Preview: Rady Children’s Invitational field includes defending NCAA champion Florida

The Rady Children’s Invitational acquitted itself well in the first two years of the event.

Last year’s event was highlighted by a Final Four rematch between Purdue and North Carolina State.

The previous year, the final featured Oklahoma edging USC on a last-second put-back basket to win the tournament championship.

Event organizers have invited a four-team field this year that includes the reigning NCAA champion.

“This is a really great event for San Diego,” said Mark Neville, CEO of Sports San Diego, which presents the event. “We’ve got four Quad 1 basketball team coming, including the defending national champion Florida Gators.

“We’re also celebrating Rady Children’s Health, which is a San Diego treasure that we all love.”

Florida is joined by TCU, Providence and Wisconsin for the two-day event being played at USD’s Jenny Craig Pavilion. Florida faces TCU and Providence takes on Wisconsin in Thursday’s games. The winners meet Friday for the championship, which will be preceded by a third-place game between the losing teams.

A limited number of tickets are available at radychildrensinvitational.com or the USD box office. Thursday’s games will be broadcast on Fox Sports 1 and Friday’s contests on Fox.

Here is a capsule glance at each school:

No. 10 Florida (4-1)

Head coach: Todd Golden

Scouting report: The Gators opened the season with a 93-87 loss to Arizona, then reeled off victories against North Florida, Florida State, Miami and Merrimack. They averaged 86 points per game in the victories.

Four starters are scoring in double figures: forward Thomas Haugh (17.8 ppg, 7.6 rpg), forward/center Alex Condon (17.2 ppg, 9 rpg), guard Boogie Fland (11 ppg) and center Rueben Chinyelu (10.4 ppg, 11.4 rpg). Three of those players also hit the boards hard, helping the Gators average 19 rebounds per game more than their opponents.

Providence (4-2)

Head coach: Kim English

Scouting report: The Friars come into the tournament following wins over New Hampshire and Penn State. They opened the season with a victory over Holy Cross and also defeated Penn. The two setbacks came in a 107-101 overtime loss at Virginia Tech and a 97-88 loss at Colorado.

Providence is averaging 93 points a game, with five players in double figures — guard Jason Edwards (19.3 ppg), guard Jaylin Sellers (16.0), guard Stefan Vaaks (14.8), guard Corey Floyd Jr. (11.4) and guard Ryan Mela (10.3 ppg, 7.2 rpg).

Forward Oswin Erhunmwunse (8.5 rpg) leads them in rebounds and letters in his last name.

TCU (3-2)

Head coach: Jamie Dixon

The Horned Frogs have three wins — against Saint Francis, Lamar and Kansas City — but they may have been most impressive in a 67-63 loss to Michigan. The Wolverines have been blowing teams out (including San Diego State) this week in Las Vegas at the Players Era tournament.

Guard Jayden Pierre (12.2 ppg), forward Micah Robinson (10.8) and forward David Punch (10.6) are scoring in double figures. Punch and Robinson also lead the team in rebounding, each averaging six boards a game.

Wisconsin (4-1)

Head coach: Greg Gard

The Badgers opened the season with four straight victories — over Campbell, Northern Illinois, Ball State and SIUE — in which they averaged 92 points a game before a lopsided 98-70 loss over the weekend at BYU.

They cleared their heads Monday with a trip to the San Diego Zoo. Don’t know if they bumped into any badgers.

Guard Nick Boyd, who played at San Diego State last season, leads the Badgers with 19.2 points per game. Guard John Blackwell (18.4) and guard Nolan Winter (14.2) also are in double figures. Blackwell is shooting nearly 50% (14-for-31) from 3-point range, while Winter is averaging a team-high 10.2 rebounds a game.

Rady Children’s Invitational

When: Thursday and Friday

Where: Jenny Craig Pavilion, on campus at USD

Thursday’s schedule: No. 10 Florida (4-1) vs. TCU (3-2), noon; Providence (4-2) vs. Wisconsin (4-1) to follow (approximately 2:30 p.m.); both games on Fox Sports 1.

Friday’s schedule: Florida/TCU loser vs. Providence/Wisconsin, noon; Florida/TCU winner vs. Providence/Wisconsin winner to follow (approximately 2:30 p.m.); both games on Fox.