Saturday, November 28th, 8:00 p.m. (et)

FACTS & STATS: Site: Boardwalk Hall (13,800) -- Atlantic City, New Jersey. Television: None. Home Record: Rutgers 2-1, Florida 4-0. Away Record: Rutgers 0-0, Florida 0-0. Neutral Record: Rutgers 1-0, Florida 1-0. Conference Record: Rutgers 0-0, Florida 0-0. Series Record: Florida leads, 3-1.

GAME NOTES: The Florida Gators are fresh off a surprising win, and they are set to play the championship game of the Legends Classic in Atlantic City tonight against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights.

Rutgers earned a spot in tonight's tilt by knocking off UMass yesterday by an 83-75 final. The Scarlet Knights are now 3-1 this season, and they have an awfully soft non-conference schedule ahead. If they can knock off Florida this evening, which will certainly be a challenge, they very well could carry a 10-1 record into a December 28th date with North Carolina.

As for Florida, it shocked second-ranked Michigan State last night by a 77-74 final in one of the most competitive games of this young college basketball season. The Gators are now a perfect 5-0, and all four of their previous victories came by 16 or more points.

The Gators own a 3-1 series lead over the Scarlet Knights, which includes an 88-63 romp over Rutgers last season.

Rutgers connected on 58.9 percent of its field goal attempts in the first half against UMass last night and cruised to an 11-point lead at intermission. Over the final 20 minutes, the Scarlet Knights misfired on three of their four three-pointers and registered only 12 total field goals, but that was enough to hold on for the victory. Mike Rosario spearheaded a balanced scoring attack with 22 points on the strength of a 4-of-5 showing from long range. Hamady Ndiaye tallied 14 points off the bench, while Mike Coburn posted 13 points and seven rebounds. Heading into last night's game, Rutgers was only scoring 67.7 ppg, so the solid offensive outing was good to see. Rosario is now averaging 18.5 ppg, as he is clearly the go-to guy at the offensive end of the floor.

Five players reached double figures in scoring for Florida in the upset win over Michigan State yesterday. Chandler Parsons led the charge with 14 points, while Erving Walker posted 12 points and seven assists. Alex Tyus added 11 points, while Ray Shipman and Vernon Macklin contributed 10 points apiece. Florida suffered a 42-28 rebounding advantage in the contest and allowed 52.5 percent shooting to the Spartans. The Gators only connected on 41 percent of their field goal attempts, but they committed 12 fewer turnovers than their counterparts while scoring 12 more points from the foul line. Florida is scoring 73.6 ppg while allowing 55.8 ppg to opponents on 36.7 percent shooting from the field. Kenny Boynton is tops for the Gators in scoring with 15.2 ppg, and Parsons provides 13.2 ppg.

Florida will remain undefeated by knocking off a solid Rutgers squad. Clearly, the challenge in the semifinal round was much tougher than this evening's test for the Gators.

Predicted Outcome

Florida 75, Rutgers 63