Pregame Stuff: Florida vs Charlotte (Saturday, 4 pm)

Friday, December 16, 2016 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry

A nuts and bolts look at UF's trip to South Florida to face the 49ers in the Orange Bowl Classic.

By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer

FLORIDA vs CHARLOTTE
(MetroPCS Orange Bowl Classic)

When: Saturday, 4 p.m. (ET)
Where: BB&T Center, Sunrise, Fla.
Records: Florida 7-3, Charlotte 6-3
TV: FS2 and Fox Sports Sun (Justin Kutcher, Bob Wenzel and Jessica Blaylock)
Radio: Gator IMG Sports Network (Mick Hubert and Mark Wise)

STAKES (The Setup)

BB&T Center in Sunrise, Fla., is home to the NHL Florida Panthers.

The Gators are back in the Orange Bowl Classic for the 10th straight year and 18th time in the event's 21-year history. UF is 15-2 all-time in the OBC, with six straight wins, including last December's 72-70 defeat of Oklahoma State, behind 16 points and nine rebounds from Dorian Finney-Smith. ... This will mark the last of Florida's 11 straight neutral site/road games, what with the renovated Exactech Arena/O'Connell Center set to open Wednesday night against Arkansas-Little Rock. The Gators will fly to South Florida, then bus the six hours back to Gainesville after the game (their last best trip for a while). ... UF and UNCC has played five times, with the Gators holding a 3-2 edge. That includes a 73-52 win in the last meeting, which happened to take place in the 2001 Orange Bowl Classic. Udonis Haslem had 22 points and 13 rebounds in that one, while Matt Bonner had 14 points. Defensively, Florida forced 23 turnovers and held UNCC to just 27 percent from the floor. .... UF coach Mike White went 3-0 vs Charlotte during his days at Louisiana Tech when the two teams both played in Conference USA. ... As customary the last few years, the UF game will be part of a double-header with Florida State. The Seminoles will play Manhattan in the early game.

STARTERS (Probable Lineups)

Florida	Pos.	Ht.	Wt.	Class	Per Game
Devin Robinson	F	6-8	200	Junior	11.3 pts / 5.4 reb
Justin Leon	F	6-8	206	Senior	7.4 pts / 3.4 reb
John Egbunu	C	6-11	255	R-Junior	9.0 pts / 7.7 reb / 2.4 blx
KeVaughn Allen	G	6-2	183	Sophomore	13.6 pts / 2.0 reb
Kasey Hill	PG	6-1	175	Senior	9.5 pts / 2.1 rebs / 4.1 asts

UNCC	Pos.	Ht.	Wt.	Class	Per Game
Anthony Vanhook	F	6-4	225	Senior	10.3 pts / 6.3 reb
Reid Aube	F	6-7	223	Senior	1.0 pt / 2.7 reb
Braxton Ogbueze	G	6-1	185	R-Senior	13.2 pts / 2.6 reb
Andrien White	G	6-3	185	Sophomore	12.1 pts / 4.1 reb
Jon Davis	G	6-3	195	Sophomore	20.3 pts / 3.6 reb

STANDING OUT (One to Watch)

**Braxton Ogbueze**, out of Charlotte, was the top-rated player in **Billy Donovan's** 2012 freshman class; the No. 5 point guard nationally by *Scout.com* and 50th best prospect in the nation by *ESPN.com*. At UF, though, Ogbueze faced a logjam at at the point guard spot, with two years left behind **Scottie Wilbekin** and McDonald's All-American **Kasey Hill** on the way. After playing mostly wipe-up minutes in 23 games as a freshman -- finishing with 19 points, 13 rebounds and six assists -- Ogbueze transferred back home, sat out the '13-14 season per NCAA rules and was the 49ers' best player the last two seasons. At UNCC, he's averaged 12.2 points and 2.3 rebounds and 2.0 assists over 74 games (with 73 starts), including 40.4 percent shooting from the floor and 41.3 from the 3-point line. Now the team's second-leading scorer, he had a career-high 28 points in a loss earlier this season to USC-Upstate and is coming off a 20-point performance when he went 6-for-10 from the arc in a 94-71 loss at Wake Forest. Ogbueze has evolved away from a point guard (just 1.2 assists per game) to more of a physical, scoring combo guard. He needs 96 points to reach 1,000 for his UNCC career.

