It's Natty Time: UF vs UH and Everything You Need to Know

What a game we have here Monday, April 7th at 8:50 P.M Eastern. After two of the most exciting final four games in a number of years, the field of 68 is officially down to two. The SEC tournament champion Florida Gators and the Big 12 tournament winning Houston Cougars. These two teams are both spectacular, but they do it in different ways.

Let's start with the Coogs:

Head coach Kelvin Sampson is no stranger to final four games with this being his third appearance, however the national title game is a indeed a new stage for him. There is no doubt about Sampson's greatness and his readiness for a moment such as the championship. What about the roster? The starters 1-5 are as follows:

PG-Milos Uzan, SG-L.J. Cryer, Wing-Emmanuel Sharp, F-J'wan Roberts, and C-Joseph Tugler. Concerning the bench, Houston relies heavily on their starting guards, but Mylik Wilson will spell one of them at a time, while the front court has two main presences off the bench in Ja'vier Francis, and Terrance Arceneaux. Houston is a team that hangs their hat on defense. Anyone who has watched part of the tournament this year knows that. They have held every opponent so far to at least 10 fewer than their season average. Their guards have length to get in passing lanes and their bigs have speed to switch on and rotate to defend. The Coogs want to slow the game down to half court basketball and set their defense. They particularly excel at defending without fouling which may be the difference against a team like the Gators that is averaging 21.2 points per game at the charity stripe this tournament.

As far as the offense goes, well, we'll see. Houston ranked 10th nationally in offensive rating, which is obviously amazing, but a large part of that is how good their defense has been. They wear teams down with their defense and isolate a lot on offense. L.J. Cryer and Emmanuel Sharp are both certified shot makers. Sharp is shooting greater than 41% from beyond the arc and Cryer is the second leading scorer in this tournament with more points than the likes of Cooper Flagg and Johni Broome. One of Houston's greatest strengths comes from their hustle and effort. They do not shoot a very high percentage, but they are one of the top offensive rebounding teams in the nation sitting at 8 in Oreb %. They hustle and crash for every shot ready for putbacks and kick out threes. If Florida wants to stop Houston's offense they need to simply put a hand up on Cryer and put a body on every guy (INCLUDING THE SHOOTER) whenever a shot goes up.

Now for the greatest college basketball team to ever bless the eyes of Ncaa fans: The Florida Gators:

Head coach Todd Golden (39) is in the national title game in just his third year as a head coach. Now that can be considered both good and bad. First, he is inexperienced. He does not know what this kind of moment entails and he is facing a great on the other end who will be his usually cool and angry self. Will he try and get too cute? Will he overthink what has been working? Or will his youth and inexperience just add to his teams hunger and fight? Maybe Golden n the guys will be woefully ignorant of what a stage like this means and they will just go out there ready to play a game of basketball. I think it is neither. I believe that Golden is a great coach that will challenge his guys with the lights and make sure his guys know what kind of legacy they are playing for, but also that they have earned their spot and all that needs to happen to see a Florida victory is to play their style of basketball. Let's meet the Gator Boys:

PG-Walter Clayton Jr. SG-Will Richard, Wing-Alijah Martin, F-Reuben Chinyelu, C-Alex Condon. The bench for UF is much more prominent than it is for UH. The Gator bench features Thomas Haugh and Denzel Aberdeen heavily while also giving valuable minutes to 7-footer Micah Handlogten and occasionally requesting a big time shot from the Slovenian Sharpshooter, Urban Klavzar.

The Gator defense is strong. Much of the talk around Florida is around their offense, and rightfully so, but their defense is not to be underestimated. Alijah Martin is one of the best on-ball defenders in the nation while teammate Will Richard's 6'10 wingspan makes him a tough ask for any of the Houston guards. But on the interior, Florida is too tough. Johni Broome had a strong first half due to his ability to make very tough shots, but there was a regression to the mean in the second half. Those contested looks stopped going down, even for SEC POTY Broome. Reuben Chinyelu is one of the strongest men. That's it. That is the sentence. Chineyelu is nearly impossible to move and he will box out hard. Then Condon and Handlogten both have immense height that make it extremely difficult to score inside. Florida however, unlike Houston, has not been as good at defending without fouling. Florida has been tagged for nearly 20 fouls a game so far in this tourney.

Now. The offense. Walter Clayton Jr. is that guy. He has scored 30 or more in back to back games, and including the SEC tournament, in this postseason he is averaging 23.1 ppg, on 49% 3-point shooting and 89% free throw shooting. But what makes Florida so great is that they have proven consistently that they can win without Clayton soring 25+. The Gators handled Maryland in the sweet 16 by having 6 players score in double figures. Denzel Aberdeen, Thomas Haugh, Alex Condon, Will Richard, Alijah Martin, Reuben Chinyelu, Walter Clayton Jr. That is a list of the guys who have scored 19 or more in a game for UF this year. Clayton is a true difference maker who has been Florida's Mariano Rivera during this tournament, but if Houston is successful in limiting Walt, do not just count it as a victory. Look for a big game from Martin who has always thrived in the biggest moment, or maybe a breakout shooting performance from Richard because Houston is too concerned with stopping Clayton and Martin. The Gator's recipe for success will be to get out and run. If Houston succeeds at making this a game of half courts then Florida will not be able to get enough momentum or offensive consistency, especially in a likely hostile environment in the Coog's home state of Texas. Florida wants to put up as many shots up as possible so that, just like UH, they can get those offensive boards for open looks. Except Florida has somehow been even better at it than Houston, good for 4th in the nation with 13 per game.

Prediction: I am a current student at the University of Florida. That said. I think Houston is one of the best teams we have ever seen. They are well-coached, efficient inside, great at shot making, and boast a truly historic, show-stopping, game-destroying defense. If Cryer or Sharp goes unconscious from outside then I do not see how Florida could make up enough ground against that stifling defense. I think that the frontcourts in this game are a wash. Both will score in big moments, but their real effect on the game will be how well they protect the rim from the guards and how strongly they rebound the basketball. The backcourts will make all the difference. If the Houston guards don't have trouble with Martin and Richard then it could be a long night for the Gators on the defensive end. But if the Cougar's guards are not ready, then those Gainesville boys will abuse them inside the paint, in the mid range and of course, in Walter Clayton Jr. territory. I think Houston is successful in the first half in limiting Florida's offense, but I think they carry too slim a lead into the half. The Gators will make their run and then won't look back (as long as they hit their free throws). Give me the GATORS BY A MILLION. CHOMP CHOMP SAN ANTONIO, ONLY GATORS GET OUT ALIVE