No. 7 Florida will try to continue one of its best starts in program history when it takes on North Carolina on Tuesday night as part of the Jumpman Invitational in Charlotte, N.C.
The Gators (10-0) have won their first 10 games in a season for only the third time in the 118-year history of their program. It is also Florida’s best start since the 2005-06 season, which ended with the first of back-to-back national championships.
The Tar Heels (6-4) have won back-to-back games, but are still seeking their first win over a ranked team this season. Three of North Carolina’s four defeats so far have come against top-10 teams (Kansas, Auburn, Alabama).
Tuesday’s game marks the first of two opportunities against ranked opponents this week for the Tar Heels to boost their NCAA Tournament resume, as they face UCLA on Saturday at Madison Square Garden in New York after playing the Gators.
North Carolina might have found a solid blueprint to follow, albeit against an overwhelmed opponent in La Salle on Saturday in a 93-67 victory. The Tar Heels were able to play 11 rotation players and Cade Tyson had one of his best games of the season (23 points).
North Carolina coach Hubert Davis pointed out his team’s 22 assists as a welcome sign of being able to share the ball better than it has for the most part so far this season.
“I felt like the ball just instinctively, it’s like a point-five (second) mentality. Soon as someone caught the ball, they either passed, either drove it or shot it, there was no hesitation,” Davis said. “I felt like maybe the last three games, three or four games, we weren’t consistently making the extra pass. And I felt like (Saturday) we did.”
RJ Davis has paced North Carolina so far this season with 17.6 points and 4.3 assists per game. He is one of four Tar Heels with scoring averages in double figures. Tyson has just 4.7 points per game and improved consistency could help North Carolina to become even more dangerous.
For the Gators, Walter Clayton Jr., Alijah Martin and Will Richard have become one of the most dynamic trios in the nation and it showed again in Saturday’s 83-66 victory over Arizona State.
Clayton, who leads the team with 19.1 points per game, dropped 25 against the Sun Devils and hit five 3-pointers. Martin has proven to be one of the most versatile players in the nation as well, averaging 15.2 points, 6.3 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 2.0 steals per game.
The Gators are shooting 47.3 percent from the field for the season and 33.6 percent from 3-point range. But their defense on the perimeter has been a strength and it showed against Arizona State — one of the nation’s best from beyond the arc — as Florida held the Sun Devils to 7-for-25 shooting from distance.
“We have really good players. They’ve bought into each other, they play hard for each other and there’s no selfishness on this team right now,” Florida coach Todd Golden said after the win over Arizona State.
–Field Level Media
