Basketball Game Preview: Winter Park Wildcats vs. University Cougars

Winter Park and University are an even 5-5 against one another since December of 2020, but not for long. A feisty cat fight is on tap when the Winter Park Wildcats challenge the University Cougars on Friday. Both come into the match bolstered by wins in their previous matches.

Winter Park is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Wednesday. They came out on top against Timber Creek by a score of 43-34. Given the Wildcats' advantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 58th, while the Wolves are ranked 202nd), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Meanwhile, University had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 24.5 points) and they went ahead and made it three on Wednesday. They sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 58-55 win over the Braves. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest victory the Cougars have posted against the Braves since January 6, 2021.

Winter Park is on a roll lately: they've won seven of their last eight games, which provided a nice bump to their 18-7 record this season. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 54.0 points per game. As for University, their win bumped their record up to 17-7.

Winter Park was able to grind out a solid victory over University in their previous matchup back in December of 2024, winning 37-26. Will Winter Park repeat their success, or does University have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.