No. 10 Florida will bring its bruising and dominating frontcourt into the spotlight when it faces TCU on Thursday afternoon in a first-round game in the Rady Children’s Invitational in San Diego.
The winner will play the victor of the other first-round game between Providence and Wisconsin in the championship, while the losers of Thursday’s games will clash in the third-place contest on Friday afternoon prior to the title tilt.
The Gators (4-1) head to Southern California carrying a four-game winning streak, with their most recent victory an 80-45 decision at home over Merrimack on Friday.
Alex Condon collected a game-high 20 points and 11 rebounds and Rueben Chinyelu scored 14 points and made Florida history with 21 boards in the win. The Gators scored the game’s first 11 points and built a 28-point lead by the 7:54 mark of the first half.
The reigning national champions also got 13 points from Thomas Haugh and 10 from Boogie Fland.
Chinyelu’s rebounding total, which included six on the offensive glass, was the highest in a game by a Florida player during the shot-clock era and marked his third consecutive double-double.
Florida coach Todd Golden said this week that he expects Condon and Chinyelu to set the pace for his team. Florida earned a 53-25 rebounding edge in the win over Merrimack, the third time this season the Gators had a 20-plus rebounding advantage. Florida is first in NCAA Division I in rebounding margin, rebounds per game and offensive rebounds per game.
“The expectation is for them to set it every night,” Golden said of his frontcourt players. “They are two of our most impactful players, and we need them to play well for us to be the best we can be. It’s what we need to be if we want to be really good.
“When we play teams that don’t have the depth and the size or the physicality on the front line that we do, we have to impose our will.”
The Horned Frogs (3-2) also won their last outing, dominating Kansas City 81-45 on Nov. 19 behind Jayden Pierre’s 17 points and 16 from Liutauras Lelevicius that included a 4-of-5 showing from beyond the arc.
The Horned Frogs scored the game’s first 17 points while holding Kansas City scoreless over the opening five minutes of the contest and then put it into cruise control. TCU made more 3-pointers (14) than twos (13) in the win and finished with a better percentage from beyond the arc at 43.8% than from the field overall (39.7%).
“Excited about how we defended, especially at the start of the game,” TCU coach Jamie Dixon said. “It was a great start for us defensively and offensively. I thought had some good passing and made open shots.”
Dixon understands that the Gators’ frontcourt will be tough to deal with.
“I know (Florida is) big. I know they got all the guys everybody wanted,” Dixon said. “I know they have plenty of depth, which is a good thing to have.”