STUFF (Miscellaneous Info)

ABOUT THE GATORS: UF has lost two straight, both against Atlantic Coast Conference teams ranked in the Top 25. The Gators dropped an 84-74 decision to No. 5 Duke in the Jimmy V Classic in New York last week, then fell 83-78 on the road at Florida State, which moved into the rankings after that win. Throw in Gonzaga, currently No. 8, and all of UF's losses have come against ranked foes. ... Hill had a pretty good week against two outstanding teams. With his career-high 21 points on 10-for-15 shooting against FSU, Hill averaged 17 points and five assists in the two games. He's also maintained his improvement at the free throw line, where he's 76.3 percent this season. He had just three assists and five turnovers against the Seminoles, but it's tough to get assists when frontcourt guys are struggling to put the ball in the basket. ... After starting the season just 5-for-20 from the floor (25 percent) through the first two games, KeVaughn Allen has put in 45 of his last 93 shots. That's 48.3 percent. And he's doing it in a variety of ways, with aggressive attacks of the rim, as well as 38 percent from the 3-point line. Allen also leads the Gators in free-throw shooting (87.5 percent). ... Forward Devin Robinson hovered around his per-game numbers against Duke and FSU, but even he would admit his play was pretty quiet against two of the best teams UF has faced this season. Look for Robinson to pick up his energy and productivity heading into the Southeastern Conference season. He'll need to. ... Forward Justin Leon remains the team's best from 3-point

range (51.9 percent), but Leon only got off a combined three attempts the last two games. ... Backup point guard Chris Chiozza has scored 24 points over his previous five games, but 16 came against North Florida. He suffered a bruised quad against Duke, though, and is not completely pain free yet. ... The UF support staff has ties to UNCC. Strength and conditioning coordinator Preston Greene held the same post there from 2003-08 and Kyle Church, director of basketball operations, was a popular walk-on there from 2006-10.... ABOUT THE 49ERS: They went 14-19 last season, including 9-9 in Conference USA, in what was the program's first year under former NBA all-star point guard Mark Price. ... UNCC had won three straight, including a defeat of Pac-12 opponent Oregon State, before the loss at Wake Forest. That was Dec. 6, so this will mark the 49ers' first game in 11 days. ... They're scoring 80.6 points per game, but also giving up 79.9, allowing opponents to shoot nearly 46-percent from the floor and 37 from the 3-point line. The 49ers are not a big team, with their tallest starter at 6-7. That's why they're a minus-7.9 average on the glass. UNCC grabs just 8.8 offensive rebounds per game, compared to 12.6 for the Gators. ... Charlotte's top scorer is sophomore Jon Davis, who was named to the C-USA All-Freshman Team last season. Davis has topped the 20-point mark five times, with a high of 28 in the season opener against Division II Newberry (S.C.).

STATS (Some Numbers of Note)

* minus-16.2 — Dip in field-goal percentage from last season to this one for UF center John Egbunu. He shot 59.1 percent during 2015-16 would have ranked second in the SEC, but he did not average the minimum five made field goals per game. In '16-17, Egbunu is at 42.9 percent, just 30-for-70 from the floor.

* 0 — Members of UF's nationally ranked, four-man 2012-13 freshman class that rode out all four seasons with the Gators. Aside from Ogbueze, both guard Dillon Graham (Embry-Riddle) and forward DeVon Walker (Troy) transferred, while shooting guard Michael Frazier II turned pro after his junior year. Frazier went undrafted and is now playing in the D-League.

* 9.0 —UF reserve wing Canyon Barry's 3-point percentage over the last five games. Barry is UF's third-leading scorer (10.9 ppg), but he's shooting just 38.7 percent from the floor and 24.2 from the arc.

* 17 — Consecutive non-home games for the Gators, dating back to the SEC Tournament in Nashville last March. Think about that (and the accompanying bus rides).

* 34 — Percentage of home games for White in his two UF seasons. His 47 games break down like so: 17 road, 16 home, 14 neutral site.

STATEMENT (Random Thought)

Who else can't wait for Exactech Arena/O'Connell Center doors to open? But here's a question: "O'Dome" or "E'Dome?" You decide.