Gator Country

Coach Billy Donovan and the Florida Gators are back in the NCAA Tournament since the last of their back-to-back titles in 2007. / Gator Country file photo by Tim Casey

After nearly 48 nerve-wracking hours, the Florida Gators got the news they were waiting for when the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee made them a #10 seed and placed them in the West Regional in Oklahoma City where they will face Brigham Young in Thursday’s first round (12:20 p.m., Ford Arena). Florida’s loss to Mississippi State in the Southeastern Conference Tournament second round combined with a rash of upsets in other leagues seemed to doom the Gators to the NIT for the third consecutive year, but the Selection Committee rewarded the Gators for a strong body of work over the entire season rather than looking simply at their 2-4 finish down the stretch.

“We’re very, very excited, and grateful for the opportunity,” Florida coach Billy Donovan said in a press release. “I’m most excited for our players having a chance to experience this, for most of them this is something they haven’t been through yet. They’ve worked so hard from day one, and it’s great to see them rewarded.”

The Gators, who take a 21-12 record into the NCAA Tournament, benefitted from an upgraded schedule. The Gators were 3-8 this season against teams that made the NCAA Tournament (Florida State, Michigan State, Syracuse, Richmond, Vanderbilt, Tennessee, Kentucky and Xavier). The Gators had wins over Florida State, Michigan State and Tennessee. Of their eight losses to tournament teams, four were by four or fewer points and the largest margin of defeat was 12 points. In all three of the 12-point defeats (Syracuse, Kentucky and Xavier), the Gators were within three points of the lead with five minutes or less remaining in the game before running out of gas.

Of the tournament teams the Gators faced, Kentucky is the #1 seed in the East, Syracuse the #1 seed in the West, Vanderbilt the #4 seed in the West, Michigan State the #5 seed in the Midwest, Tennessee the #6 seed in the Midwest, Xavier the #6 seed in the Midwest, Richmond the #7 seed in the South and Florida State the #9 seed in the West.

The Gators also helped themselves with RPI and strength of schedule by going 5-1 against teams that made it to the NIT (Jacksonville, Troy, North Carolina State, Ole Miss and Mississippi State).

All that added up to a body of work that the Selection Committee thought was deserving of an NCAA bid, the first the Gators have received since they won the NCAA Tournament for the second straight year in 2007. For all but senior Dan Werner, this will be the first trip to the NCAA Tournament for the players on the Florida roster.

“It was a stressful 48 hours not knowing it we were in or out,” Florida forward Chandler Parsons said. “We’re really excited to be a part of it, for most of us it’s our first experience with the NCAA Tournament. We don’t just want to go and play one game, we want to prove we’re deserving of being there.”

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First round opponent Brigham Young (29-5) lost in the Mountain West Conference semifinals to UNLV. UNLV, New Mexico and tournament champion San Diego State will represent the Mountain West in the NCAA Tournament.

The Cougars split with the only two out-of-conference teams on their schedule that made the NIT (lost to Utah State of the WAC; beat UTEP of Conference USA). They were 3-4 against UNLV, New Mexico and San Diego State. The Cougars’ signature out-of-conference win was UTEP but the Cougars also beat Arizona State and Nevada, both in the NIT, and Arizona.

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The Cougars have a perimeter-oriented team led by 6-2 junior guard Jimmer Fredette, who brings a 21.7 per game scoring average (3.1 rebounds; 4.9 assists) into the NCAA Tournament. Fredette shoots 44.8 percent from the three-point line and he’s close to automatic at the foul line (89.6 percent). Fredette is a two-time All-Mountain West Conference performer and a candidate for the Oscar Robertson and John Wood trophies.

Fredette has scored 30 points or more five times this season (33 against Nevada; 33 against San Diego State; 36 against Nevada; 36 against Colorado State; and 30 against UNLV) and he has gone over 40 twice (49 against
Arizona; 45 against TCU). His worst game of the season came against Arizona State in which he scored 10 points, hitting only 1-13 from the field and 0-5 from the three-point line. In the 49-point outburst against Arizona, Fredette hit 9-13 on threes while in the 45-point game against TCU, he was 23-24 from the foul line.

BYU, which is coached by Dave Rose (126-39 in five years) who came to BYU after compiling a 167-57 record in seven seasons at Division II Dixie State College, predominately sticks with a three-guard lineup of Fredette, 6-3 Jackson Emery (12.6 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 43 percent on threes, 75 percent free throws) and 6-5 Tyler Haws (11.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, 36.8 on threes, 90.9 percent foul line). The Cougars don’t get much production out of big men Chris Miles (6-10, 235; 4.7 points, 3.4 rebounds) and Noah Hartselle (6-8, 215; 6.4 points, 5.1 rebounds).

Offensively, the Cougars like to play an up-and-down game in which they take a lot of threes in transition. Defensively, they play a 3-2 matchup zone that is similar in principle to the one the Gators faced against Syracuse.

For the season, the Cougars are hitting 48.6 percent from the field and 41.9 percent from the three-point line. As a team, they shoot 78.6 percent from the foul line.

