Florida Versus UConn Preview

After taking care of business in a couple of buy games against Florida A&M and Stetson the Gators (6-3) will have their competition dramatically ramp up on Wednesday as they welcome the UConn Huskies (9-0) to town. UConn has been one of the biggest stories of the early college basketball season bludgeoning a number of quality opponents on their way to a perfect record. 

 

Before the season the Huskies were picked to finish fourth in the Big East but at this point would likely be considered the unanimous favorite to win what is an excellent basketball league.

 

Early Monday morning the NCAA released their NET rankings–the official sorting and evaluation tool for NCAA Tournament selection and seeding. UConn came in at second, which seems like a fair evaluation given their start to the season. With the second best team in the country heading to Gainesville the Gators have a massive opportunity to get a win that would drastically change their perception nationally. Florida entered Monday’s NET release ranked 69th, so they’d love to get a win that shoots them up the rankings. 

 

The Huskies have looked completely dominant in their nine wins this season with double digit victories in each of them, and they have played some quality opponents. Buffalo and UNC Wilmington are quality mid-major opponents and UConn beat them 84-64 and 86-50 respectively. In terms of high-major opponents they have taken on Oregon, Alabama, Iowa State, and Oklahoma State, and they bludgeoned all of them–particularly a talented Oregon squad that they slapped 83-59. These four high major games were also their four most recent games, so they’re a finely tuned machine right now that is used to quality opponents.

 

If you’re looking for something in Florida’s favor the Huskies are yet to play a road game this year so Gainesville will be the first hostile environment they have encountered. With this being the first high-major team the Gators have welcomed to town they are hoping for a raucous crowd that can make for an intimidating environment. 

 

The Huskies are led by big man Adama Sanogo, a physical 6’9”, 245 pound center who is currently averaging 19 points and 7 rebounds per game. Sanogo’s frame is perfect for a modern post player and he plays with aggression, using his muscle to carve out space under the rim before he even gets the ball so when it finally comes to him he can simply dunk. According to KenPom’s player of the year algorithm he has been the 5th best player in college basketball so this should be an excellent matchup with Colin Castleton. 

 

When Sanogo goes to the bench the Huskies have one of the best backup centers in the country entering the game–7’2”, 265 pound Donovan Clingan. He is still learning about the game but already is effective due to his size and physicality and UConn knows who to use him creating deep post catches to generate layups. 

 

One of the breakout stars for UConn that’s fueling the Huskies’ huge season is guard Jordan Hawkins. Averaging 13 points while shooting 39% from three he’s a dynamic scoring guard who at 6’5” feels good in just about any matchup on the perimeter. He can spot up, he can slash, and he can run some pick and roll and often at the end of a shot clock it’s him creating a shot one on one. 

 

There will be a couple of names on UConn you’ll find familiar as they went and got some noted Gator killers in the transfer portal. 

 

To start, former Virginia Tech Hokie Naheim Alleyne. You might remember him from the NCAA Tournament in 2021 where he had 28 points, nearly leading the Hokies to a win. He gave the Gators all they could handle back then and he’ll look to do it again, though he is struggling a bit to start the season shooting only 23% from three so far. 

 

Another noted Gator killer is Hassan Diarra who was at Texas A&M before transferring to UConn. You may remember the SEC Tournament game that ended Florida’s chances at an NCAA Tournament where Diarra had 14 points and 3 assists while also knocking down some dagger threes at the end of the game to seal things for the Aggies.

 

This is a loaded Huskies roster, and it isn’t just raw talent. They run some outstanding, complex offense that challenges opponents to guard multiple actions, something you can see examples of here:

 

 

 

 

Head coach Dan Hurley has been known as a defensive mind more so than an offensive one at UConn and while their offense has vastly improved this year their defensive effort hasn’t dropped off at all. The Huskies are extremely aggressive on the perimeter, chasing shooters off the three-point line and funnelling them towards their athletic forwards who swallow up help at the rim. Luckily for the Gators they don’t rely on a ton of three-point shots, though they’ll be challenged on the inside to score against UConn’s length.

 

Florida is yet to get a statement win but they’ll have the opportunity on Wednesday against the Huskies. This game is a late tip–9 PM ET, and will be televised on ESPN 2.



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_.