Golden: Gators must play with a chip on their shoulder vs. UConn
RALEIGH, NC – In his heart of hearts, Todd Golden might believe Las Vegas oddsmakers who have established the Gators as 9.5-point favorites to win their second round West Regional game with UConn, winner of the last two NCAA championships. The private Todd Golden might believe No. 1-seed Florida (31-4) is going to put an end to UConn’s streak of 13 consecutive NCAA Tournament victories that began with the Huskies’ run to the 2023 national championship.
The public Todd Golden, however, would have you believe the Gators are the underdogs.
“Even though we might be favored, I think a lot of people still believe that UConn is going to win this game because of their track record, because of Coach (Danny) Hurley and the success that they've had,” Golden said Saturday afternoon after the Gators finished practice at the Lenovo Center where they face No. 8-seed UConn today (12:10 p.m., CBS) for the right to advance to San Francisco and the Sweet 16 round.
With success comes privilege. UConn has won six national championships since 1999. Duke and North Carolina belong to college basketball’s blueblood class, but neither the Blue Devils nor the Tar Heels can match UConn when it comes to bringing home the big trophy. To the bluebloods of the sport, the Huskies are blue collar country cousins.
Of course, the bluebloods also look down their noses at the Gators even though UF has won two national championships, finished runner-up once and made it to the Final Four two other times. That doesn’t stop Golden from constantly portraying the Gators as Rodney Dangerfields who get no respect.
Golden tried to make it sound as if the Gators are fortunate to share the same arena as the UConn Huskies.
“They have multiple players that have won national championships that expect to win this time of year,” Golden said. “For us, this is a relatively new position for us with the chance to advance to play in the Sweet 16. It gives us an opportunity to keep the chip on our shoulder. I do still think the main people that think we're going to advance is the people in our locker room. We've got to make sure that we play that way tomorrow.”
The Gators are where they are because Golden has carefully constructed a roster that is both talented and deep. The Gators have a consensus first team All-American in point guard Walter Clayton Jr. (17.7 points, 3.8 rebounds, 4.3 assists) as part of a 3-headed monster on the perimeter that Clayton has dubbed best in the nation. It’s hard to argue with Alijah Martin (14.5 points, 4.5 rebounds) and Will Richard (13.4 points, 4.5 rebounds) on the wings. The Gators have a 5-man rotation on the perimeter with Denzell Aberdeen and Urban Klavzar playing critical minutes.
The Gators also have something no other team in the tournament has – 25 fouls in the paint that are 6-9 or taller. With that kind of depth on the inside to go with the firepower on the perimeter, the Gators are able to play and win any style the opponent wants to play.
Figure UConn won’t try to run with the Gators, who have scored 86 points or more in eight consecutive games. The Huskies seem most comfortable in a half court game that may best resemble hand-to-hand combat. The Gators have the ability to push the tempo but if the going gets rough, Golden says he has a team more than able to deal with it, particularly with the additions of Martin and Rueben Chinyelu from the portal last year.
“This year obviously adding Reuben and Alijah, now we have a collective group that enjoys playing physically and plays with an edge,” Golden said. “The coaches do a really good job of putting our guys in position, but our players are the ones that go out and execute and are willing to kind of get nasty and get physical. I think it's going to be really important for us to win this game tomorrow. We've got to be able to do that against UConn tomorrow.”
The Gators are the No. 1 team in the country for offensive efficiency kenpom.com analytics. They rank No. 10 in defensive efficiency. Florida ranks third nationally in scoring (85.7), fourth in scoring margin (16 points per game), second in fast break points per game (16.6) and ninth in offensive rebounds (14.03). The Gators are third nationally in rebounds (4 42 per game), 8thnationally in rebounding margin (8 per game) and they hold opponents to 29.3 percent shooting from the 3-point line (9th nationally).
The Huskies are No. 15 in offensive efficiency at kenpom.com, 78th in defensive efficiency. UConn scores 77.1 per game, allows 67.8 per game and allows opponents to shoot 34.6 percent from the 3-point line.
Golden has scouted the Huskies, done the analytical comparison and concludes the Gators have to take them out of what they have to do offensively in the half court.
“They run a lot of really, really good stuff,” Golden said. “Misdirections, drifts, pindowns, lots of different actions to make their shooter and playmakers available. We've got to be mindful and do a really good job being on the scout. I think defensive communication is huge tomorrow. We've got to make sure we're all on the same page and all five guys are working together that way.
“We've got to make sure we execute like we did in the SEC Tournament. I thought our team was elite in all three games, executing on both sides of the ball. Yesterday we did it for 15 minutes. We've got to do it for 40 tomorrow, though, if we want to beat this team.”
Todd Golden on the over/under of his halftime anger Friday night in the win over Norfolk State: “Over/under 10? It was the under – 9.5.”
Rueben Chinyelu on Florida’s mindset after winning game one: “We don't have the urge to relax just because we won one game. This is a six-game streak that we're looking forward to. So we're tackling each game at a time. We're just ready for the moment to embrace it and then just live the moment.”
Anticipated starting lineupsFLORIDA (31-4): 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)
UConn (24-10): Alex Karaban (6-8, 225, JR); Samson Johnson (6-10, 225, SR); Liam McNeely (6-7, 210, FR); Solo Ball (6-3, 190, SO); Hassan Diarra (6-2, 195, SR)
Saturday’s scores
West Regional
10 Arkansas (21-13) 75, 2 St. John’s (31-4) 66
South Regional
1 Auburn (30-5) 82, 9 Creighton (25-11) 70
5 Michigan (27-9) 91, 4 Texas A&M (23-10) 79
Midwest Regional
2 Tennessee (29-7) 67, 7 UCLA (23-11) 58
Sunday’s games
West Regional
No. 8 UConn (25-9) vs. 1 FLORIDA (31-4); Raleigh
South Regional
6 Ole Miss (23-11) vs. Iowa State (25-9); Milwaukee
I admit this game worries me