On Sunday, the Florida Gators visit the Xavier Musketeers in the second round of the NIT at the Cintas Center in Cincinnati, Ohio. Florida defeated the Iona Gaels 79-74 in the first round of the NIT on Wednesday. Phlandrous Fleming Jr and Colin Castleton were the leading scorers for Florida with 18 points apiece. Castleton pulled down a team-high 13 rebounds.
Colin Castleton is leading Florida in scoring and rebounding with averages of 16.4 points and 9.1 rebounds per game, while Tyree Appleby is the leader in assists with an average of 3.7 assists per game. Phlandrous Fleming Jr is the second leading scorer with an average of 11.2 points per game and is one of three players for Florida averaging double-figures in scoring. The Gators are scoring an average of 70.8 points per game.
Xavier defeated Cleveland State 72-68 in the first round of the NIT on Tuesday night. Adam Kunkel was the leading scorer for Xavier with 14 points and four other players for the Musketeers scored in double figures. However, on Wednesday Xavier announced that head coach Travis Steele would step down and Jonas Hayes, an assistant under Steele, will be the interim coach during the remainder of NIT.
Jack Nunge is leading Xavier in scoring with an average of 13.4 points per game, while Paul Scruggs is the second leading scorer and the leader in assists with averages of 12.0 points and 4.1 assists per game. Colby Jones is the leading rebounder with an average of 7.5 rebounds per game. Xavier has five players averaging in double-figures in scoring and as a team is scoring an average of 73.9 points per game.
