Florida basketball: Gators vs Wake Forest full breakdown and preview

Florida basketball is on the road tonight to take on the Wake Forest Demon Deacons as a part of the SEC/ACC challenge.

The Gators come in at 4-2, while Wake is 3-3, but the Deacons have been a pretty good team at home in the past few seasons.

Florida feels like they were snubbed from this week’s AP top 25, and have the chance to go prove it tonight if they take down Wake.

Here’s a preview and breakdown for the Gators’ matchup tonight.

Florida basketball: Faith in the Gators

Florida opened up as three-point favorites, but 60% of the bets coming in on Florida have moved that line out to -5.

The total for this game is set at 156.5, with a vast majority of the bets coming in on the under, and the Gators sit as -210 favorites on the money line.

Despite being favored, ESPN Analytics only gives the Gators a 32.7% chance to walk out of Winston-Salem with a win.

Florida may be coming into this one shorthanded, as center Micah Handlogten is questionable with an ankle injury he suffered in Florida’s game against Pitt.

In his absence, Tyrese Samuel has been playing exceptionally well, and Florida has been able to rely on their guards, Walter Clayton Jr, Zyon Pullin, and Riley Kugel, to make up for a lot of the scoring.

Looking at Wake, their leading scorer is junior guard Hunter Sallis, who has scored 18.3 points per game with a 49.4% field goal percentage.

Wake’s best big man is Andrew Carr, a senior who is putting up 15 points per game and grabbing just under eight rebounds. If Tyrese Samuel keeps up his hot play, however, Carr shouldn’t be too big of an issue.

While Wake Forest isn’t the most daunting team that the ACC has to offer, this would still be a big win for the Gators. These are the types of games that matter in March when you’re making a push for the tournament.