One of the season’s biggest non-conference games takes place on Tuesday when the No. 18-ranked Florida Gators (5-3) travel to Madison Square Garden to face the No. 5-ranked UConn Huskies (8-1) on Tuesday.
Florida is no stranger to playing big-time competition. The defending national champions have played – and lost – to Arizona and Duke. Those teams are currently ranked first and third, respectively, in the AP Top 25.
UConn’s lone loss this season is to Arizona, too. Beyond that, the Huskies have taken on two other ranked teams – Illinois and Kansas – earlier this month, securing wins against both of those Midwestern squads.
Can Florida finally snap their streak of losses to AP Top 25 teams with a victory inside Madison Square Garden? We’ll cover that and provide bettors with our top three player props for Tuesday’s nonconference matchup.
Alex Condon is on a mission to lead his team back to the NCAA Championship game this season. The 6-foot-11 forward is averaging nearly a double-double by recording 15.1 points, 9.0 rebounds, and 3.0 assists this season.
He’s struggled in his past two outings, albeit against strong competition. Duke and TCU limited Condon to a combined 20 points as he knocked down just six of the 16 field goals he attempted.
UConn’s defense is perhaps better than either of those two opponents, suggesting bettors should take the under on Condon’s point prop total.
Senior Alex Karaban is hoping to finish his final season with UConn as his first two years ended: hoisting the NCAA Championship trophy in April. The 6-foot-8 forward is continuing to be the model of consistency, notching 13.4 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 2.3 assists for the Huskies this season.
Karaban came out hot from the three-point line this season, hitting 12 of his first 19 attempts. Since that time, he’s been in a shooting slump, including Friday’s 0-for-4 performance from deep.
Bettors should expect him to recover and hit at least two three-point field goals on Tuesday, making it the sixth time he’ll accomplish that feat thus far.
Gator forward Thomas Haugh is having a strong start to his junior season. The 6-foot-9 athlete is averaging 18.6 points, 7.6 rebounds, and 2.8 assists for Florida thus far, stats that nearly double his sophomore totals.
While he should have a strong scoring game, rebounding is what we will focus on for this matchup. The Gators are leading the country with more than 44 rebounds per night, led by their 6-foot-10 forward Rueben Chinyelu.
Still, Haugh is recording nearly eight boards per contest. That bodes well for him against UConn, a team that has under 37 rebounds per game. Bettors should take him to cover the 6.5-rebound total oddsmakers have set for him on Tuesday.
This matchup of the last three NCAA champions could become an instant classic. The Huskies have been among the country’s top defensive teams thus far, and Florida has the size to compete with UConn.
Both teams enter this game as battle-tested squads, having played a strong nonconference schedule. While this game should be close throughout, expect the Huskies to pull away in the final minutes and secure a win by at least five points on Tuesday.