Pregame Shootaround - UF vs LSU (Saturday, 1:30 pm)
Friday, January 8, 2016 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
Share:
By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer
LSU at FLORIDA
When: Saturday, 1:30 p.m. (ET) Where: O'Connell Center, Gainesville, Fla. Records: UF (9-5, 1-1), LSU (9-5, 2-0) TV: CBS (with Spero Dedes and Doug Gottlieb) Radio: Gator IMG Sports Network (with Mick Hubert and Bill Koss). Check for availability here.
STAKES, STARS AND STATS
>>> Florida is coming off a hideous road loss at Tennessee, while LSU's last outing was an 18-point blowout og 15th-ranked and defending Southeastern Conference champion Kentucky. ... This will be the 106th meeting between the two programs. The Gators trail in the series 43-63, but lead 27-20 record at home. ... LSU swept Florida in home-and-home games last season, with the second one being a 70-63 decision at Baton Rouge on Feb. 21, 2015. In that one, forward Jarrell Martin scored 28 points, grabbed 13 rebounds and goaded the Gators with a run-out, between-the-legs dunk in the second half. UF was led by 14 points from guard Eli Carter, plus Devin Robinson's 12 points and seven rebounds.
KeVaughn Alln>>> UF was its normal poor-shooting self in the loss in Knoxville, despite starting relatively hot -- even from the 3-point line. Ultimately, the Gators hit just 34 percent for the game, 34.6 from 3 (up seven percent from its long-distance season percentage) and 63.2 from the free-throw line. Florida remains at the bottom of the SEC in field-goal percentage (.416), 3-point percentage (.289) and free-throw percentage (.620). ... Senior forward Dorian Finney-Smith (13.1 ppg, 7.6 rpg) remains the team's leading scorer after carding his second double-double of the season against UT, but freshman guardKeVaughn Allen (10.7 ppg) is rapidly working his way up the UF scoring column. Allen has hit double-figures in five straight games, averaging 18.8 points on 51.7-percent shooting from the field, 32 percent from 3-point and has knocked down a very un-Gatorlike 90.3 percent of his free throws (28 of 31) during that span. ... Robinson (11.1 ppg, 6.9 rpg), after leaving the SEC opener against Georgia with a chest contusion, returned against the Vols and dropped in 13 points and grabbed six rebounds. He was 5-for-8 from the floor and 2-for-4 from the 3-point line in 20 minutes. ... Sophomore center John Egbunu(10.8 ppg, 7.0 rpg) remains second on the team in field-goal percentage (.585), but he was just 4-for-10 at UT, as the Vols repeatedly collapsed multiple defenders on the UF big man. Egbunu, who at 6-foot-11 and 255 pounds is usually the biggest player on the floor, clearly was affected by the tactic. In other words, he can expect to see it a lot more of it. ... Junior forward Justin Leon(3.2 ppg, 1.8 rpg), the junior college transfer, has started two straight games and is coming off his first double-figure output of the season (11 points vs UT), thanks to 3-for-5 from deep. ... The Gators got reserve senior forward Alex Murphy from his plantar fascia injury last game and expect to have reserve center Schuyler Rimmeravailable for the first time since Dec. 12 at Michigan State. Rimmer missed the previous five games with a back injury.
Ben Simmons>>> For LSU, it's all about Ben Simmons, the 6-foot-10, 230-pound freshman expected to be the No. 1 overall pick in 2016 NBA Draft. Simmons is averaging 20.1 points and 12.9 rebounds, but his skill set at his size, as far as ball-handing and passing, is unbelievable. What he can't do is shoot 3-pointers, but he really doesn't even try (just three attempts for the season). ... The Tigers are the SEC's No. 1 scoring team (84.3 ppg), which makes the matchup against the league's No. 1 scoring defense (UF is allowing 61.3 ppg) intriguing -- unless the Gators roll out the kind of defensive effort they did at Tennessee. At .478, the Tigers lead the conference in shooting percentage from the floor. ... LSU seemingly has righted its ship after losing three straight (and four of five) over a three-week span in November and December whne they fell to Marquette and North Carolina State on a neutral floor, on the road at College of Charleston, and again on the road at Houston. In that latter defeat, though, the Tigers welcomed back shooting guard and 3-point bomber Keith Hornsby (16.3 ppg, 3.4 rpg), out following sports hernio surgery, who poured in a career-high 35 in that game. They also added to the mix 6-9, 235-pound forward Craig Victor II (13.7 ppg, 6.2 rpg), a midseason transfer from Arizona last year, who turned eligible after the first semester. ... Junior guard Tim Quarterman (12.3 ppg, 5.6 rpg) is projected to be a late-first or early second-round NBA draft pick. He's a matchup problem at 6-6, can drive the ball and shot with range.
SOME NUMBERS OF NOTE
Dorian Finney-Smith* .585 -- UF's team free-throw percentage when Allen's 90-plus-percent is removed from the equation, based on 168-for-287 from the line for the rest of the squad.
* .375 - Florida's 3-point shooting percentage through two SEC games, based on 18-for-48 from deep. Believe it or not, that's more than 12 percent better than what UF's opponents have shot through two games (8 of 31 for 25.8 percent).
* 1 - Times this season the Gators have been outscored in points off turnovers, after the Vols had a 22-18 advantage that ended up being much closer than it could have been. At one point, UT was up 16-0 in that category en route to a 30-point lead.
* 1.000 - Simmons' shooting percentage in LSU's 85-67 pounding of Kentucky. Despite sitting most of the first half in foul trouble, he still went 5-for-5 from the floor, grabbed 10 rebounds, dished three assists, had a pair of steals and blocked as shot.
* 2010 -- The last year the Gators started an SEC season with a 1-2 record, something the team will try to avoid Saturday. That year, UF fell at Vanderbilt in the opener, then at home against Kentucky to start its league slate that season, but went on to finish 9-7 in conference play and reach the NCAA Tournament.
WATCH FOR IT
Welcome back, Rowdy Reptiles. Your team will need you Saturday almost as much as they'll need to hit some shots and play defense like its life defends on it.
LSU at FLORIDA 
