Matchup at a glance: UC Santa Barbara vs. Florida
A look at Santa Barbara’s second-round tournament game against Florida on Thursday:
FLORIDA; Ht.; Wt.; Stats; P; SANTA BARBARA; Ht.; Wt.; Stats
Vernon Macklin; 6-10; 240; 11.3 ppg; C; Jaime Serna; 6-9; 235; 8.0 ppg
Chandler Parsons; 6-10; 215; 11.5 ppg; F; Jon Pastorek; 6-10; 210; 4.4 ppg
Alex Tyus; 6-8; 220; 8.7 ppg; F; James Nunnally; 6-7; 205; 16.4 ppg
Kenny Boynton; 6-2; 183; 14.1 ppg; G; Orlando Johnson; 6-5; 205; 21.1 ppg
Erving Walker; 5-8; 171; G; Justin Joyner; 6-0; 177; 3.7 ppg.
RESERVES
Patric Young; 6-9; 245; 3.3 ppg; C; Greg Somogyi; 7-3; 242; 4.6 ppg
Erik Murphy; 6-10; 229; 4.3 ppg; F/G; Jordan Weiner; 6-0; 173; 5.5 ppg
SCOUTING REPORT: Santa Barbara can be very effective in the 2-3 zone defense it mostly uses, particularly with the size the Gauchos have up front. Macklin’s production has been spotty, but he is more polished than many of the post players the Gauchos saw in the Big West Conference. Florida’s guards aren’t great shooters — Boynton shoots 38%, Walker 41% — but the Gators are battle tested. Florida is 13-3 against teams that made the NCAA tournament. Johnson’s size gives Santa Barbara an advantage over Florida’s smaller guards.
KEYS TO THE GAME: A fast start by Florida could strip away Santa Barbara’s hope. The Gators need to make outside shots to soften up Santa Barbara’s zone. The Gauchos need a big game from Johnson.
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