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SAN FRANCISCO ― Florida basketball finds itself one win away from its first Final Four appearance since 2014.
But to get to San Antonio next week, the No. 1 seed Florida Gators (33-4) will need to take down a team that feels destined to return to its home state.
Texas Tech (28-8) rallied from down 16 points in the second half to beat No. 10 seed Arkansas 85-83 in overtime, setting up a meeting between the No. 3 seed Red Raiders and Florida an Elite Eight West Region matchup on Saturday at the Chase Center (6:09 p.m., TBS).
"It's an awesome opportunity to be on this team with these guys because nobody believes more in each other than this group," Texas Tech coach Grant McCasland said. "It's really a blessing to be part of."
The matchup pits two of the top young coaches in college basketball, the 48-year-old McCasland against 39-year-old UF coach Todd Golden, who improved to 73-33 in three seasons with the Gators. Florida improved to 10-2 all-time in Sweet 16 games with its 87-71 win over No. 4 seed Maryland on Thursday.
"We have a uniquely tight group," Golden said. "My staff has done a fantastic job all year. It's our third year being together. Obviously, we've had a couple guys that have benefited from our success. They're going to be getting head jobs here when this run's over.
"But the key for me and my staff and our players, we can't take a second of this for granted. It's been an amazing run."
The 6-foot-9 Toppin, the Big 12's player of the year, finished with 20 points and nine rebounds in Texas Tech's comeback win over the Razorbacks on Thursday night. He's a tough cover and physical on the boards, having posted 17 double doubles this season and 29 in his career.
The 6-2 Anderson, an All-Big 12 freshman, scored 22 points against the Hogs and is one of Texas Tech's top perimeter threats, shooting 38.6% from 3-point range on the season.
Texas Tech could get another boost from the perimeter if senior guard Chance McMillian returns from an oblique strain, which has sidelined him the last four games. McMillian is averaging 14.2 points and shooting 43.4% from 3-point range on the season.
"He shot around (Thursday)," McCasland said. "I fully anticipated him suiting up. I anticipated him being available. I didn't know how much.
"Then we got to the arena, and we had had him planned to dress out and be ready. You don't know in these games. Like what it was tonight, you may be somewhat limited, but I thought there was a chance he could play, like legit. We were planning on dressing him out. He got to the arena, and he just came to me and said he couldn't do it."
Florida is coming off a game in which it out-rebounded Maryland 42-20 and outscored the Terrapins 21-9 in second chance points.
Texas Tech will present more of a challenge with the 6-9 Toppin and 6-6 Darrion Williams up front. The Red Raiders are plus-4.4 on the boards this season and outrebounded Arkansas 51-39 on Thursday night, leading to a 16-9 edge in second chance points.
"It's the belief that we've got to find a way," McCasland said. "That's the biggest part of this team. They'll do whatever it takes -- shoot a bunch of 3s, go into the post, offensive rebounds. Whatever it takes, this team does."
Florida received a scare when starting forward Alex Condon rolled his ankle in the first half against Maryland and went to the locker room. But the 6-foot-11 Condon returned in the second half, keeping UF's four-post rotation of Condon, center Rueben Chinyelu, center Micah Handlogten and forward Thomas Haugh intact. Expect all four to continue to crash the boards on Saturday.
After turning the ball over eight times in the first half in its Round of 32 win against UConn, Florida turned the ball over 13 times in the first half against Maryland.
After leading the Terrapins just 40-38 in the first half, UF regrouped in the second half, posting an assist-to-turnover ratio of 11 to 4 to pull away and score 47 points in the second half.
"In order to achieve what we have to, we have to take care of the ball, love the ball because it's precious," Chinyelu said. "Just being able to get back to loving that and just know that, okay, this is my cake, I need to hold it real tight."
Florida 84, Texas Tech 73: Another strong second half will fuel Florida to its first Final Four appearance since 2014. Expect another balanced scoring effort for the Gators and for UF's bench to play a role in the outcome of the game.
Kevin Brockway is The Gainesville Sun's Florida beat writer. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow him on X @KevinBrockwayG1
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Florida basketball vs Texas Tech prediction, pick for Elite Eight
Continue reading...
But to get to San Antonio next week, the No. 1 seed Florida Gators (33-4) will need to take down a team that feels destined to return to its home state.