Opponents found the going tough against the matchup, hitting only 40.7 percent from the field and 33.1 percent from the three-point line.

2010 NCAA DIVISION I MEN’S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT
PLAY-IN GAME
Tuesday, March 16/University of Dayton (Ohio) Arena
Arkansas-Pine Bluff (17-15) vs. Winthrop (19-13), 7:30 p.m.

FIRST- AND SECOND-ROUND GAMES
Thursday, March 18/Saturday, March 20
Providence, R.I./Dunkin Donuts Center
(2S) Villanova (24-7) vs. (15S) Robert Morris (23-11), 12:30 p.m.
(7S) Richmond (26-8) vs. (10S) Saint Mary’s (26-5), 3 p.m.
(3MW) Georgetown (23-10) vs. (14MW) Ohio (21-14), 7:25 p.m.
(6MW) Tennessee (25-8) vs. (11MW) San Diego State (25-8), 9:55 p.m.

New Orleans, La./New Orleans Arena
(6S) Notre Dame (23-11) vs. (11S) Old Dominion (26-8), 12:25 p.m.
(3S) Baylor (25-7) vs. (14S) Sam Houston State (25-7), 2:55 p.m.
(1E) Kentucky vs. (16E) East Tennessee State (20-14), 7:15 p.m.
(8E) Texas (24-9) vs. (9E) Wake Forest (19-10), 9:45 p.m.

Oklahoma City, Okla./Ford Center
(7W) Brigham Young (29-5) vs. (10W) Florida (21-12), 12:20 p.m.
(2W) Kansas State (26-7) vs. (15W) North Texas (24-8), 2:50 p.m.
(8MW) UNLV (25-8) vs. (9MW) Northern Iowa (28-4), 7:10 p.m.
(1MW) Kansas (32-2) vs. (16MW) Lehigh (22-10), 9:40 p.m.

San Jose, Calif./HP Pavilion
(4W) Vanderbilt (24-8) vs. (13W) Murray State (30-4), 2:30 p.m.
(5W) Butler (28-4) vs. (12W) UTEP (26-6), 4:55 p.m.
(6E) Marquette (22-11) vs. (11E) Washington (24-9), 7:20 p.m.
(3E) New Mexico (29-4) vs. (14E) Montana (22-9), 9:50 p.m.

Friday, March 19/Sunday, March 21
Buffalo, N.Y./HSBC Arena
(2E) West Virginia (27-6) vs. (15E) Morgan State (27-9), 12:15 p.m.
(7E) Clemson (21-10) vs. (10E) Missouri (22-10), 2:45 p.m.
(8W) Gonzaga (26-6) vs. (9W) Florida State (22-9), 7:10 p.m.
(1W) Syracuse (28-4) vs. (16W) Vermont (25-9), 9:40 p.m.

Jacksonville, Fla./Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena
(5E) Temple (29-5) vs. (12E) Cornell (27-4), 12:30 p.m.
(4E) Wisconsin (23-8) vs. (13E) Wofford (26-8), 3 p.m.
(1S) Duke (29-5) vs. (16S) Pine Bluff/Winthrop winner, 7:25 p.m.
(8S) California (23-10) vs. (9S) Louisville (20-12), 9:55 p.m.

Milwaukee, Wis./Bradley Center
(6W) Xavier (24-8) vs. (11W) Minnesota (21-13), 12:25 p.m.
(3W) Pittsburgh (24-8) vs. (14W) Oakland (26-8), 2:55 p.m.
(7MW) Oklahoma State (22-10) vs. (10MW) Georgia Tech (22-12), 7:15 p.m.
(2MW) Ohio State (27-7) vs. (15MW) UC Santa Barbara (20-9), 9:45 p.m.

Spokane, Wash./Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena
(4S) Purdue (27-5) vs. (13S) Siena (27-6), 2:30 p.m.
(5S) Texas A&M (23-9) vs. (12S) Utah State (27-7), 4:55 p.m.
(5MW) Michigan State (24-8) vs. (12MW) New Mexico State (22-11), 7:20 p.m.
(4MW) Maryland (23-8) vs. (13MW) Houston (19-15), 9:50 p.m.

REGIONAL SEMIFINALS/FINALS
WEST (Salt Lake City, Utah/Energy Solutions Arena)
Thursday, March 25/Saturday, March 27
EAST (Syracuse, N.Y./Carrier Dome)
Thursday, March 25/Saturday, March 27
MIDWEST (St. Louis, Mo./Edward Jones Dome)
Friday, March 26/Sunday, March 28
SOUTH (Houston, Texas/Reliant Stadium)
Friday, March 26/Sunday, March 28

THE FINAL FOUR
Indianapolis, Ind./Lucas Oil Stadium
Saturday, April 3 semifinals
Midwest Regional champion vs. West Regional champion
East Regional champion vs. South Regional champion
Monday, April 5 championship
Midwest-West winner vs. East-South winner, 9:18 p.m.

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