Sweet 16 awaits if Gators can dictate a faster tempo at both ends of the court vs. Iowa

Tommy Haugh defends against Prairie View A&M (Photo courtesy of UAA)

TAMPA –  If basketball were a street race, the Gators would be the built low to the ground street legal muscle car capable of going zero to 60 in less than two seconds. The Iowa Hawkeyes would be the series of speed bumps, all of them strategically placed to slow down and frustrate a team like Florida that prefers breakneck speed to a leisurely drive through the city streets.

Todd Golden has built his very successful basketball philosophy around the concept of speed. He wants the Gators to dictate the tempo of the game at both ends of the court, forcing opponents way out of their comfort zone. In Todd-think, defensive pressure forces bad shots and turnovers which convert into transition at such a pace that opponents wear down and submit over the course of a 40-minute game. Over the course of the current season, the Gators average 87.6 points per game (9^th nationally) with a 16-point (8^th-nationally) margin of victory.

When the Florida engine cranks up and hits on all cylinders we get things like Friday night’s first round NCAA South Regional game in which the Gators hung 114 points on Prairie View A&M while holding the Panthers to 55. The 59-point differential was the second highest margin of victory in NCAA Tournament history. The Gators had 71 possessions, scored on 53 of them, and had scoring runs of 18-0, 10-0 and 17-0 in a 60-point first half.

That’s the pace Golden and the Gators (27-7) would love to duplicate tonight when they face Iowa (22-12) in a second round game at Benchmark International Arena (7:10 p.m., TNT). Contrast Florida’s preferred tempo to that of Iowa coach Ben McCollum. His Hawkeyes slowed the pace to barely above a crawl in their 67-60 Friday night first round win over Clemson. That was a combined 105-possession game in which Iowa frustrated Clemson to the point the Tigers fouled early and often. Iowa won the game at the foul line where the Hawkeyes connected on 24-for-31 shots. Clemson wanted a faster pace, particularly at the end of the game when the Tigers were trying to come from behind, but the shot clock and the foul line worked in Iowa’s favor.

There is no secret to what Iowa intends to do tonight when the Hawkeyes and Gators square off with the winner advancing to Houston to take on Nebraska in the Sweet 16 round next Thursday. The Hawkeyes want to frustrate Florida's fast pace with speed bumps that limit the Gators' opportunities to get on those rolls that transform tight games into blowouts. Ben McCollum wants defense so tight and sticky that the Gators are frustrated. On the other end, he wants the Hawkeyes to milk the 30-second clock in search of wide open shots.

“A lot of teams want to dictate tempo when you play, and for us, I think we've got to make sure that we just focus on the things we can control,” Golden said at Florida’s Saturday press conference. “Defensively they're going to take their time and try to find matchups they like and play with a ball screen. We've just got to make them miss and make sure they don't get a second chance.

“That was an issue for Clemson last night. They got some first shot misses but they allowed Iowa to get back about 45 percent of their misses or something like that, which is a really bad formula against a team like that. Then on the offensive end, we're at our best when we're playing with pace. They want to slow the game down. We want to play fast. We have to make sure we do what we can to impose our will and not allow them to slow us down. We've got to be able to win no matter what the pace looks like.”

For the Gators to impose their will on the Hawkeyes it will start on the defensive end where they have to make life uncomfortable for Bennett Stirtz, the point guard who makes the Iowa offense flow. Stirtz comes into the game averaging 19.9 points, 2.6 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game. Against Clemson, Stirtz was held to 16 points on a bad shooting night – 4-17 from the field (3-10 from three) – but he was good when it mattered, nailing critical free throws (5-6) that kept the Tigers from mounting a successful comeback.

When Stirtz is at his best, he keeps both ball and shot clock moving. For the Gators to speed the tempo and force Iowa to play faster, the defensive game plan begins with taking Stirtz out of his preferred rhythm. When the Gators have the ball, force Stirtz to constantly chase while battling through Florida’s constant screening action. Essentially, this is the old Al McGuire cut the head off the snake theory: Make the other team's best player work the hardest and wear him down.