Texas Tech (28-8) rallied from down 16 points in the second half to beat No. 10 seed Arkansas 85-83 in overtime, setting up a meeting between the No. 3 seed Red Raiders and Florida an Elite Eight West Region matchup on Saturday at the Chase Center (6:09 p.m., TBS).
"It's an awesome opportunity to be on this team with these guys because nobody believes more in each other than this group," Texas Tech coach Grant McCasland said. "It's really a blessing to be part of."
The matchup pits two of the top young coaches in college basketball, the 48-year-old McCasland against 39-year-old UF coach Todd Golden, who improved to 73-33 in three seasons with the Gators. Florida improved to 10-2 all-time in Sweet 16 games with its 87-71 win over No. 4 seed Maryland on Thursday.
"We have a uniquely tight group," Golden said. "My staff has done a fantastic job all year. It's our third year being together. Obviously, we've had a couple guys that have benefited from our success. They're going to be getting head jobs here when this run's over.
"But the key for me and my staff and our players, we can't take a second of this for granted. It's been an amazing run."
How will Florida basketball deal with the Texas Tech inside-out combo of forward JT Toppin and guard Christian Anderson?
The 6-foot-9 Toppin, the Big 12's player of the year, finished with 20 points and nine rebounds in Texas Tech's comeback win over the Razorbacks on Thursday night. He's a tough cover and physical on the boards, having posted 17 double doubles this season and 29 in his career.
The 6-2 Anderson, an All-Big 12 freshman, scored 22 points against the Hogs and is one of Texas Tech's top perimeter threats, shooting 38.6% from 3-point range on the season.
Texas Tech could get another boost from the perimeter if senior guard Chance McMillian returns from an oblique strain, which has sidelined him the last four games. McMillian is averaging 14.2 points and shooting 43.4% from 3-point range on the season.
"He shot around (Thursday)," McCasland said. "I fully anticipated him suiting up. I anticipated him being available. I didn't know how much.
"Then we got to the arena, and we had had him planned to dress out and be ready. You don't know in these games. Like what it was tonight, you may be somewhat limited, but I thought there was a chance he could play, like legit. We were planning on dressing him out. He got to the arena, and he just came to me and said he couldn't do it."
Can Florida basketball carry over its dominance on the boards against Maryland into the Texas Tech matchup?
Florida is coming off a game in which it out-rebounded Maryland 42-20 and outscored the Terrapins 21-9 in second chance points.
Texas Tech will present more of a challenge with the 6-9 Toppin and 6-6 Darrion Williams up front. The Red Raiders are plus-4.4 on the boards this season and outrebounded Arkansas 51-39 on Thursday night, leading to a 16-9 edge in second chance points.
"It's the belief that we've got to find a way," McCasland said. "That's the biggest part of this team. They'll do whatever it takes -- shoot a bunch of 3s, go into the post, offensive rebounds. Whatever it takes, this team does."
Florida received a scare when starting forward Alex Condon rolled his ankle in the first half against Maryland and went to the locker room. But the 6-foot-11 Condon returned in the second half, keeping UF's four-post rotation of Condon, center Rueben Chinyelu, center Micah Handlogten and forward Thomas Haugh intact. Expect all four to continue to crash the boards on Saturday.
Can Florida basketball start with more urgency and keep turnovers down in the first half?
After turning the ball over eight times in the first half in its Round of 32 win against UConn, Florida turned the ball over 13 times in the first half against Maryland.
After leading the Terrapins just 40-38 in the first half, UF regrouped in the second half, posting an assist-to-turnover ratio of 11 to 4 to pull away and score 47 points in the second half.
"In order to achieve what we have to, we have to take care of the ball, love the ball because it's precious," Chinyelu said. "Just being able to get back to loving that and just know that, okay, this is my cake, I need to hold it real tight."
Prediction
Florida 84, Texas Tech 73: Another strong second half will fuel Florida to its first Final Four appearance since 2014. Expect another balanced scoring effort for the Gators and for UF's bench to play a role in the outcome of the game.
Kevin Brockway is The Gainesville Sun's Florida beat writer. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow him on X @KevinBrockwayG1
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Florida basketball vs Texas Tech prediction, pick for Elite Eight
Continue reading...
