The Florida Gators have found themselves in a close battle to earn a NCAA tournament spot. As of March 1st, before their tough 82-76 loss to the South Carolina Gamecocks, the Gators are a 7th seed according to ESPN analyst Joe Lunardi.
However, Florida has held up decently well this season looking at it in its entirety. With a 20-9 overall mark and 10-6 in SEC play, the Gators sit sixth in the SEC after accomplishing their 7th 20-win season in the past ten years. A tournament berth would be the fifth over that same stretch of time.
The Gators do have only a few quad one wins. However, in quads 2-4 they are a combined 17-1. They are also a combined 4-2 on neutral sites this season preparing them for the SEC Tournament in Nashville and even beyond that, March Madness.
Walter Clayton Jr. has really been the big-time player who has stepped up to give the Florida Gators some scoring. He leads the team with an average of 16.9 points per game which makes him a top ten scorer in the SEC. He has been in double figures in the Gators’ past seven games and five of those games have seen him score 20+ points.
Clayton takes tons of shots too as during this seven-game double figure stretch, he has taken at least 9 field goals in each game.
His shooting game stretches beyond the three point line as well. He is hitting a 36.5% mark from three-point range and over these seven games he has had he has shot 5 three-pointers in each game and it has led to 21 makes over that course of time.
Quite possibly the biggest weapon Florida has is their rebounding. They are the best team in the country at getting rebounds averaging 43.3 per game. This was one part of the game that held true for them during their loss to South Carolina on Saturday as they outrebounded the Gamecocks 34-29.
Rebounding is one of the most important keys to winning. Whoever plays this Florida Gators team down the stretch will have to be able to make the most of the first shot attempts they get during each offensive possession. Defensively, these teams will also have to box out hard as the Gators are for sure hunters for second chance opportunities. Florida is the second-best offensive rebounding team in the country behind Texas A&M.
The rebounding success Florida has had stems from their senior forward Tyrese Samuel and young talented center Micah Handlogten. They are two top-five rebounders in the SEC and average 7.8 and 7.5 rebounds respectively. This means they bring in on average 35% of the rebounds the Florida Gators get each game.
Both Florida big men are also pretty efficient with their own field goal shooting hitting 57% and 65% marks respectively this season. Samuel has also put up 10 double-doubles this season which is the second most out of any SEC player.
Some of the Gator guards get in on rebounding action as well. Will Richard and Zyon Pullin average 3.8 a game each and Clayton sits right behind them averaging 3.7. This kind of team effort on the glass is something that makes Florida really dangerous down the stretch with one more week of regular season college hoops.
Florida’s next game will be against the Alabama Crimson Tide. The Tide are one of the best teams in the SEC that has a potent offense and can score in a hurry. However, the Gators played them well the last time the two teams met in Tuscaloosa as it was Alabama coming out on top in overtime where both teams scored 90+ points.
Tip-off for the second matchup between the two teams during the week will be inside of Exactech Arena on Tuesday, March 5th at 7:00 p.m. E.T. with the game being televised on ESPN.
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