No. 10 Florida will bring its bruising and dominating frontcourt into the spotlight when it faces TCU on Thursday afternoon in a first-round game in the Rady Children’s Invitational in San Diego.The winner will play the victor of the other first-round game between Providence and Wisconsin in the championship, while the losers of Thursday’s games will clash in the third-place contest on Friday afternoon prior to the title tilt.The Gators (4-1) head to Southern California carrying a four-game winning streak, with their most recent victory an 80-45 decision at home over Merrimack on Friday.Alex Condon collected a game-high 20 points and 11 rebounds and Rueben Chinyelu scored 14 points and made Florida history with 21 boards in the win. The Gators scored the game’s first 11 points and built a 28-point lead by the 7:54 mark of the first half.The reigning national champions also got 13 points from Thomas Haugh and 10 from Boogie Fland.Chinyelu’s rebounding total, which included six on the offensive glass, was the highest in a game by a Florida player during the shot-clock era and marked his third consecutive double-double.Florida coach Todd Golden said this week that he expects Condon and Chinyelu to set the pace for his team. Florida earned a 53-25 rebounding edge in the win over Merrimack, the third time this season the Gators had a 20-plus rebounding advantage. Florida is first in NCAA Division I in rebounding margin, rebounds per game and offensive rebounds per game.”The expectation is for them to set it every night,” Golden said of his frontcourt players. “They are two of our most impactful players, and we need them to play well for us to be the best we can be. It’s what we need to be if we want to be really good.”When we play teams that don’t have the depth and the size or the physicality on the front line that we do, we have to impose our will.”
