The Florida Gators and UCLA Bruins are playing live in the Sweet 16 for the NCAA basketball tournament on Thursday and the game from the FedExForum in Memphis is streaming online on the radio from Westwood and has two of the best teams in the tourney looking to get to the Elite Eight and Billy Donovan has his team ready as the top overall seed in the field and the game starts up around 9:45 pm ET.
The Bruins and the Gators matchup in the South region and things played out right in that part of the bracket and now the number one team faces the number four and the Bruins have their work cut out for them, as Florida is going for their 29th win in a row after winning the SEC and the conference tournament without dropping a game in the conference. The Bruins have been very impressive under Steve Alford and he has the team 28-8 on the season and they upset the number one Arizona Wildcats to take the Pac-12 tournament title and now they could be the team that finally stops Florida.
The Gators have one of the best defensive fronts in the nation and they ranked in the top 10 in points allowed, but they are now facing a Bruins team that was one of the best in the country and they come into the game ranked 12th in points per game. The team averaged over 80 points per contest and they were 10th in the country in field goal percentage and shot 49 percent from the floor. The team is led by Kyle Anderson and Jordan Adams and they both have been great this year and the team is huge, with Norman Powell coming in as their shortest guard and the team should be tough on the Gators.
Anderson is a nightmare matchup and he comes in after grabbing eight rebounds in the win against Stephen F Austin in the last round, while Adams had 19 points to lead the team. Adams led the team in scoring this season with 17 per game and he shot over 47 percent from the field, while Anderson was second in scoring and first in rebounding over Adams, going for 14 points and nearly nine boards per game and he really can do it all, as he led the team in assists as well with over six per game and now he will be a very tough player to stop. UCLA has a storied history in the tournament with 45 appearances, but they haven't won a title since back in 1995.
The Gators have the number for UCLA, as they have beaten the Bruins every time since Donovan took over and that included the 2006 national title game and then in the Final Four twice, winning in 2007 and then against them in 2011. Tha Gators come in as the favorites here and they have the chance to really get things going and they could end up with a 30 game winning streak if they continue into the Elite Eight and as the number one overall seed they will be very tough in the tournament the rest of the way.
Check here for the UCLA Bruins and Florida Gators live coverage from the radio for March Madness.