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The Florida Gator Men’s Basketball team secured a No. 7 seed bid in the 2021 NCAA Tournament.
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Five other SEC teams were selected for the Tournament. However, Florida is the only SEC team to make every NCAA Tournament since 2017, with this also marking the team’s 21st all time NCAA appearance. This is their fourth appearance under the direction of head coach Mike White, the second most of any Florida coach aside from Billy Donovan.
Heading into the Tournament
Florida finished the season 14-9 with a 9-7 record.
Coach White discusses his thoughts on Florida’s highs and lows leading up to this point.
I thought we were playing really well up until these past couple weeks. Our schedule had a lot to do with that, of course, playing three of those four games against NCAA Tournament opponents in Tennessee twice and Missouri, of course. Hopefully, we can regain some momentum, some offensive continuity, offensive rhythm as we get one more shot at it. It’s do or die.
Florida Gator sophomore point guard Tre Mann has definitely led his team this season, especially stepping up after losing SEC Player of the Year Keyontae Johnson during a matchup with Florida State in December. He averages 15 points per game.
Mike White comments on Mann’s success this season.
I think we’ve had some other guys struggle just a little bit, and we’re just struggling a little bit with the overall offensive production and effectiveness – again, against some high-level defenses, of course. And Tre really just kind of bailed us out some of these possessions, especially in the last game where he made it interesting against the Volunteers putting up thirty. He’s really talented. His role has continued to grow here over the course of this year, and he continues to get better. Hopefully, he can finish really strong.
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Florida is set to face No. 10 seed Virginia Tech to open Friday play at 12:15 at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. This will be the first time the Gators are going head to head with the Hokies since 1991. The winner of the matchup will play the winner of Ohio State and Oral Roberts Golden Eagles.
