It’s been one rough year for Billy Donovan and his Florida team. The No. 1 overall seed in last season’s tournament is set to miss the Big Dance this time around. That is, unless the Gators can successfully defend their SEC tournament championship. The first step in that title defense will be a tough one, though, as the Alabama Crimson Tide come calling.
Will the scuffling Gators get swept away by the Tide? Read on for more on this SEC tournament second round showdown. For more on the SEC tournament, check out our complete preview here.
[sc:MarchMadness ]Alabama Crimson Tide vs. Florida Gators Preview
Where: Bridgestone Arena, Nashville
When: Thursday, March 12, 1:00 PM ET
Line: Alabama Crimson Tide at Florida Gators – view all NCAA Basketball lines
Betting on the Alabama Crimson Tide
Alabama just edged out Texas A&M, 61-60, in their regular season finale to complete the season sweep over the Aggies. Those two wins over the A&M were the only ones Bama had over the teams that finished above them in the SEC standings. They went a combined 0-8 against the other six teams. Meanwhile, they went 8-2 against the bottom six in the conference.
[sc:NCAAB240banner ]One of those two losses came against Florida, but they battled the Gators to a hard-fought 52-50 loss. Leading scorer Levi Randolph (15 points per game) had an off-night with nine points, while Ricky Tarrant and Rodney Cooper had 13 and 14, respectively.
Bama lost Tarrant for the season during that game after he ruptured his plantar fascia. Randolph has stepped up his game since then, averaging 16 points in his last 11 games. He’s also just one game removed from dropping a season-high 32 points against Ole Miss.
Randolph fits the profile of the type of player Florida has had some trouble defending during the tail-end of the season: lanky 6-5 perimeter players. Tennessee’s Armani Moore and Texas A&M’s Alex Caruso, who are both 6-5 like Randolph, went for 18 and 20 points, respectively in two of the Gators’ last three games.
Retin Obasohan should also present a different look for Florida to deal with. Obasohan has been incredibly consistent since taking Tarrant’s starting spot. He’s averaging 12 points per game in nine starts, and has topped double-figures in eight of those nine games.
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Betting on the Florida Gators
Florida ended a very disappointing regular season on a low as it suffered a 17-point drubbing on the road at the hands of No. 1-ranked Kentucky. The Gators finished 8-10 in conference play and 15-16 overall, their most number of losses since the 15 (10 in conference) they suffered during the 1997-98 season, head coach Billy Donovan’s second year in charge of the program.
Chris Walker (five points per game) has been a major disappointment during his sophomore season, while losing second-leading scorer Michael Frazier II (12.8 points per game) for seven games due to a high-ankle sprain also didn’t help. The Gators went just 3-4 during his absence, with a couple of one-point losses to boot.
Florida could use some solid production from their two stars against Alabama. Walker scored a conference-high 12 points in the first meeting with the Tide, while Frazier made his long-awaited return against Kentucky.
But if Frazier isn’t quite ready to contribute, the wing tandem of Dorian Finney-Smith and Devin Robinson must once again step up to match Bama’s perimeter-oriented attack.
Finney-Smith is averaging 14 points in his last six games, which was interrupted by a three-game team-issued suspension. The freshman Robinson has also flourished from Frazier’s absence, scoring 12 or more points in four of the seven games without Frazier.
Writer’s Prediction
Alabama upsets Florida to advance to the tourney.
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