Florida survived the wildest game of the tournament in their Sweet 16 matchup on Friday night. After Wisconsin hit a game-tying three to send the game to overtime, Florida returned the favor with a buzzer-beating runner from deep to advance to the Elite 8.
South Carolina had a much more convincing victory, beating Baylor by 20 points. The Gamecocks run continues on as they look to reach the Final Four for the first time ever. In fact, prior to this year, South Carolina hadn't advanced past the first round since the tournament expanded to more than 25 teams in 1975.
South Carolina gets after teams on the defensive end and forces them into turning the ball over. Florida actually causes a lot of turnovers, as well, so the defensive battle will be fun to watch. Per our metrics, both defenses rank in the top 10 nationally.
The good defenses coupled with both teams playing at an average pace could lead to a low-scoring contest. The game boasts a 134.5-point implied total, which is roughly 25 fewer points than what's expected in the Carolina-Kentucky game.
Can South Carolina continue their school-best tournament run, or will Florida build on the exciting end to their last game?
Below are three players to keep an eye on from each team.
| Player | Team | PTS | TRB | eFG% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| KeVaughn Allen | Florida | 13.4 | 2.5 | 0.545 |
| Canyon Barry | Florida | 11.8 | 2.9 | 0.495 |
| Devin Robinson | Florida | 11.4 | 6.3 | 0.550 |
| Sindarius Thornwell | South Carolina | 21.0 | 7.2 | 0.501 |
| PJ Dozier | South Carolina | 13.6 | 4.8 | 0.439 |
| Chris Silva | South Carolina | 9.8 | 5.7 | 0.550 |
Here is a quick breakdown of the team stats comparison.
| School | nERD | O Rtg | eFG% | Reb% | TOV% | D Rtg | Opp eFG% | Opp TOV% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #4 Florida | 19.21 | 110 | 51.7 | 51.5 | 14.5 | 92.7 | 45.3 | 18.3 |
| #7 USC | 13.2 | 102.6 | 47.6 | 50.8 | 15.7 | 91.5 | 45.3 | 21.2 |