Florida basketball vs. Arkansas TV info, odds, preview, prediction
Florida basketball and Arkansas meet in the second round of the SEC tournament with very little hope of reaching the NCAA tournament remaining for both teams.
It’s a clash between two sure-NIT participants when the No. 8 seed Florida Gators face the No. 9 seed Arkansas Razorbacks Thursday afternoon.
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For the Hogs, they have to win the Southeastern Conference tournament if they’re to make the Big Dance, plain and simple. The Gators — though they don’t necessarily need to win the whole thing — still have some work to do in Nashville.
Florida and Arkansas met just once during the regular season, with the Gators securing an 87-83 victory in Gainesville on Feb. 3 thanks to forward Dorian Finney-Smith’s 22 points and nine rebounds, plus 17 points and eight assists from point guard Chris Chiozza.
How those two perform this time around will be key, especially with center John Egbunu likely out due to injury (torn ligaments in right hand).
The Gators hold a 19-11 advantage in the all-time series against the Razorbacks, taking nine of the previous 10 and owning a 3-1 edge in the SEC tournament.
Game information
Date: Thursday, Mar. 10, 2016
Time: 1 PM ET
Location: Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, Tenn.
TV: SEC Network
Livestream: WatchESPN
Radio: Gator IMG Sports Network
Spread: Florida (-3)
Over/Under: 143.5
Related Story: Gators beat Mizzou in regular-season finale
Florida’s four-game skid came to an end in the Gators’ regular-season finale against Missouri Saturday night. UF played extremely well in the first half, extending its lead to as much as 18 points. But it was unable to sustain that advantage as the league cellar-dwelling Tigers shot 55 percent from the floor and scored 40 points in the second half to make the score more respectable.
Lately, it’s been that Florida team — the one that blows big leads and struggles mightily in every facet of the game — that Gator fans have witnessed throughout its losing streak.
The Gators’ late-season collapse really hurt their NCAA tourney hopes, too — and one win against a 16-15 Arkansas team won’t help much. But if Florida can find a way to notch a win over top-ranked Texas A&M in the quarterfinals, it would certainly put UF back into the discussion.
With that said, given how ineffective both the offense and defense has been as of late, a victory over an up-and-down Razorbacks team Thursday afternoon is anything but a guarantee. Especially when the Hogs are as unpredictable as any team in the country.
Arkansas is a group that lost three straight (two of which coming against Mizzou and Mississippi State, no less), then reeled off four consecutive wins — including a 20-point blowout win over LSU at home and a decisive 10-point victory against Tennessee — only to close out the season with an embarrassing home defeat to South Carolina.
Prediction
The Gators will have their hands full on Thursday.
The Razorbacks boast one of the best scoring offenses (78.7 points per game; No. 3 in the SEC) and the best three-point shooting percentage in the conference (40.2 percent; ranked 11th nationally).
That doesn’t bode well for a Florida team that only defends the three-point line at 41.2 percent per game, which ranks second-to-last in the league.
The only team that’s worse at guarding the three ball? Arkansas (.357).
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The Gators will have plenty of open looks from beyond the arc and they’ll find ways to make those shots.
Additionally, even with the potential loss of Egbunu, UF will play with a ton of energy as well as a strong sense of urgency to, for the time being, keep its NCAA tournament aspirations alive.
Florida will advance to the next round of the SEC tourney after a close win over Arkansas.
Next up, the No. 1 seed Texas A&M Aggies.