Florida is coming off a statement victory over Tennessee that sent shockwaves through the college basketball world. The Gators won by 30 and held Tennessee to just 12 made shots the entire game.
But in the SEC, there is no time to celebrate for too long as Florida is back on the road to Arkansas to face a Razorback squad in need of a big victory of its own to change its narrative.
Florida Basketball: Back On The Grind
Spread | Over/Under | Moneyline |
|---|---|---|
Florida (-5.5) | 154.5 Points | Florida (-230) |
Arkansas got blown out themselves against Tennessee last Saturday. After the game, John Calipari, now the head coach for Arkansas, drew headlines when he noted the Razorbacks didn't do a shootaround before the game:
"We didn't do a shootaround today, and I just felt our body time is noon. Pretty early. If I had to do it over again, we would have shot a shootaround, because we had three or four guys like, kind of no show"
Whatever approach he took before their second SEC game against Ole Miss didn't work, as his squad lost that one, too, 73-66.
The strength of Arkansas is its scoring inside, as it is 12th in the country in two-point shooting percentage. But, they do not draw contact and then they do miss they are not getting second chance opportunities.
Arkansas is 268th in the country in free throws attempted versus field goal attempted and is 253rd in offensive rebounding percentage.
As we learned from the Tennessee game, Florida's big men are not afraid to get physical, and if Arkansas struggled with Tennessee's size it is fair to ask whether they will have a similar fate against the Gators.
The only reason for pause is the fact this is a road game in the SEC and road teams so far are 6-10 in conference play in the SEC.
But if Florida can clamp down at all as they did on Tuesday, it could turn into another double-digit victory for the Gators.