Florida vs. Nevada NCAA Tournament Prediction, Game Preview

By Pete Fiutak | March 19, 2019 2:52 am

NCAA Tournament: Florida vs. Nevada fearless prediction and game preview.

Broadcast

Date: Thursday, March 21
Game Time: 6:50 ET
Venue: Wells Fargo Arena , Des Moines, IA
Network: TNT

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All You Really Need To Know About Florida (19-15)

(SEC), NCAA NET Rank: 31. West 10-seed

A good-enough run in the SEC Tournament was just enough to get the job done and get in. Eighth in the SEC in the regular season, the Gators managed to slip by LSU, and that overcame a rocky finishing kick with two three-game losing streaks after February 1.

There’s height, but they don’t use it all that much – it’s a guard-oriented attack with a nice mix of freshman flash and senior leadership. They can shoot from three, and they’re great at guarding the perimeter, but overall, they’re amazing at attacking the ball with a nasty defense. What they don’t do, though, is rebound, and they’re not great from the field.

All You Really Need To Know About Nevada (29-4)

(Mountain West), NCAA NET Rank: 23. West 7-seed

It took too much of a fight in the Mountain West Tournament – rallying to survive Boise State before getting bounced by San Diego State – but this is a very big, very experienced team loaded with the type of veteran upperclassmen to make a deep run.

The Wolf Pack put up points in bunches, move the ball around well, and always seem like they’re on the free-throw line. They need get the game up-tempo and aren’t great when things bog down – why SDSU gave them problems. They have the ability to turn the lights out fast on scoring runs.

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What’s Going To Happen

This is a tough Nevada team that’s not going to buckle on the big stage. The Wolf Pack will hammer the Gators on the boards and won’t make enough mistakes to make a difference. It’ll be the free throw line late that turns out to be the difference. Nevada will get a few more chances, and it’ll make the most of them.