What to know: #7 Florida Gators vs. #1 Duke Blue Devils
Game Information
When: Sunday, November 26, 2017 at 10:30 p.m. (ET)
Where: Moda Center, Portland, Ore.
Records: Florida (5-0); Duke (7-0)
Coaches: Mike White- 53-24 (3rd season at Florida), 154-64 (7th season overall); Mike Krzyzewski- 1,005-271 (38th season at Duke), 1,078-330 (43rd season overall)
TV: ESPN
Streaming: WatchESPN
Radio: Gator IMG Sports Network
Projected Starters
Florida
F Keith Stone (6-8, 245) Avg./Game: 6.6/2.6r
G Jalen Hudson (6-6, 192) Avg./Game: 21.1/3.8r
G Egor Koulechov (6-5, 205) Avg./Game: 18.2/7.2r
G KeVaughn Allen (6-2, 193) Avg./Game: 12.8/4.0r
G Chris Chiozza (6-0, 175) Avg./Game: 13.2/6.8a
Duke
F Wendell Carter Jr. (6-10, 259) Avg./Game: 13.7/9.4r
F Marvin Bagley III (6-11, 234) Avg./Game: 21.1/10.7r
G Trevon Duval (6-3, 186) Avg./Game: 13.4/6.6a
G Gary Trent Jr. (6-6, 209) Avg./Game: 102.3/5.3r
G Grayson Allen (6-5, 205) Avg./Game: 16.9/4.3a
Preview
The No. 7 Florida Gators are set to battle No. 1 Duke for the Phil Knight Invitational Championship.
The Gators are feeling confident after defeating Stanford and No. 17 Gonzaga in the first two rounds of the tournament. Florida showed toughness and resiliency in its 111-105 double overtime win over the Bulldogs.
Jalen Hudson scored 31 of his 35 points over the second half and two overtime periods, draining eight of Florida’s 17 three pointers in the game. Behind him, Chris Chiozza finished with his second consecutive double-double at 26 points (14 in overtime) and 10 assists and KeVaughn Allen had 23 points.
Duke got to this point in the tournament with wins over Portland State and Texas. The Blue Devils had to come back in overtime to beat the Longhorns in the semifinals.
Freshman Marvin Bagley III made a statement with 35 points and 15 rebounds in the game.
He is one of four freshmen starting for Duke, along with senior sensation Grayson Allen.
Bagley leads the team with 21.1 points and 10.7 rebounds per game. Grayson Allen (16.9), Wendell Carter Jr. (13.7), Trevon Duval (13.4) and Gary Trent Jr. (12.3) all average double figures behind him.
Like the Gators, the Blue Devils really move the ball around with an average of 20 assists per game.
Florida and Duke have met 17 times in history, with the Gators winning just four of those contests. The most recent meeting came just a year ago as the Blue Devils took an 84-74 victory at Madison Square Garden in the 2016 Jimmy V Classic.
The Gators have already turned heads in Portland, but a win in this game would prove them as one of the top teams in all of college basketball.