New head basketball coach Mike White set off his tenure at Florida on the right foot with a 59-41 victory at Navy. Now he will have the opportunity to coach his first home game in the Stephen C. O’Connell Center in Gainesville as the Florida Gators host North Carolina A&T.
The Gators have one leg up against the Aggies with a 1-0 all-time record, this being their second matchup in school history. Florida is also coming off of a win, while North Carolina is coming off of a loss against Purdue.
Notables from Florida’s first game:
– One of the big areas of growth is their defensive play. Never done in the Billy Donovan era, Florida had more double-digit rebounders than scorers in their last matchup.
– Devin Robinson made an impact off of the bench, getting the first double double of his career with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
– Free throw percentage improvement – an area that Florida struggled in last season is now above 50%.
– Bench players scoring 20-for-29.
North Carolina A&T Overview:
The Aggies have their seven top scorers from last season returning for play this season. One of those seven being 6’7” forward Bruce Beckford, who averaged 15.1 points per game last season. This team also has a good amount of height, with eight players coming in at 6’6” or above.
In their last game none of their players were able to score in double-digits as they shot less than 25% from the floor. However, much like the Gators they struggle in shooting from behind the arc. Last game they went 0-15, but they do have a better free throw percentage at 66.7. Keep in mind these stats are also coming off of a game against a #23 ranked Purdue. Both the Gators and the Aggies remain unranked.
Game Predictions:
Florida’s probable starters are listed as DeVon Walker, Dorian Finney-Smith, KaVaughn Allen, Kasey Hill and John Egbunu. However, during Sunday’s press conference Coach White reiterated that any player could end up starting – looking at Devin Robinson and Chris Chiozza as possibilities.
If Florida’s defense can continue to play as they did against Navy, they can likely hold North Carolina A&T’s offense to a low scoring percentage. However the Gators need to be careful in that they aren’t giving up many trips to the charity stripe, because that is an area that the Aggies have them beat in.
What This Game Means:
For Florida, this is their first time to show their fans how this team has gelled under their new coaching staff and new players. If they can keep the momentum that they built up during their first game, while improving their offensive play the Gators could put themselves in a great position for the season.
For North Carolina A&T, this would be their first win of the season against a powerhouse program. It would be an opportunity for an upset that could put their basketball program on the radar, especially because it is a road game.
Luckily there is not much time to wait to see how this game will unravel as the Gators take on the Aggies on Monday night at 7 p.m. in the O’Dome. For those of you who can’t make it out, it will be available online on SECNetwork+.