Top-ranked Gators take five-game win streak over Florida State into Tallahassee

Photo by Hannah White, UAA Communications.

The target on Florida's back does not get any bigger than this.

The No. 1 Gators (2-0), the defending national champions and the preseason top-ranked team in the country, play their first true road game of the season Tuesday night at the Donald L. Tucker Center, where Florida State (2-0) gets the shot every team in America wants: the champs, in your building, with your crowd at full throat. Tip is 6 p.m. ET on ESPN2.

On paper, this is a mismatch. Florida returned the core of a title team — Thomas Haugh, Alex Condon and Rueben Chinyelu all passed on NBA draft interest to run it back — and opened with a 77-67 win over Miami and an 88-57 rout of Jacksonville. But anyone who watched last season's meeting knows better than to treat this one as a formality.

LAST YEAR WAS A WARNING

Florida has won five straight in the Sunshine Showdown and leads the all-time series 48-28. The most recent one, though, was no coronation. Last Nov. 11 in Gainesville, the Gators escaped 78-76 — and only because they bullied Florida State on the glass, 58-36, behind Haugh's 20 points and 13 rebounds. Florida shot 6 of 31 from 3-point range, committed 18 turnovers and still trailed in the second half before an 11-0 run and a scoreless stretch of nearly four minutes by the Seminoles saved the night.

That is the formula Florida State coach Luke Loucks will sell his team Tuesday. Loucks, in his second season, played in this rivalry for four years at Florida State (2008-12). He knows exactly what a Tallahassee crowd does to a visiting favorite, and he has a team playing fast and loose enough to believe it.

FLORIDA STATE IS SCORING IN BUNCHES

The Seminoles have not been tested, but they have been impressive. Florida State opened with a 112-69 rout of Florida A&M in Tampa — six players in double figures, a 62-22 edge in paint points and a 47-30 rebounding advantage — then handled Troy 91-68 in its home opener.

Sebastian Rancik scored a career-high 25 against Florida A&M. Freshman Marcis Ponder has opened his career with consecutive double-doubles (15 points and 11 rebounds against Florida A&M, 10 and 10 against Troy). Shon Abaev led all scorers with 20 against Troy. The Seminoles start games fast — a 10-0 run to open the season, 12-2 against Troy — and they want this game played at their tempo, in transition, with the crowd feeding every run.

WHERE FLORIDA WINS IT

The glass. It decided last year's meeting and it is Florida's clearest edge again. Chinyelu anchors the best frontcourt in the country, Condon gives the Gators a second rebounder and rim presence, and Haugh does a little of everything — scoring, boards, and the connective passing that makes Florida's offense hum. If Florida owns the boards the way it did last November, Florida State's transition game never gets started, because you cannot run on made baskets and defensive rebounds.

The backcourt matters, too. Boogie Fland runs the show for the second straight year — the first time under coach Todd Golden that Florida has had the same point guard two seasons in a row — and Denzel Aberdeen, back in a Florida uniform after a season at Kentucky, gives Golden a veteran starter who has played in this rivalry from the home side. Against a Florida State team that pressures and gambles, ball security is not a footnote. It is the ballgame. Florida's 18 turnovers last year are the reason the Seminoles were still standing at the final horn.

WHAT FLORIDA MUST DO

Start like the No. 1 team, not the hunted one. Florida State's two starts this season say the Seminoles will try to land the first punch and let the Tucker Center do the rest. A veteran team with championship scar tissue should be built for the first five minutes — and the last five.

Win the rebounding battle by a wide margin, because a small edge will not be enough to quiet that building. Keep the turnovers in single digits. And when the inevitable Florida State run comes, answer it with the frontcourt, possession by possession, until the crowd sits down.

WHAT TO WATCH

• The first five minutes. Florida State has opened its two games with runs of 10-0 and 12-2. Florida cannot spend the first half climbing out of a hole in that noise.

• The rebounding margin. Florida's 58-36 edge saved last year's game. Anything close to even, and the Seminoles' upset path stays open all night.

• Aberdeen's night. A starter in this rivalry before, now back home — his composure against pressure is Florida's pressure release.

• The whistle on Chinyelu. Florida's defensive anchor has to stay on the floor. Florida State will attack him early and often to test exactly that.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Florida is better, deeper and more experienced, and none of that has ever been a guarantee in Tallahassee. The Gators have won five straight in this series because they have owned the glass and survived their own mistakes. Do the first without needing the second, and the No. 1 team in the country leaves with its first road win of the season. Let the Seminoles run, let the crowd in, and last year's two-point escape starts to look like the good old days.

Game info: Florida at Florida State, Tuesday, Nov. 10, 6 p.m. ET, Donald L. Tucker Center, Tallahassee. TV: ESPN2.