7/10 Seed Match-Up: Brigham Young/ Florida

In the West region of the NCAA tournament we find one of the most interesting match-ups in the 7/10 game. The Brigham Young Cougars take on the Florida Gators in a game that displays two very different philosophies on winning.

The Cougars like to score. They led the Mountain West Conference with a 83 point per game average, and scored 90 or more points in 10 of their 34 games. This is almost 12 points per game more than the Gators scored this season. I know that it’s not comparing apples to apples as Florida plays in the tough SEC, but it’s hard to ignore the vast difference in offense.

These teams may have similar numbers defensively, but the Gators are clearly the better team in this category. Holding teams like Colorado St, Air Force and TCU below the 60 point barrier isn’t nearly as impressive as keeping Florida St and South Carolina below that plateau. Despite being far removed from their back to back National Championship days, Florida still has plenty of “Blue Chip” talent that will be tough for the Cougars to maintain.

Florida has lost 3 of 4 coming into the tournament, but that shouldn’t be a sign of things to come as those losses were to Kentucky, Vanderbilt and Mississippi St. Kenny Boynton leads the Gator attack offensively with a 13.6 point per game average. The solid backcourt duo of Boynton and Erving Walker keeps the Gators honest against teams with star players at that position. However, the strength of the Florida offense is their forwards. Chandler Parsons and Alex Tyus have almost identical stats. They both average around 12 points and 7 rebounds per game, and make it very difficult for opponents to get to the rim with ease. Center Vernon Macklin rounds out the starting 5 with a respectable 10.4 points and 5.5 boards per game. There isn’t much depth to this Florida team, but they should have more than enough defensively to hold the Cougars well below their season average in points.

Brigham Young had a very solid year overall. Their only 3 conference losses were to UNLV (conference tournament champs), and New Mexico (regular season conference champs). They took on a difficult early season schedule, and got wins against Arizona, Arizona St and Nebraska.

The Cougs are led by Jimmer Fredette and his 21.7 points per game. He is unquestionable the best guard in the conference, and can be a force against any defense. Jackson Emery and Tyler Haws are the other two starting guards in this 3 guard offense. They combine for 24 points, almost 9 rebounds and 4 assists per game. Florida’s weakness is BYU strength in terms of bench play. The Cougars have 5 solid back ups that can keep the offense flowing when the starters are out. This may make it slightly tougher for the more talented Florida team as they will have fresh legs on the court at all times.

Expect a lower scoring game than anticipated as the Gators show this Mountain West squad what physical defense is all about.

Related posts:

1. Sunday College Hoops: Florida @ Tennessee
2. No Tebow No Problem at Florida
3. SEC Showdown: Florida vs. Kentucky
4. 7/10 Seed Match-Up: Clemson/ Missouri
5. 7/10 Seed Match-Up: Oklahoma St/ Georgia Tech

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