; UNC-Wilmington; North Dakota State

No. 14 seeds: East Tennessee State; UC-Irvine; Winthrop; Troy

No. 15 seeds: Portland State; Wright State; Austin Peay; Navy

No. 16 seeds (** play-in): UT-Martin; Merrimack; Long Island; Bethune-Cookman; UMBC; Morgan State

On the bubble: Ohio State; New Mexico; Missouri; Seton Hall