“I feel like for us to be successful, we've got to use our quickness tomorrow to bother him, to get on his hip and not leave his side, and we've got to wear him down,” Golden said. “That doesn't mean solely on his offensive side of the floor, guarding him in ball screens but also when he's guarding, we can't allow him to rest on the defensive end. It's one of the things that I think should show up for us tomorrow, playing multiple ball handlers. He's not going to be able to just sit there on a guy that is not in action. He is going to have to be guarding ball screens. He's going to have to be involved in those things. So over the course of 40 minutes, my hope is that'll wear him down a little bit.”

Per the kenpom.com analytics, Florida is elite at both ends of the floor, ranking 9^th in offensive efficiency, 6^thdefensively. The barttorvik analytics have the Gators No. 10 offensively, No. 4 defensively.

Critical for Florida at both ends of the floor will be rebounding. The concept is dominate the backboards, forcing one-and-done possessions for opponents, then outlet the ball for a fast transition to the offensive end. No team in the country transitions from defense to offense after a rebound faster than Florida. The Gators lead the nation in rebounding (45.68 per game) and rebound margin (+15 per game). In the win over Prairie View, the Gators held a 54-20 rebounding edge. Through 34 games, the Gators have only been outrebounded twice.

Additionally, it is imperative for the Gators to take care of the basketball. The Gators have lost only one game all year in which they turned the ball over 10 or fewer times. In the SEC Tournament in Nashville, the Gators turned the ball over 32 times in two games. Against Prairie View there were only seven. There is a correlation between fewer turnovers and points in the paint. Earlier in the season against Alabama the Gators scored 72 points in the paint on a night in which they turned the ball over just two times. Against Prairie View the Gators scored 62 and turned it over just seven times.

“Offensively as always for us we have to do a great job taking care of the basketball,” Golden said. “We're at our best when we value the basketball and get shots at the rim.”

Anticipated starting lineups

No. 1 FLORIDA (27-7): 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)

No. 9 Iowa (22-12): Cam Manyawu (6-9, 250, JR); Cooper Koch (6-8, 250, RFR); Tavion Banks (6-7, 215, SR); Kael Combs (6-4, 205, JR); Bennett Stirtz (6-4, 190, SR)

SATURDAY’S NCAA TOURNAMENT SECOND ROUND SCORES

East/Greenville

1 Duke (34-2) 81, 9 TCU (23-12) 57 (Duke advances to Sweet 16)

East/Buffalo

3 Michigan State (27-7) 77, Louisville (24-11) 69 (Michigan State advances to Sweet 16)

Midwest/Buffalo

1 Michigan (33-3) 95, 9 Saint Louis (29-6) 72 (Michigan advances to Sweet 16)

South/Oklahoma City

2 Houston (30-6) 88, 10 Texas A&M (22-12) 57 (Houston advances to Sweet 16)

4 Nebraska (27-6) 74, 5 Vanderbilt (27-8) 72 (Nebraska advances to Sweet 16)

South/Greenville

3 Illinois (26-8) 76, 11 VCU (28-8) 55 (Illinois advances to Sweet 16)

West/Portland

11 Texas (21-14) 74, 3 Gonzaga (31-4) 68 (Texas advances to Sweet 16)

4 Arkansas (28-8) 92, 12 High Point (31-5) 88 (Arkansas advances to Sweet 16)

SUNDAY’S NCAA TOURNAMENT SECOND ROUND

South/Tampa (TBS)

7:10 1 FLORIDA (27-7) vs. 9 Iowa (22-12)

Midwest/Tampa (TBS)

9:45: 4 Alabama (24-9) vs. Texas Tech (23-10)

West/St. Louis (CBS)

12:10: 2 Purdue (28-8) vs. 7 Miami (26-8)

Midwest/St. Louis (CBS)

2:45: 2 Iowa State (28-7) vs. 7 Kentucky (22-13)

Midwest/Philadelphia (TNT)

6:10: 3 Virginia (30-5) vs. 6 Tennessee (30-5)

East/Philadelphia (TNT)8:45: 2 UConn (30-5) vs. 7 UCLA (24-11)

East/San Diego (CBS)

5:15 4 Kansas (24-10) vs. 5 St. John’s (29-6)

West/San Diego (truTV)

7:50: 1 Arizona (33-2) vs. 9 Utah State (29-6)