GAINESVILLE — It took two days longer than all but three other teams in the NCAA Tournament field, but the Florida Gators finally found out late Tuesday who their first-round opponent would be.

It was nearly midnight when St. Bonaventure, the small Franciscan university with an enrollment of just over 2,000, located in Olean, N.Y., finished off blue blood UCLA 65-58 in “First Four” action, setting up an opening round East Region tilt in Dallas against the Gators.

The Bonnies, winners of 14 of their past 15 games, will present a challenging, but not altogether unfamiliar, challenge to the Gators on Thursday night (9:57 PM ET, TruTV).

One of the four play-in winners has won a first-round NCAA Tournament game in each of the past 7 years.

Indeed, the Gators’ coaching staff and many of the players are no strangers to St. Bonaventure, having played a tough, tight game against the Bonnies in Lakeland, Fla., last season.

In that contest, a 73-66 Gators win, Florida surrendered 48 points to St. Bonaventure’s marvelous guard tandem of Jaylen Adams and Matt Mobley and nearly blew a 15-point lead before some clutch Canyon Barry free throws sealed the win.

The difficulty Florida had in winning that game should be foremost in their mind as they prepare for the Bonnies, especially given the fact that three of Florida’s stars in that game were Barry, Devin Robinson and John Egbunu (collectively 38 points and 22 rebounds), none of whom will be available Thursday evening.

Further, St. Bonaventure is playing with Courtney Stockard, the talented 6-6 swing who missed the previous two seasons due to various injuries. Stockard poured in 26 points to lead St. Bonaventure’s First Four win over UCLA, and his scoring punch gives the Bonnies extra balance on nights when Mobley and Adams struggle, which certainly was the case against UCLA, as the sensational senior guard duo went only 6-28 from the field.

All told, it seems unlikely that Adams, the co-Atlantic 10 Player of the Year, and his backcourt mate Mobley will struggle from the field for a second consecutive game, especially given that the Gators are not as long and athletic as UCLA, making it harder for Florida to chase shooters around the arc.

As such, Florida will need to play with an edge, defending tenaciously from the opening tip and taking care of the basketball, to have a chance to advance.

“St. Bonaventure has a terrific, really underrated backcourt, one of the best backcourts in the country,” Florida head coach Mike White told the media this week. “They play incredibly hard collectively. They’ve had a great year. We’ve been average this year and we’ve been really good. We’ll have to defend and be the really good version to have a chance to win.”

Here’s a closer look at St. Bonaventure.

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When the Bonnies are on offense

Ranked 65th in KenPom Offensive efficiency, St. Bonaventure is a guard-dominant team that gets just over 65 percent of its scoring from the aforementioned Adams, Mobley and Stockard. The Bonnies rank 22nd nationally in 3P FG percentage, and Adams shoots at a 44.4 percent clip from beyond the arc, placing him 12th nationally.

The Bonnies are particularly lethal from beyond the arc in transition after a stop, where they like to push the ball up court with either Mobley (a good rebounding guard who can get out on the break) or Stockard and find a quick shot. They shoot 44.5 percent from downtown when they get a 3 in the first 10 seconds of the shot clock, but only around 32 percent in halfcourt sets or late in the shot clock.

Collectively, the Bonnies three-leading scorers all have eFG% (Field goal percentage that takes into account added-value of 3-point shots) above 50 percent, a rare commodity in the college game.

Like Florida, St. Bonaventure takes good care of the basketball, ranking 33rd nationally in turnover margin on the year (+2.9 a contest). They don’t beat themselves.

Also like the Gators, the Bonnies are thin down low and lack a low-post scorer, relying primarily on undersized forward LaDarien Griffin for points at the rim (team high 64% eFG% at the rim.) This is the club’s primary weakness, and the lack of a post presence means teams extend defenses a great deal and often double Adams outside, forcing either Mobley or Stockard or both to beat them.

When the Bonnies defend

Mark Schmidt is a disciple of the late, great Skip Prosser, and learned the value of switching defenses frequently as Prosser’s assistant at Xavier.

Primarily, St. Bonaventure plays a matchup zone and relies heavily on the quickness of its 3-to-4 guard sets to close gaps on drives, help the undersized Griffin underneath and contest and chase 3-point shooters behind the arc. Stockard thrives in this system, using his length in the zone to produce nearly four steals a game, and get the Bonnies out on transition.

The Bonnies do struggle at times with straight line drives, especially from athletic or pick and pop type forwards, and in this vein, Florida should look to Keith Stone to produce some baskets and productive mismatches. The Bonnies also lack a legitimate rim protector (Amadi Ikpeze leads the team at 0.5 blocks a game), a huge reason the Bonnies give up a somewhat unsightly 59.8 field goal percentage in the paint.

Nevertheless, the team ranks 75th in KenPom defense thanks to quick guards that harass 3-point shooters. The Bonnies rank 33rd nationally in 3P FG% defense, the 12th best mark in the NCAA Tournament field.

In other words, Florida will need to get baskets off drives or get to the line a good amount to win, because St. Bonaventure will make life difficult on the Gators outside.

X-factor matchup: Chris Chiozza vs. Jaylen Adams

The problem with double-teaming Adams is that he’s a good passer out of double teams, which means he’ll find open shooters. If one of those shooters is Mobley on a hot day or Stockard on a hot day, it can turn into a tough day at the office for a St. Bonaventure opponent.

That said, not many teams nationally have a point guard who can reliably guard Adams one on one. Enter Chris Chiozza.

Credit: Marvin Gentry-USA TODAY Sports

One of the better one on one defenders in the country, Chiozza excels at using his lateral quickness to prevent drives and to get around screens and using fast hands to compensate for limited size. This helps him produce nearly two steals a game on a team that feasts in transition, averaging 56.2% eFG when they take the ball away.

Chiozza handling Adams one on one also means that Florida can rotate Egor Koulechov and Jalen Hudson on Stockard, which should neutralize the looks Stockard usually can produce off the bounce thanks to quickness or size mismatches (70 percent of his shots come off drives).

If Florida can limit Adams and contain Stockard, they’ll have a great chance to play basketball Saturday. Bottom line? The winner of the Chiozza-Adams matchup of sensational senior guards probably wins the basketball game.

Prediction: St. Bonaventure 71, Florida 66

If Florida wins, the Gators likely would build confidence and they match up well with Texas Tech, a Cincinnati-lite type ball club with a star playing hurt.

Unfortunately for the Gators, this team has simply been too inconsistent to be trusted, and this Bonnies team matches up with Florida well, particularly in the way they limit turnovers offensively and defend the 3-point line defensively. UCLA was always the better opening round matchup for Florida, as the Gators have punished talented but undisciplined opponents all year. The Gators have flashy wins on their resume, but in March, teams that can match your guard play and are steady and consistent are the better choice.

Chiozza’s brilliant career ends in a disappointing early exit Thursday night.