Florida Gators vs Missouri Tigers basketball preview

Florida Center Patric Young will have to contend against the best rebounding team in the country in Missouri on Saturday. (Brett Davis-US Presswire)

It’s a quick turnaround for the No. 10 Florida Gators men’s basketball team as they will host the No. 17 Missouri Tigers on Saturday, just two days after traveling to College Station.

Where: Gainesville, Fla., Stephen C O’Connell Center: Saturday, 2 p.m.

TV/Radio: ESPN, ESPN Radio 850/900, Country 103.7 The Gator

Florida Gators Starting Five:

F #33 Erik Murphy
C #4 Patric Young
G #1 Kenny Boynton
G #3 Mike Rosario
G #5 Scottie Wilbekin

Missouri Tigers Starting Five

#3 F Tony Criswell
#35 F Stefan Jankovic
#42  C Alex Oriakhi
#1 G Phil Pressey
#32 G Jabari Brown

Florida Gators (13-2) SEC (3-0) Overview

The Gators are coming off 68-47 beat down of the Aggies on Thursday. Florida held Texas A&M’s leading scorer, senior forward Elston Turner, to just 4-points, a far cry from his 40-point performance in a upset win over Kentucky the previous weekend. Senior guard Mike Rosario led the team with 19 points in his first game back from injury.

The Gators are No. 3 in scoring defense, limiting opponents to just 51.7 points per game. Junior center Patric Young leads the team in rebounds at 6.4 per game and is coming off a solid performance against Texas A&M with 18 points. Junior forward Casey Prather will not play due to a high-ankle sprain, which he sustained in the win over LSU. Word is that he will be out of action at least another week.

Missouri Tigers (13-3) SEC (2-1)

Missouri is coming off a 79-61 win over the Georgia Bulldogs, not much of a litmus test for how good this team is. The Tigers have four players averaging double figures in sophomore guard Jabari Brown (13.9), junior guard Phil Pressey(12.9), senior forward Alex Oriakhi (10.4) and junior guard Earnest Ross (10.3). Missouri is out-rebounding opponents by an SEC-best margin of 10.3 and average a nation-high 43.8 boards per game. Oriakhi leads Mizzou in rebounds with 8.6 per game, while Pressy leads the SEC in assists with 7.3 per game. Missouri will be without it’s leading scorer in senior forward Laurence Bowers (16.8 ppg.), who suffered an MCL sprain.

What do you think Gamedayrs?