travisduncan
Gator Fan
“I think Virginia is going to be interesting because you’re talking about contrasting styles of play,” coach Billy Donovan explained regarding the Gators upcoming opponent in the NCAA Tournament.
He added, "They’re a team that’s going to play maybe closer to the 50s against a team that’s trying to play into the 80s. Style of play will be very, very important."
The Gators will play host to the Cavaliers Friday at 2:10 p.m. ET on TNT in Omaha, Neb in the second-round of the West Regional of the NCAA Tournament.
UVa lost one fewer game than the Gators overall with a record of 22-9 and are no slouch at the No. 10 seed.
The Gators No. 7 seed, is essentially a go to your room for bad behavior by the selection committee for having violated the golden rule of March Madness you must be playing well in February and March and the Gators have not. So they are given the upset-ready No. 7 seed to face a Virginia team which can beat them. (They hung on in a loss to No.1 seed UNC to a three-point loss 57-54 for example Feb. 25th)
But the Cavs aren't playing well as of late either.
The Cavs were 18-3 at the end of January and have lost 5 of out of 8 to close the season.
UVa though isn't deep, neither are the Gators, but perhaps UVa is less deep having only seven scholarship players available.
UVa wants to play solid defense and they don't have a lot of weapons, in their final game of the ACC tournament, a loss to N.C. State, four players scored 60 of Virginia’s 64 points.
Most of the Cavs' offense will go through senior All-ACC forward Mike Scott who averaged 18.1 points and 8.4 rebounds in the regular season. The Cavs want to spread the floor and patiently wait for the Gators to lose focus and then pick their spot to attack, all the while winding down the game clock. They will look to guards Sammy Zeglinski, Joe Harris and Jontel Evans to knock down jumpers.
As for the Gators, Donovan essentially argues his team's play early on in the season should have been given more merit, instead the Gators 4-6 record in the last 10, and 1-4 in the last 5 appears to have meant more.
"I felt going into it, five, maybe six (seed), going into that range,” Donovan said via the Gainesville Sun.
"Whenever a seed is handed out, I’ve always believe you’ve got to move on, move forward and you’re not going to change anything. I think the committee spends an enormous amount of time. They are very, very diligent."
CAPTION: 09 March 2012: Virginia Cavaliers forward Mike Scott (23) drives against North Carolina State Wolfpack forward Richard Howell (1) in the NC State Wolfpack 67-64 victory over the Virginia Cavaliers in the ACC Tournament at Philips Arena in Atlanta, GA.
