Prediction and Scouting Report: No. 6 Florida faces UNC in the Jumpman Invitational

Florida basketball enters its match against North Carolina at the Jumpman Invitational in Charlotte, N.C. on Tuesday night (7 p.m., ESPN) with high confidence.

One of five remaining undefeated teams in college basketball, the No. 6 Florida Gators (10-0) are off to their best start since the start of the 2005-06 season at 17-0.

Florida earned an 83-67 win over Arizona State in Atlanta on Saturday and has won all 10 games by double digits under third-year coach Todd Golden. UF led the Sun Devils by as many as 29 points in the second half and turned defense into offense, scoring 20 points off 12 ASU turnovers.

“Arizona State is really good, so it was impressive that we were able to do it at such a high level,” Golden said. “I thought we played well in both halves, but in the second half we did a really good job of letting our defense lead us to transition. get a few dunks.

North Carolina (6-4) has been up and down under fourth-year coach Hubert Davis. The Tar Heels suffered losses to Kansas, Auburn, Michigan State and Alabama this season and fell out of the top 25.

Here are three storylines to watch for UF’s game against the Tar Heels:

Can Florida basketball continue its perimeter production?

Florida has made 10 or more 3-pointers in six of its last seven games and has conceded an average of 11.1 3-pointers per game during that span.

Against Arizona State, Florida shot 33.3% from 3-point range and made 10 of its 30 3-point attempts. Clayton led the way with five 3-pointers, with guard Alijah Martin sinking three 3-pointers and guard Will Richard adding two attempts.

UF sophomore forwards Thomas Haugh (8-21 from 3-point range, 38.1%) and Alex Condon (6-13, 46.2%) have also shown the ability to hit the ball at times this season to stretch the floor.

How will Florida basketball handle defensive UNC combo guard RJ Davis?

Davis, an All-American and the reigning ACC Player of the Year, is a skilled scorer who is able to knock down shots from the perimeter and create his own offense when rebounding. He scored a team-high 17.6 points this season, but struggled a bit from the field (56-159, 35.2%) and from 3-pointers in UNC’s first 10 games earlier this season. Reach (19-76, 25%). On the other hand, the 6-foot-0 Davis gets to the foul line at high speed and knocks down his free throw attempts (46-52, 86.5%).

Containing Davis and the rest of a UNC offense that averages 86.8 points will pose another challenge for UF’s defense, which has improved significantly from the 2023-24 season. Since an 87-74 win over Florida State on Nov. 15, Florida has held its last six opponents under 70 points.

“We’re just trying to focus more on defense this year,” Martin said. “We have a very good offensive system and most teams will not be able to withstand us offensively. So if we are stopped, we are simply untouchable.”

How will Florida basketball handle a street-like environment?

Florida is 1-0 in road games this season with a win at Florida State and 4-0 in neutral-site games with wins over USF in Jacksonville, Wake Forest and Wichita State in Kissimmee and Arizona State in Arizona.

Although it is a neutral-court contest, the 19,000-seat Spectrum Center audience will essentially serve as a street-like environment playing in the home state of North Carolina. How UF handles the crowd noise and inevitable runs that occur over the course of a 40-minute college basketball game could prove crucial to the game’s outcome.

forecast

Florida 84, North Carolina 78: Florida remains undefeated and survives a back-and-forth game by pulling away in the final minutes. The Gators will take advantage of North Carolina’s lack of size and four-guard lineups on the boards and capitalize on their second-chance opportunities.

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