Pregame Stuff: Florida vs St. Bonaventure (Thursday, 7 pm)

FLORIDA vs ST. BONAVENTURE

When: Thursday, 7 p.m. (ET)
Where: The Lakeland Center, Lakeland, Fla. (capacity 6,267)
Records: Florida 2-0, Opponent 1-0
TV: SEC+ (Bernie Guenther and Bill Koss)
Radio: Gator IMG Sports Network (Mick Hubert and Mark Wise)

STAKES (The Setup)

Florida opened its 2016-17 season Friday by defeating Florida Gulf Coast 80-58 in Jacksonville, then followed that one up Sunday with a 76-54 victory over Mercer, also in Jacksonville. Now, with Exactech Arena/O'Connell Center still in renovation mode, the Gators take their show south to Lakeland. This will mark the first time UF has played a game in Polk County since Dec. 20, 1979, when the Gators ventured to Florida Southern, the prominent Division II program located in Lakeland, and got rocked 98-75 in what was the final season for Coach John Lotz. ... From 1923-79, UF played FSC 15 times in Lakeland and went 12-4. ... Florida and St. Bonaventure, now a solid program in the highly competitive/respected Atlantic 10 Conference, have played before, but only once. The two teams met Dec. 27, 1977 at the Gator Bowl Tournament in Jacksonville. UF got 22 points from center Larry Brewster and 16 from backup guard Al Bonner for an 88-75 victory. ... Since 1990, the Gators are 10-4 against teams from the current A-10 and had a five-game winning streak against the league until the season-ending 82-77 loss at George Washington last March 23 in the quarterfinals of the NIT.

STARTERS (Probable Lineup)

Florida	Pos.	Ht.	Wt.	Class	Per Game
Devin Robinson	F	6-8	200	Junior	13.0 pts / 7.5 reb
Justin Leon	F	6-8	206	Senior	12.5 pts / 4.0 reb
John Egbunu	C	6-11	255	R-Junior	9.5 pts / 8.0 reb
KeVaughn Allen	G	6-2	183	Sophomore	9.5 pts / 3.4 asts
Kasey Hill	PG	6-1	175	Senior	8.5 pts / 3.0 asts

St. Bonaventure	Pos.	Ht.	Wt.	Class	Per Game
Denzel Gregg	F	6-7	225	Senior	23.0 pts / 3.0 reb
Chinonso Obokoh	C	6-9	225	Gr-Senior	2.0 pts / 3.0 reb
Idris Taqqee	G	6-4	200	Junior	5.0 pts / 12.0 reb
Matt Mobley	G	6-3	185	Junior	21.0 pts / 3.0 asts
Jaylen Adams	G	6-2	185	Junior	23.0 pts / 8.0 asts

STANDING OUT (One to Watch)

Bonnies junior point guard **Jaylen Adams** was named to several preseason watch lists as a National Player of the Year candidate. He was a first-team All-Atlantic 10 selection in 2015-16 when he averaged 17.9 points and 5.0 assists per game. Adams led the league in 3-point shooting at 43.8 percent and was fourth in free-throw percentage 87.4. His range is gym-wide. Think **Stefan Moody** (formerly of Ole Miss), but not quite as explosiove, yet every bit as willing to jack one up from wherever (and probably a more accurate long-range shooter). Though he scored 23 in his team's opener, Adams was just 1-for-7 from deep, so as a volume scorer and figures to be looking to get back on shooting track in this one.

STUFF (Need-to-Know Info)

