College Hoops Preview: Florida vs. #17 Florida State

College Basketball

College Hoops Preview: Florida vs. #17 Florida State

• Matchup: Florida Gators (0-0, 0-0) @ #17 Florida State Seminoles (0-0, 0-0)
• Date: Nov. 6, 2018
• Time: 9 p.m. (est)
• Network: ESPN2
• Location: Tallahassee, Florida, USA
• Venue: Donald L. Tucker Center
• Seating Capacity: 12.5K

In what is probably the most important inter-state game on opening night, the Florida Gators visit the Florida State Seminoles. This game has early season ranking implications all over it. Even though this is the first game of the season, this matchup may go a long way in determining one of these team’s fate come March Madness time.

The Gators still have some work to do this season, as they have fallen off a bit the past few years. Florida started last year with high expectations, only to sneak into March Madness before an early exit. The Seminoles exceeded expectations a year ago, performing very well in the NCAA Tournament only to fall short by four points to eventual runner-up Michigan.

Returning Seminoles

The Seminoles return both their leading scorers and rebounders in Phil Cofer and Terance Mann. FSU ranked 44th last season in points per game, which is something they should come close to mirroring this season. The Seminoles also ranked in the top half of points allowed per game (72.9), rebounds per game and assists per game. Trent Forest also returns for FSU, as he led the team in assists last season.

FSU is losing some help on defense, however, as leading shot blocker Ike Obiagu is now gone. The Seminoles won’t sweat it too much though, because now Christ Koumadje steps into an even larger role. The 7-foot-4 big man from Chad will be asked to do much of the heavy lifting inside the paint this season.

Gators Need to Step Up

Florida should be fine in terms of making the NCAA Tournament this season, but the team as a whole will need to step up from what they displayed a year ago. The Gators were never a pass-first team, evident by their 212th national ranking in assists per game last season. Not only did the Gators struggle to find open players for easy buckets, but now their leading assist getter Chris Chiozza is gone. Chiozza was the only Florida player to record over 200 assists, as no other Gator even recorded 100 last year. That is a huge red flag entering 2018-’19.

The Gators have a very difficult schedule to begin this year as well. Florida faces three ranked opponents, along with Oklahoma, in their first seven games of the season! Luckily, leading scorer Jalen Hudson returns for the Gators this season. He will have to do much of the work this year, with not only Chiozza now gone but also the Gators leading rebounder from last season in Egor Koulechov.

Center Kevarrius Hayes will need to fill in as the ‘big man’ for Florida this season and add a rebounding game to his already dominate shot-blocking game. Expect Kieth Stone to also step up on the glass with the departure of Koulechov. The one Gator that HAS to step up this season is KeVaughn Allen. Florida is now without two of their top three minutes leaders from last season, and Allen will need to be consistently productive while the Gators lean on him all season.

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Photo Credit: Florida Basketball via Twitter