Florida Gators
Seton Hall
No Holiday in Orlando: Gators Open AdvoCare vs Seton Hall
Thursday, November 24, 2016 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
UF is part of the eight-team field playing this weekend at ESPN Wide World of Sports.
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — The Florida Gators are spending the first portion of their 2016-17 basketball season bouncing around the top half of the state. Four games. Four wins. Not bad. To date the opponents were all against mid-major programs with elements of steadfast and grit.
So, perhaps the Gators should consider themselves fortunate. They successfully navigated the likes of Florida Gulf Coast (which lost a controversial one by a single point at Michigan State), St. Bonaventure (and its pair of electrifying, high-scoring guards) and Belmont (with its mad-bombing 3-point ways). Definitely better than what happened the last few days to, say, Vanderbilt, which lost at home to Bucknell; or Illinois, a victim at home against Winthrop; or No. 3 Indiana. which was (truly shockingly) shocked by IU-Fort Wayne.
Now, it's time to up the ante.
"We're going to get a measuring stick to see where we are," UF junior guard Chris Chiozza said.
Happy Thanksgiving, Florida fans. Time for some big-time basketball. In Orlando, no less. Disney World, actually, where for this holiday weekend the HP Fieldhouse will play host to the AdvoCare Invitational, an eight-team field that will pit the Gators (4-0) against Big East Conference heavyweight Seton Hall (3-0) Thursday night at 8:30.
The opening-day outcome will determine into which bracket UF falls, but it's conceivable the Gators could not only face the Pirates — who return four starters from a team that defeated eventual NCAA champion Villanova in the Big East Tournament title game — but also 11th-ranked Gonzaga and either 21st-ranked Iowa State or neighboring rival Miami.
"We'l find out a lot about ourselves this weekend," Florida coach Mike White said. "Not only how competitive we are against higher-level competition, but how we hold up in terms of playing three games in four days. Without a doubt, we will face some adversity. It'll be interesting to see how we respond."
What the Gators already know about themselves is that they're a pretty good defensive team with the potential of being an excellent one. They'll need to be the latter against the Pirates, who can score from anywhere on the floor. They have a big point guard in Khadeen Carrington (21.3 points per game) who can fill in a variety of ways, a 6-foot-10, 240-pound center in Angel Delgado (15 points, 13.7 rebounds per game) who does it all and a handful of guys who can hit the 3-ball, including top reserve Myles Powell (15.3 ppg).
The Pirates also have that intangible trait that usually comes with champions of the Big East.
"They're tough," Chiozza said. "They're going to play hard and play physical and try to bully us, so we're going to find out how tough we are. It'll be street ball."
He smiled.
"I like that."
The Pirates have some skill, though. And their ability to score the ball — 88 points per game, 54.2 percent from the floor, nearly 42 percent from the arc — presents a challenge to the Florida defense. If the Gators experience some of the lapses that plagued them in the FGCU, Bonaventure and Belmont games, it would behove them to pick up the pace, offensively.
As a team, UF is only shooting 42 percent from the floor and 32 from deep. The Gators' best inside threat, 6-11, 250-pound center John Egbunu, is facing constant double-teams and scoring at 48-percent efficiency, compared to 59 last season. Also, shooting guard KeVaughn Allen got off to a rough start his first two games, hitting just five of his 20 shots, but the last two games combined to make 11 of 23 shots and 4-for-8 from the 3-point line.
Together, UF's two point guards (who sometimes play together), Kasey Hill and Chiozza, are hitting only 31.8 percent from the floor and are just 2-for-13 from the 3-point line (15.4 percent).
"The shots are going to start falling for us," said Hill, who was a tough 2-for-11 against Belmont, but played exceptional defense, especially ealry when the Gators raced to a 15-0 lead. "We just have to keep being aggressive and leading the team."
That will start on defense, and this particular game will take the Gators' best effort of the young season.
And, if they succeed, they'll have to get up and do it again Friday.
"I'm pleased with how hard we're playing and I'm pleased with the level of togetherness," White said. "Right now, and certainly in this tournament, we've got to defend the glass better and rebound it better defensively and communicate more consistently, rather than in spurts. Offensively, we've got work to do."