This is Game 3 of Florida's 11-game odyssey away from the O'Dome. In Jacksonville, the Gators had to deal with low crowd turnouts in a cavernous coliseum with lengthy depth issues behind the basket and some very tight rims. What awaits them relative to the makeup of the Lakeland Center they won't know until a shoot-around Wednesday night. ... The Gators are hitting just 40.7 percent as a team, including 12-for-40 (30.0 percent) from the 3-point arc, but capitalized on 36 forced turnovers by a defense that has been mostly sound. If Florida showed any holes on that end the first weekend it was in allowing 38.5 percent on 3-point shots (15 of 39). The Gators missed some close-out opportunities they don't want to miss against a team like the Bonnies. ... Impressive so far (albeit a small sample size) has been Florida's efficiency at the free-throw line. The Gators, one of the league's (and nation's) worst the last two seasons, has knocked down 44 of their 56 there -- that's 78.6 percent. ... UF got really solid play from wing forward Devin Robinson in the first two games. Ditto power forward Justin Leon, who is coming off a career-high 17 points against Mercer. The early start for Robinson somewhat mimicks how he got going last season, but what the Florida coaches (and NBA scouts in the house) want to see from the team's best pro prospect is a level of consistency when it comes to rebounding, defense and effort through the non-league slate -- games in which he is expected to stand out -- that carries over into the Southeastern Conference season. ... Fifth-year senior transfer Canyon Barry (10.0 ppg, 5.0 rpg), the swingman by way of College of Charleston, is the third UF player averaging double figures. Surprisingly absent from that double-fig ledger is guard KeVaughn Allen, thanks to just 5-for-20 shooting from the floor and 2-for-11 from the 3-point line. Florida's coaches, though, are fine with Allen, so far. The Gators want/need him to shoot. He is their leading returning scorer (11.6 per game as an All-SEC freshman last season) and the ball will find its way into the basket eventually. ... All four of Florida top frontcourt players have at least 50 percent of their shots, led by center John Egbunu (8 of 15 for 53.3 percent). Of Egbunu's team-best 16 rebounds, nine have come on the offensive end. ... ABOUT THE BONNIES: They're coached by Mark Schmidt, who is 147-132 in 10 seasons, with one NCAA Tournament berth (2012). ... They tied Dayton and Virginia Commonwealth for the A-10 regular-season crown last season, but were upset in the league's postseason tournament and relegated to the NIT and, at No. 30. held the highest RPI of any program in the nation that did not make the NCAA Tournament. ... St. Bonaventure's 's only game thus far was a 92-82 defeat of St. Francis (Pa.), where three players scored at least 21 points, led by Adams' 23. Guard Matt Mobley is a transfer from Central Connecticut State, where he averaged 17.2 points during the 2014-15 season and was named Northeast Conference's Most Improved Player. He's another guy, like Adams, who has the green light to jack from wherever. ... Forward Denzel Gregg opened his first season as a starter with 23 points against St. Francis, going 11-for-16 from the floor. Gregg averaged 9.3 points a game last season. ... Center Chinonso Obokoh is a graduate transfer from Syracuse, where he played sparingly, appearing in just 24 games, the previous two seasons.

STATS (Some Numbers of Note)

* .157 — Combined percentage from the 3-point line for Florida's top three guards. Allen, Kasey Hill and Chris Chiozza have gone a collective 3-for-19 from deep.

* .529 — Combined percentage from the 3-point line for Florida's top three forwards. Robinson, Leon and Barry have gone a collective 9-for-17 from deep.

* 0 — Field goals by UF's three freshmen so far. Forward Keith Stone, guard Eric Hester and center Gorjok Gak are looking for their first baskets as Gators, but all three got into the scoring column with free throws against Mercer.

* 1 — Basketball Hall of Famers produced by St. Bonaventure. Bob Lanier was the No. 1 overall pick of the 1970 NBA Draft after leading the Bonnies to the Final Four, only to suffer a severe knee injury in the regional final. The team, minus Lanier, fell to Artis Gilmore and Jacksonville University in the national semifinals. He was an eight-time NBA All-Star and one of the best centers of his era (1970-84) with Detroit and Milwaukee. A 6-foot-10, 250-pound lefty with tremendous shooting touch, his greatest years were with the Pistons, where he scored most of his 19,248 points. His NBA career averages showed 20.1 points and 10.8 rebounds per game (and he smoked cigarettes at halftime).

* plus-13.9 — Percentage increase for the Gators from the free-throw line, thus far, compared to a season ago when they hit only 64.7 percent. At one point against Mercer, UF made 18 straight free throws.

* plus-33 — Advantage for Gators in points off turnovers thus far. UF has turned 43 opponents' turnovers into 46 points, while doing a decent job taking care of the ball with just 20 giveaways, including only seven against Florida Gulf Coast.

RANDOM THOUGHT

Once known as the Lakeland Civic Center, it was there that Ace Frehley, the lead guitarist of the (awful) rock band KISS, was nearly electrocuted during a concert on Dec. 12, 1976. Wiring has been updated since, presumably.

Gators Calendar

Pregame Stuff: Florida vs St. Bonaventure (Thursday, 7 pm)

Players Mentioned

KeVaughn Allen

Canyon Barry

Chris Chiozza

John Egbunu

Gorjok Gak

Eric Hester

Kasey Hill

Justin Leon

Devin Robinson

Keith Stone

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Pregame Stuff: Florida vs St. Bonaventure (Thursday, 7 pm)

Players Mentioned

KeVaughn Allen

Canyon Barry

Chris Chiozza

John Egbunu

Gorjok Gak

Eric Hester

Kasey Hill

Justin Leon

Devin Robinson

Keith Stone

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