The Florida Gators put a pair of impressive
winning streaks on the line as they host the Vanderbilt Commodores this
afternoon at the O’Connell Center in Gainesville. Game time is set for 1:00 PM
ET and will be televised on CBS.
Head coach Billy Donovan’s Gators are favored
by 6.5 in the NCAA basketball odds with the total at 146.5.
Florida has won six straight, its longest
streak of the season. A victory today would give the Gators their longest
streak since an 8-0 run three years ago. FU has an 18-game home winning streak, tied for the fourth-longest in program history
and tied for the seventh-longest active
streak in the nation. The Gators are 12-0
at the O’Connell Center this season.
Last
time out
On Tuesday, Vanderbilt fell to 16-6 overall,
9-9 ATS and 5-2 in conference with an 82-74 loss to Arkansas. John
Jenkins led with 19 points, while Jeffery Taylor added
18, Festus Ezeli 14, and Steve Tchiengang chipped in 10 points
for the Commodores. Vandy
lost the battle of the boards 36-29 and is now 2-5 when out-rebounded.
The Commodores have the SEC’s top two scorers
in Jenkins (19.9) and Taylor (17.4). Jenkins also leads the nation with nearly
four, 3-pointers per game, and Vanderbilt is making nine shots per game from
beyond the arc. They boast some of the top long distance shooters in the game with
Taylor connecting at a 46.3 percent clip with Jenkins (44%) and Brad Tinsley
(43%) right behind.
Florida is coming off a non-cover, 74-66
victory over South Carolina. Kenny Boynton had 24 points on 6 of 13 shooting,
including 4 of 8 from beyond the arc. Bradley Beal added 17 points and 11
rebounds while Erving Walker contributed 14 points. The Gators shooting left
plenty to be desired as they connected on just 37.3 percent from the field (22
of 59) and were just 25 percent from 3-point land (7 of 25).
Deep
and talented
The Gators begin play with an 18-4 overall
record, 8-8-1 ATS and 6-1 in the SEC. Boynton leads five Gator players in
double figures with 17.5 points per game with Beal (14.2), Walker (12.7),
Patric Young (11.1), and Erik Murphy (10.3) stacked up behind him in the
scoring department.
Florida’s scoring offense is ranked 10th
nationally and ?rst in the SEC with 80.4 points per game. The Gators also lead
the nation with 230 3-pointers and10.5 per game.
The
Series
Vanderbilt leads
the all-time series, 63-59 and the teams have traded sweeps for the past three
seasons (UF in 2009 & 2011, Vanderbilt in 2010), with the Gators taking all
three meetings last year, including in the SEC Tournament semi?nals. UF defeated
Vanderbilt, 77-66, in their last meeting on March 12 in the SEC Tournament semi-finals.
Coaches
Now in his 16th year at Florida, Donovan has
set a school record with 14 consecutive post-season appearances, including 11
NCAA Tournament bids in those 14 years. UF made the school’s ?rst-ever
appearance in the National Championship game in 2000 before winning back-to-back
national titles in 2006 and 2007.
Head coach Kevin Stallings is in his 13th
season with the Commodores. He’s led them to a 252-154 record and two Sweet 16
appearances in ?ve NCAA Tournament trips during that time. Stallings is 7-19 in
his career vs. Florida.
Trends
Vanderbilt is 20-8-2 ATS in its last 30 road
games while Florida is a modest 5-2-1 vs. in its last eight games overall.
The Gators are 12-5 to the ‘over’ this season
and 21-6 to the high side in their last 27 home games. Five of the Commodores
last six games have topped the total.
Harvey’s Take: Both of these teams like to hit the floor running and
while occasionally set up in half-court offense but not often. I’ll take the
game to go ‘over’ the total in my NCAA basketball picks.
Good
luck!