Pregame Shootaround - Florida at No. 21 Texas A&M (Tuesday, 7 pm ET)

FLORIDA at No. 21 TEXAS A&M

When: Tuesday, 7 p.m. (ET)
Where: Reed Arena, College Station, Texas
Records: UF (10-5, 2-1), Texas A&M (13-2, 3-0)
TV: SEC Network (with Matt Stewart, Jon Sulvold and Laura Rutledge)
Radio: Radio: Gator IMG Sports Network (with Mick Hubert and Mark Wise). Check for availability here.

STAKES, STARS AND STATS

>>> Florida and Texas A&M will meet for just the eighth time. UF is 5-2 all-time in the series, including a 3-1 mark since the Aggies joined the Southeastern Conference for the 2012-13 season. ... The two team's last met on March 3, 2015, with the Gators holding on for a 66-62 win, despite going just 20 of 38 from the free-throw line (52.6 percent), making only five of their final 14 inside two minutes when A&M trimmed a 14-point lead to three. Guard Eli Carter's hit FTs with 11.6 seconds left, plus another from point guard Kasey Hill with 6.3 to helped ice the game. Dorian Finney-Smith led UF with 12 points and seven rebounds before fouling out. Carter added 11 points. ... That win turned out to be the final home game for Coach Billy Donovan and the 501st of his collegiate coaching career. ... Florida also played at A&M last season, with the Aggies winning 63-62 on Feb. 14 when the Gators failed to get a shot off as time expired.

>>> UF finally got Saturday the first signature victory of the Coach Mike White era, in defeating Ben Simmons and LSU 68-62. The Tigers aren't a great team, but the Gators beat one that had won its first two SEC games, including an 18-point waxing of Kentucky. The Gators still have plenty of faults, most notably putting the ball in the basket -- UF remains last in the league in field-goal (.414), 3-point (.283) and free-throw percentage (.616) -- but the latest outcome reiterated the necessity for all-out effort, especially on the defensive end, to make up for those shortcomings. ... Finney-Smith (13.1 ppg, 7.3 rpg) remains UF's leader in scoring and rebounding, but the Gators have gotten a huge lift the last two games from 6-8 junior Justin Leon (3.9 ppg, 2.3 rpg), who's tallied back-to-back career games: 11 points at Tennessee, then 14 points and nine rebounds against LSU. He's shooting 40 percent from 3-point range, after making six of his last 10 over the past three games. ... After five straight games reaching double-figures, freshman guard KeVaughn Allen had just eight points vs. the Tigers and went 0-for-4 from 3, part of a UF perimeter display in which the Gators went a collective 8-for-36 overall and 0-10 from the arc by their backcourt players. ... Sophomore point guard Chris Chiozza (6.5 ppg, 3.7 apg) had a career-high eight assists and zero turnovers against the Tigers. In his seven games since taking over as starter, he has 33 assists and just four turnovers. ... Florida assistant coach Dusty May was on A&M coach Billy Kennedy's staff at Murray State during the 2006-07 season.

>>> A&M ranks fifth in the league in scoring (80.1 ppg), second in scoring margin (plus-14.2), second in field-goal percentage (.473) and leads in both assists per game (19.2, which is eighth nationally) and opponents' turnovers (16.1, which is 24th nationally). ... The latter two stats speak to a backcourt that already was armed with versatile point guard and two-year starter Alex Caruso (7.8 ppg, 3.3 rpg, ), but added fifth-year senior and graduate transfer Anthony Collins, by way of South Florida, into the mix. Combined, Caruso and Collins average 10 assists per game for the season but have increased their aggregate total to 13 per game in conference play. ... Caruso and Collins have plenty of scoring options, led by forwards Jalen Jones (16.6 ppg, 6.6 rpg) and Danuel House (15.7 ppg, 5.1 rpg), both of whom roughed up the Gators inside and out last season. ... Freshman center Tyler Davis (11.1 ppg, 6.0 rpg) is a load at 6-10, 265 pounds and leads the SEC in field-goal percentage (almost 70 percent). ... The Aggies have opened the SEC slate by smashing Arkansas by 23 at home, surviving by one at Mississippi State and rallying from an 11-point deficit at Tennessee for Saturday's 92-88 win. A&M had some solid non-conference victories also, having defeated Texas and No. 10 Gonzaga in the Battle 4 Atlantis, along with Kansas State and 16th-ranked Baylor. The Aggies' lone losses: 74-64 to Syracuse at Atlantis and 64-57 at Arizona State.

SOME NUMBERS OF NOTE

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* .114 -- 3-point shooting percentage of backup UF guard Brandone Francis-Ramirez, based on 4-for-35 and 18 straight misses over the last 10 games. For a guy who knocks them down routinely in practice scrimmages, and given so many of his game misses have been in-and-outs), it's a ridiculously puzzling drought. He's also just 11-for-66 (or 16.7) on his overall field goals.

* .833 -- Winning percentage of the two SEC teams the Gators face this week. On Saturday, UF is at Ole Miss (12-3, 2-1).

* 2 -- Head coaches named Kennedy the Gators will face in two games this week. After seeing A&M's Kennedy Tuesday, Ole Miss is coached by Andy Kennedy.

* 2 -- Former South Florida teammates who will be on the floor at Reed Arena. Collins, the Aggies' point guard, and UF center John Egbunu (10.9 ppg, 6.8 rpg), played together one season at USF two years ago. The Bulls went 12-20 that year and finished last in the American Athletic Conference standings with a 3-15 record.

* 4.31 -- Chiozza's assist-to-turnover ratio, which now ranks eighth in the nation.

WATCH FOR IT

More pep in Florida's step from the jump ... at least there had better be. Anything that remotely resembles the effort level put forth last week at Tennessee will yield a similar result. Or worse.

Gators Calendar

Pregame Shootaround - Florida at No. 21 Texas A&M (Tuesday, 7 pm ET)

Players Mentioned

KeVaughn Allen

Eli Carter

Chris Chiozza

Billy Donovan

John Egbunu

Dorian Finney-Smith

Brandone Francis-Ramirez

Kasey Hill

Justin Leon

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Pregame Shootaround - Florida at No. 21 Texas A&M (Tuesday, 7 pm ET)

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Players Mentioned

KeVaughn Allen

Eli Carter

Chris Chiozza

Billy Donovan

John Egbunu

Dorian Finney-Smith

Brandone Francis-Ramirez

Kasey Hill

Justin Leon

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