What The Gators Can Expect From Towson Thursday

Florida suffered a devastating loss at the hands of Florida State on Sunday but have the chance to get back on track Thursday when they welcome the Towson Tigers to Gainesville. In this game the Gators will be looking to get some rhythm to their offensive game, something that severely lacked against the Seminoles which resulted in the loss. Here’s what you can expect from Tigers Thursday.

Season To Date

Towson is 1-1 on the season against D-I opponents while also bullying a D-III school with 330 enrolled students called Bryn Athyn by 69 points. Their win was a comfortable one against George Washington by a score of 72-58 while their loss was a heartbreaking 84-80 overtime defeat to a Kent State team that’s projected to be one of the better teams in the MAC. According to preseason KenPom projections Towson is one of the better mid-major teams the Gators will face as are in higher standing in the predictive metrics than North Florida, Saint Joseph’s, Marshall, and Long Beach State. They have good continuity with a handful of returning pieces and it’s definitely a more veteran group than the Gators have so they could provide some serious resistance Thursday.

Defense

Historically Towson has been a poor defensive team but they had good efforts on that end against George Washington and Kent State. Exclusively playing man-to-man defense through their opening games they play quite conservatively not gambling for steals or pressuring too far out on the perimeter. This will be a stark contrast to what the Gators saw against the Seminoles who made it incredibly difficult to get any kind of ball movement and they will have more room to breathe against the Tigers.

Dennis Tunstall, a 6’9” senior who is their primary center, is a good rim protector and will draw the Kerry Blackshear Jr. assignment on most possessions. Not possessing much size behind Tunstall in the frontcourt he likely won’t be looking to foul too often and instead the Tigers are going to use a lot of double teams on the block, something the Gators will have to look to exploit. Florida has started the season shooting an ice cold 18.9% from three and this will be a game where they’ll need to see some threes fall to get their confidence up. Finishing in the bottom-75 nationally in three pointers allowed for three straight seasons the Tigers are more concerned in trying to protect the rim and this should be a night the Gators get three point shots off if they can get the ball moving.

Drawing the toughest defensive assignments on the perimeter will be 6’5” senior Brian Fobbs who has the veteran savvy to slow down opposing scorers but he doesn’t have the top shelf athleticism to be a total shutdown weapon.

This team finished 298th in KenPom’s adjusted defensive efficiency metric a season ago and while they have returning pieces that should have improved this isn’t the type of team that should give the Gators problems and they have to be able to find a way to put the ball in the hoop efficiently against them.

Offense

Balanced scoring is the name of the game for Towson as they have had four double-digit scorers in each of their games to start the season. Brian Fobbs is the table setter who gets things going often with his ability to drive and protect the ball against smaller wings. What the Gators can be aware of is the fact that Fobbs didn’t attempt a 3-pointer against George Washington and then went 0-8 against Kent State so he isn’t exactly a threat from behind the arc. Fortunately for Fobbs he has teammates that have been doing the heavy lifting from three as Dennis Tunstall (2-4), Jason Gibson (5-10), and Juwan Gray (4-4) have all started the season blazing. Three-point defense has been a strength of Florida under Mike White and they had a good performance in that area against a trigger happy North Florida team so we’ll see what they can do in stopping Towson.

Schematically Towson looks to score in transition as much as possible, recognizing that aren’t as good of a team offensively in the half court. They’ll look for early cutters and trailing three pointers but if those shots aren’t there then they’re going to slow things down. Currently 282nd in average possession length they are fully content in taking things slow if the transition opportunity isn’t there as they look for cracks in the defense they can exploit. Coach White wasn’t happy with the way the Gators defended against Florida State, especially in the second half, and they’re going to need to be focused for long defensive possessions against Towson who will take their time and hope for a defensive lapse they can capitalize on.

One thing unique Towson does is run a lot of sets where they have screens set for shooters, something we’re seeing less and less of in college basketball. With so many hot shooters to start the season you’d expect them to run a lot of actions to try to free up shooters and that will require some defensive focus and communication from the Gators who will probably try to switch a lot of these screens. A blown switch due to a failure to communicate could result in a three-ball falling through Florida’s hoop so they’ll need to keep talking through every set Towson runs.

Opponent Player To Watch

Brian Fobbs is easily the highest usage player on the Tigers and could be their most important player but freshman point guard Jason Gibson is someone who I think you need to watch out for as a slipper 6’1” perimeter threat that is skilled at getting in the paint and finishing or drawing fouls. His 50% 3-point stroke to start the season has really helped loosen up defenses and if he has a few jumpers fall, something that seems to happen to visiting players in the O’Dome from time to time, he could be a problem.

Keys To The Game

Florida needs to find a way to get the ball moving and the defense shifting. Things got incredibly stagnant against Florida State, which in all fairness will happen against a team that long and athletic, and their offense didn’t click particularly well against North Florida either. With a game against UConn on Sunday coming up if the Gators don’t find a way to get some electricity into their offense they could stumble into another loss, something that could be incredibly deflating at this time of the year. Noah Locke is a player that will be looking for a bounce back performance after holding a 1-11 shooting night against the Seminoles and Andrew Nembhard will also be looking to breakout after a slow start. Florida should be able to handle this game easily but really it will be about whether or not they can look good in doing so and inspire some confidence moving forward.

Eric Fawcett
Eric is a basketball coach and writer from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. His work has been found at NBA international properties, ESPN, Bleacher Report, CBS Sports, Lindy's and others. He loves zone defenses, the extra pass, and a 30 second shot clock. Growing up in Canada, an American channel showing SEC basketball games was his first exposure to Gator hoops, and he has been hooked ever since. You can follow him on Twitter at @ericfawcett_.