Florida is off to a hot start and looks to continue that against Stanford in Portland at the PK80 Invitational.
The Gators had a bit of trouble against America East contender New Hampshire at home, but a heroic 26-point performance from Jalen Hudson, including an 11-for-12 performance from the free-throw line, saved Florida’s undefeated record.
The Cardinal are 3-2 this season under former UAB head coach Jerod Haase, with a crushing home loss to North Carolina and another home loss to Eastern Washington, as well as wins over Cal Poly, Pacific, and Northeastern.
These teams will meet either Ohio State or Gonzaga in the semifinals of the Motion bracket.
Players to Watch
Egor Koulechov (Florida)
Koulechov, the reigning SEC Player of the Week, has been simply dominant on the offensive end of the floor, averaging 20.3 points per game on 45 percent shooting from 3-point range
The Rice transfer is also averaging 8.3 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game.
As a 6-5 guard, Koulechov has the size to score against most guards around the country, and he certainly takes advantage of that size when he creates his looks.
Stopping him will be very important to the Cardinal’s success in this matchup.
Chris Chiozza (Florida)
As the lead guard for the Gators, Chiozza has consistently been a calming presence amongst the starters and crunch-time units.
His counting stats aren’t eye-popping, but his demeanor and leadership is quite important when considering how many contributors Florida lost from last year’s Elite Eight team.
Chiozza’s assist-to-turnover ratio is quite good for a guard that has the ball in his hands a lot, so if he can continue that trend, the Gators will be better off for it and will win a lot of close games because of it.
Reid Travis (Stanford)
The Cardinal’s leading scorer on the season and a First Team All-PAC 12 performer from a season ago, Travis is a dominant post presence for a team that needs a scoring punch from the frontcourt.
He’s already off to a great start this season in averaging 21.2 points per game and 6.6 rebounds on 56.3 percent shooting from the field.
The Gators are still missing a key frontcourt piece in John Egbunu, so look for Travis to try to impose his style on Kevarrius Hayes, Keith Stone, and Gorjok Gak in the post.
Daejon Davis (Stanford)
Davis controls the offense and moves the ball to where it needs to go in the flow of the offense.
He is also a capable scorer, averaging 6.5 points per game, but he’s had 10 points in each of the last 2 games.
For Davis to find a more consistent role, he needs to cut down on his turnovers and up his assist numbers in order to be an extremely productive guard that can be competitive against the likes of Chiozza, but he has the potential to improve in that way.
He has his hands full with Chiozza, so the question is whether or not he can handle that responsibility.
How Florida Can Win
The Gators’ main advantage is the scoring of their wings, so they need to force-feed those wing players and let them get a lot of shot attempts to score their points.
The Cardinal start 3 big men, which allows the likes of Koulechov and KeVaughn Allen to be defended by bigs.
Florida needs to expose these matchups early and often in order to take control of this game.
How Stanford Can Win
The Cardinal have a lot of capable bigs that can score, so finding Travis in the post and allowing him to get to the line at a high rate is very important for the Cardinal.
If Stanford can force a lot of fouls from the Gators’ frontcourt, they certainly have a chance to make this a competitive contest.
Prediction
The Gators are most certainly the more talented team, and that talent will show against an overmatched Cardinal team.
Look for Koulechov to continue his high-scoring ways against the Stanford front line, as well as Chiozza controlling the game for the Gators in a relatively comfortable win.
Prediction: UF 78, Stanford 65