Thursday, March 17, 2011

Previewing Tampa: The night games

http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebasketballnation/tag/_/name/2011-ncaa-spartans-bruins
No. 15 seed UC Santa Barbara (18-13) vs. No. 2 seed Florida (26-7), 6:50 p.m. ET (TBS)

ABOUT THE GAUCHOS

Coach:
Bob Williams (406-269 in 23 seasons, 217-169 in 13 seasons at UCSB)

Last NCAA tournament appearance:
2010

All-time NCAA record:
1-4 in four appearances

Player to watch:
Gauchos guard Orlando Johnson is one of the country’s hottest players entering the NCAA tournament. In three games of the Big West tournament last week, Johnson averaged 28.3 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists. He made 12 of 18 3-pointers in victories over Pacific, Cal State Northridge and Long Beach State. Johnson is averaging 21.1 points and 6.3 rebounds this season.

ABOUT THE GATORS


Coach:
Billy Donovan (392-166 in 17 seasons, 357-146 in 15 seasons at Florida)

Last NCAA tournament appearance:
2010

All-time NCAA record:
29-13 in 16 appearances

Player to watch:
Senior forward Chandler Parsons ranks third on the team in scoring with 11.5 points per game. But Parsons was named SEC player of the year because he does so much else. He leads the Gators in rebounding (7.8) and assists (112) and is shooting 49.6 percent from the floor. Since missing action with a deep thigh bruise, Parsons is averaging 14.9 points, 8.6 rebounds and 4.0 assists in seven games.

THREE THINGS TO WATCH


1. Florida’s start:
The Gators have gotten off to slow starts over the past couple of weeks, but they’re dominating opponents in the second half. In their past five games, the Gators averaged 50.2 points after halftime and outscored opponents by an average of 16 points. Florida’s defense has been stellar after halftime, too, holding opponents to only 25 percent on 3-point attempts.

2. Florida’s big men:
If the Gators are going to advance beyond the first weekend of the NCAA tournament, they will need to get more help from their interior players. In Florida’s 70-54 loss to Kentucky in the SEC tournament championship game, center Vernon Macklin and forwards Alex Tyus and Patric Young combined for only 16 points and 11 rebounds.

3. Johnson & Nunnally:
Johnson gets most of UCSB’s attention, but junior forward James Nunnally is a big-time scorer in his own right. Nunnally averaged 16.4 points and 5.4 rebounds and shot 82.9 percent from the foul line. The Gauchos are difficult to stop when Johnson and Nunnally are shooting well. The pair combined for 52 points in a 72-70 loss at Oregon and 35 points in a 68-62 upset at UNLV -- UCSB’s first win over a ranked opponent since 1993.

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