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Florida Basketball: 3 things to know about Norfolk State
By Andrew Olson
Published:
The NCAA Tournament is here and Todd Golden has the Gators looking to win the 3rd national championship in Florida basketball history.
After missing the 2023 tournament in Golden’s 1st season, Florida makes it back-to-back trips to the Big Dance. The Gators lost a high-scoring heartbreaker to Colorado last year.
Florida received the SEC’s automatic bid for the NCAA Tournament after winning the SEC Tournament. The last 3 times the Gators won the SEC Tournament (2006, ’07, ’14), they made the NCAA Tournament’s Final Four. UF, though, hasn’t made it out of March Madness opening weekend since 2017, with Round of 32 stumbles under former coach Mike White, now at Georgia, in 2018, ’19 and ’21.
As a No. 1 seed currently playing some of its best basketball, Florida is a popular pick to cut down the nets this year. First things first, the Gators have to get past 16-seed Norfolk State. At DraftKings Sportsbook, UF is currently favored by 28.5 points.
Here are 3 things Gator fans should know about the Spartans for Friday’s game:
Defense, rebounding got Spartans to the dance
In the NCAA’s official ranking of all 68 seeded teams, Florida was the lowest No. 1 seed (4) and Norfolk State was the highest 16-seed (63). This is still very much a 1-vs-16 matchup, with a fitting betting line.
The Spartans do not have a particularly high-powered offense, averaging just 77.3 points per game, with only 5.4 3-pointers per contest. They did, though, hold opponents to 69 points per game.
Norfolk State will hope that its defense can catch Florida looking ahead and playing sloppy. The Spartans average 6.9 steals per game, part of 13.2 turnovers for Norfolk State opponents throughout the season. The Spartans have scored 15.6 points off turnovers per game to opponents’ 12.9.
The Gators will also have to be ready to do battle on the glass. The Spartans grab 34.7 rebounds per game, besting opponents’ 32.3 boards.
Second game against a No. 1 team from the SEC
Florida won’t be the first SEC opponent for Norfolk State. The Spartans faced then-No. 1 Tennessee on New Year’s Eve in Knoxville.
The transitive property means nothing in basketball, but the Spartans actually fared better than the Gators on Rocky Top in the box score. Norfolk State lost 67-52 to the Vols. Just over a month later, UT defeated UF 64-44 in Knoxville.
It was the 7th loss of the year for the Spartans. They were just 9-7 after the game, but dominated in conference play and won the MEAC Tournament to enter the NCAA Tournament with a 24-10 record.
No luck against 1 seeds in the Big Dance
Norfolk State has limited Division I NCAA Tournament experience, with just a 2-3 record, including a First Four play-in victory.
The Spartans had a debut to remember. In 2012, Norfolk State was a 15-seed and defeated 2-seed Missouri 86-84. In the Round of 32, the deepest the Spartans have reached, they lost to a 7-seed Florida team 84-50.
After its 2012 appearance, Norfolk State did not get another taste of March Madness until 2021. The Spartans won a First Four game against App State by 1 point in 2021. Against No. 1 seeds, however, the results have been ugly.
In 2021, No. 1 seed Gonzaga defeated Norfolk State 98-55. In 2022, it was another blowout as Baylor cruised to an 85-49 win.
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.
