Matchup at a glance: UC Santa Barbara vs. Florida

A look at Santa Barbara’s second-round tournament game against Florida on Thursday:

FLORIDA; Ht.; Wt.; Stats; P; SANTA BARBARA; Ht.; Wt.; Stats

Vernon Macklin; 6-10; 240; 11.3 ppg; C; Jaime Serna; 6-9; 235; 8.0 ppg

Chandler Parsons; 6-10; 215; 11.5 ppg; F; Jon Pastorek; 6-10; 210; 4.4 ppg

Alex Tyus; 6-8; 220; 8.7 ppg; F; James Nunnally; 6-7; 205; 16.4 ppg

Kenny Boynton; 6-2; 183; 14.1 ppg; G; Orlando Johnson; 6-5; 205; 21.1 ppg

Erving Walker; 5-8; 171; G; Justin Joyner; 6-0; 177; 3.7 ppg.

RESERVES

Patric Young; 6-9; 245; 3.3 ppg; C; Greg Somogyi; 7-3; 242; 4.6 ppg

Erik Murphy; 6-10; 229; 4.3 ppg; F/G; Jordan Weiner; 6-0; 173; 5.5 ppg

SCOUTING REPORT: Santa Barbara can be very effective in the 2-3 zone defense it mostly uses, particularly with the size the Gauchos have up front. Macklin’s production has been spotty, but he is more polished than many of the post players the Gauchos saw in the Big West Conference. Florida’s guards aren’t great shooters — Boynton shoots 38%, Walker 41% — but the Gators are battle tested. Florida is 13-3 against teams that made the NCAA tournament. Johnson’s size gives Santa Barbara an advantage over Florida’s smaller guards.

KEYS TO THE GAME: A fast start by Florida could strip away Santa Barbara’s hope. The Gators need to make outside shots to soften up Santa Barbara’s zone. The Gauchos need a big game from Johnson.

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