2013 NCAA Tournament Preview: No. 11 Minnesota vs. No. 3 Florida

So much for No. 14 Northwestern State being the highest-scoring team in the nation. The Demons could only manage 47 points against the No. 3 Florida Gators, which is pretty impressive for Florida, since Northwestern State put up 81 points per game this year.

The Gators are moving on and they will be playing the No. 11 Minnesota Gophers, who beat the No. 6 UCLA Bruins. Minnesota didn’t just beat UCLA, though, they whooped the Bruins by 20 points.

It will be interesting to see how Florida guards Trevor Mbakwe and Rodney Williams, but the Gators have plenty of guys that the Gophers will have to worry about.

What to Watch For

Erik Murphy has been playing great as of late and he led Florida once again with 18 points. However, there is also Patric Young in the post, and Kenny Boynton and Mike Rosario are capable of going off at any given moment. All four of those players will be a lot for Minnesota to handle.

Andre Hollins had one heck of a second round game, dropping 28 points against UCLA. Austin Hollins added 16 points as well.

Prediction

Minnesota needs to get the victory for head coach Tubby Smith, but at the same time, that will not be easy. Florida has looked like the best team in the nation at times this year and it looked pretty good in its first game in this year’s NCAA Tournament. The Gators have way too much fire power and their defense is just as good. Not many teams in the tournament can say that.

Florida 82 Minnesota 67