Lost Weekend Over, Gators Must Wait to Learn NCAA Foe

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The first question put Monday to Florida coach Mike White asked for an assessment of his team's 2018 NCAA Tournament draw. White, probably only half-jokingly, made mention of all the time he had on his hands over the weekend, given the Gators' early exit from the Southeastern Conference Tournament in St. Louis, and figured a No. 6-seed seemed about right, given the pre-tourney prognostications.

But UF (20-12), with the 6-seed in the East Region, will have to wait for the outcome of Tuesday's night's so-called play-in game at Dayton, Ohio, between dueling 11-seeds UCLA (21-11) and St. Bonaventure (25-7) before knowing what opponent will be on the other bench Thursday night at American Airlines Center in Dallas.

"Both teams are very different, [but] both teams play a fairly uptempo style offensively," said White, noting that St. Bonaventure has an ultra-talented pair of guards in Jaylen Adams and Matt Mobley that the Gators faced last season in a hard-fought win at Lakeland, while the UCLA will have a length and size edge. "I'm anxious to watch that game [Tuesday]."

UF will watch the Bonnies and Bruins as a team, with the coaches diving knee-deep into the pre-game scout immediately after. Make that knee-deeper, actually, as scouting preparations have already begun; they just won't be delivered to the players until the opponent is known.

In the interim, Monday's practice, as well as Tuesday's, will focus on shoring up some of the principles the Gators abandoned, as they've been known to do at times this season, in the 80-72 loss Friday night to Arkansas. First and foremost, energy and attention to detail, but also the team's slow reaction to the Razorbacks' changing defenses — especially, their zones — as well as breakdowns on UF's own defense, be it versus ball-screens, in transition or on the glass.

"We don't have a lot of time to prepare for it," White said.

The Gators lost a day of practice after an issue with the company contracted with chartering the team's flights could not get a jet to St. Louis. The team was supposed to return home Saturday morning, but did not get out St. Louis until after 5 p.m. Sunday, a day that would have been used for review, individual drills and shooting.

"We spent four nights in a hotel to play one game," said White, whose team was taxiing on the runway in Missouri during the NCAA selection show. "If our guys aren't rested for practice [Monday], I don't know if we'll ever be."

So, they'll have to play a little catch-up while also waiting to learn of their next opponent.

But it sure beats the NIT alternative, right?

CHARTING THE GATORS
Florida has an all-time record of 26-9 over the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament, a mark that includes a 2-0 line under Coach Mike White, thanks to last year's run through Orlando. That was as a No. 4 seed. In 2018, the Gators will be a No. 6, which will mark the fourth time UF has entered the tournament in that spot — tying for the most of any seeding positions for the program — and for the first time since 1999. The Gators advanced to the Sweet 16 in two of the previous three tries when starting in the "6" hole. All-time, UF is 24-6 in first-weekend game against lower seeds, and 2-3 against higher seeds.

SEED	YEAR	SITE	RESULTS	RECORD
1	2007	New Orleans	W Jackson State 112-69 W Purdue 74-67	2-0
	2014	Orlando	W Albany 67-55 W Pittsburgh 61-45	2-0
				Total: 4-0
2	2003	Tampa	W Sam Houston State 85-55 L Michigan State 68-46	1-1
	2011	Tampa	W UC Santa-Barbara 79-51 W UCLA 73-65	2-0
				Total: 3-1
3	1994	Uniondale, N.Y.	W James Madison 64-62 W Penn 70-58	2-0
	2001	New Orleans	W Western Kentucky 69-56 L Temple 75-54	1-1
	2006	Jacksonville	W South Alabama 76-50 W Wisconsin-Milwaukee 82-60	2-0
	2013	Austin, Texas	W Northwestern Satet 79-47 W Minnesota 78-64	2-0
				Total: 7-1
4	2005	Nashville, Tenn.	W Ohio U 67-62 L Villanova 76-65	1-1
	2017	Orlando	W East Tennessee State 80-65 W Virginia 65-39	2-0
				Total: 3-1
5	2000	Winston-Salem, N.C.	W Butler 69-68 (OT) W Illinois 93-76	2-0
	2002	Chicago	L Creighton 83-82 (2OT)	0-1
	2004	Raleigh, N.C.	L Manhattan 75-60	0-1
				Total: 2-2
6	1987	Syracuse, N.Y.	W NC State 82-70* W Purdue 85-66*	2-0
	1988	Salt Lake City	W St. John's 62-59* L Michigan 108-85*	1-1
	1999	Seattle	W Penn 75-61 W Weber State (82-74 (OT)	2-0
				Total: 5-1
7	1989	Dallas	L Colorado State 68-46	0-1
	2012	Omaha, Neb.	W Virginia 71-45 W Norfolk State 84-50	2-0
				Total: 2-1
10	1995	Tallahassee, Fla.	L Iowa State 64-61	0-1
	2010	Oklahoma City, Okla.	L Brigham Young 99-92 (2OT)	0-1
				Total: 0-2
All First-Weekend				Total: 26-9

* Result vacated due to NCAA sanctions

Gators Calendar

Lost Weekend Over, Gators Must Wait to Learn NCAA Foe

Footer

Upcoming Events

Lost Weekend Over, Gators Must Wait to Learn NCAA Foe

Related News

Related Videos

Footer