If No. 1 Florida isn’t ready for Kansas now, it might never be.
When the Gators face No. 10 Kansas late Saturday night in the Las Vegas Invitational, they’ll be coming off a 61-point win over Prairie View A&M.
“We don’t feel like anybody is going to beat us,” Florida forward Joakim Noah said. “We’re a very confident team. If anybody is going to beat us, it’s going to be on our terms.”
Florida (5-0) must be careful not to think too far ahead about their matchup with the Jayhawks (3-1).
“This is something we’ve been talking about for a long time,” Noah said. “It’s something fans have been talking about for a long time.”
Coach Billy Donovan said playing five overmatched opponents had helped prepare Florida for the rest of the season, even though the Gators have outscored them by an average of 42.4 points.
“We’ve been in a situation where if we messed up, it’s OK because we’d be up 40,” Noah said. “This weekend that won’t be the case.”
Although the Gators easily handled Prairie View, Donovan benched Noah for the final stretch of the first half for what Noah called a lack of effort.
“You have to play with an emotional level and competitive level to be an effective player on the court,” Donovan said. “Jo in the second half really played that way. It was great to see.”
After the game, Noah apologized about his early play.
“I didn’t want people thinking I was a slacker,” Noah said. “I knew I had to come out with something.
“If I didn’t, I was going to get benched again, and I didn’t want that to happen.”
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