Up next for the Florida Gators in the NCAA Tournament is the Iowa Hawkeyes. Iowa is fresh off a narrow win over the Clemson Tigers on Friday. It is the first time in program history that the two have shared the court.
The Hawkeyes are a talented team that finished ninth in the Big Ten, and pose a different threat than most teams that Florida has faced this season.
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Here are three things the Gators must do if they want to make it to the Sweet 16 in back-to-back seasons.
Win the Turnover Battle
It is even more important to win the turnover battle against Iowa on Sunday. The Iowa offense is a slow, methodical half-court offense led by star guard Bennett Stirtz.
The way the Hawkeyes run their offense limits the shots on the other end for their opponents. As a result, the Hawkeyes’ defense is surrendering just 65.8 points per game and is outscoring its opponents by 9.1 points per game.
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Conversely, if the Gators can make things difficult and turn the Hawkeyes over, it can speed up the game and force Iowa into an uncomfortable style of basketball for themselves.
Abuse Their Size
Iowa’s tallest player in the starting five is 6-foot-9 forward Cam Manyawu. Additionally, there are only three players listed on the roster who either match that height or are taller. And, two of the three play less than 10 minutes per game.
That being the case, Florida needs to play through Alex Condon, Thomas Haugh and Rueben Chinyelu. Each had a strong debut performance against Prairie View A&M in the opening round, with all three scoring in double figures.
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Taking advantage of their size also opens up opportunities elsewhere on the court. One way that Iowa could try to defend the bigs is by doubling them when they catch the ball. In turn, that could open up clean 3-point looks for Haugh, Boogie Fland, Xaivian Lee and Urban Klavzar.
Run the Hawkeyes off the 3-Point Line
While they are not the Alabama Crimson Tide on the perimeter, the Hawkeyes are an efficient team from behind the arc. Iowa is attempting 22.5 threes and making eight per game on 35.5 percent shooting.
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Five Hawkeyes are shooting 35 percent or better from deep this season. Leading the way is Tavion Banks, who is knocking down 44.7 percent of his triples. However, he is not a volume shooter, having only attempted 38 triples in 34 games.
Other shooters for the Hawkeyes include Stirtz (37.3), Cooper Koch (39.3), Kael Combs (35.4) and Tate Sage (36.1).
Florida struggled defending threes against Prairie View A&M in the early going, but once they focused on that, it resulted in the second-largest win in NCAA Tournament history. It might not be the best idea to start the same way, so they will need to be zeroed in from the jump to avoid being upset.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/florida as Three Keys to Victory for Florida vs. Iowa in NCAA Tournament.
