Pregame Stuff: Ole Miss at No. 24 Florida (Tuesday, 7 pm)

OLE MISS at No. 25 FLORIDA

When: Tuesday, 7 p.m. (ET)
Where: Exactech Arena/O'Connell Center, Gainesville, Fla.
Records: Florida 10-3 (0-1), Ole Miss 9-4 (0-1)
TV: ESPNU (Mike Couzens and Brooke Weisbrod)
Radio: Gator IMG Sports Network (Mick Hubert and Mark Wise)

STAKES (The Setup)

Kevarrius Hayes (13) jumped center for the Gators for the historic opening tipoff in the renovated O'Dome last month.

Florida is coming off its biggest road win of Coach Mike White's two seasons, an 81-72 victory at Arkansas in Thursday night's Southeastern Conference opener, a game the Gators controlled for nearly two-thirds of the action. Now, White's team wants to ride that momenum into its home opener in league play -- and the first game in the renovated Exactech Arena/O'Connell Center with the student body back on campus and the Rowdy Reptiles in the house. ... Florida is 64-45 all-time series against Mississippi, where White was a four-year starting point guard during the 1990s. Those numbers include a sweep of last year's home-and-home series, when UF went to Oxford and won 80-71 behind 27 points from freshman guard KeVaughn Allen, then took a 77-72 decision when the two teams played in Gainesville on Feb. 9, 2016. In that one, center John Egbunu scored 14 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, while senior forward Dorian Finney-Smith went for 16 points, as the Gators saw the last of high-scoring, quick-trigger Rebels guard Stefan Moody (20 points). ... UF is 37-12 vs. Ole Miss all-time at home. ... The two teams play only once during the conference regular season.

STARTERS (Probable Lineups)

Florida	Pos.	Ht.	Wt.	Class	Per Game
Devin Robinson	F	6-8	200	Junior	12.8 pts / 5.9 reb
Justin Leon	F	6-8	206	Senior	6.5 pts / 3.4 reb
Kevarrius Hayes	C	6-9	220	Sophomore	5.7 pts / 3.9 reb
KeVaughn Allen	G	6-2	183	Sophomore	14.2 pts / 2.2 reb
Kasey Hill	PG	6-1	175	Senior	9.4 pts / 2.2 asts

Ole Miss	Pos.	Ht.	Wt.	Class	Per Game
Marcanvis Hymon	F	6-7	220	Junior	3.8 pts / 4.2 reb
Sebastian Saiz	F	6-9	240	Senior	15.8 pts / 12.2 reb
Deandre Burnett	G	6-2	191	Junior	19.2 pts / 3.0 asts
Cullen Neal	G	6-4	191	Junior	11.3 pts / 3.5 reb
Terence Davis	G	6-4	201	Sophomore	12.3 pts / 5.5 reb

STANDING OUT (One to Watch)

Ole Miss forward **Sebastian Saiz**, out of Madrid, Spain, is averaging a double-double. That's phenomenal. He ranks third in the nation in rebounds at 12.2 per game, making him one of just three players in NCAA Division I averaging at least 12 rebounds, and is just one of only two averaging a double-double with at least 12 boards. Saiz is long and active in the paint. Runs the floor well, too. As a junior last season, he suffered an eye injury that led to a detached retina and forced him to wear dark, protective eyeware while playing. He finished the year averaging 11.7 points and 8.7 rebounds while shooting 49 percent from the floor. As a senior, Saiz is up to 52.3 percent from the floor and 74.4 at the free-throw line. He's also a threat from the 3-point line (9-for-26, 36.6 percent).

STUFF (Need-to-Know Info)

ABOUT THE GATORS: Though Allen stole the show at Arkansas with 21 points in his home state homecoming, forward Devin Robinson played what may have been the finest all-around game of his career, scoring 17 points, grabbing seven rebounds and blocking three shots in a difficult environment. Those are the types of numbers he's put up consistently against mid-majors (like the 21 he carded against Arkansas-Little Rock the game before), and they're the kind the Gators need him to put up against league foes if the team is going to be as good as it can be. ... Now, regarding Allen. Over the last five games, he's averaged 17 points and shot 50 percent from both the floor (31-62) and 3-point line (16-32). He's also playing with a very high level of confidence, which is great for the UF offense. ... The Florida coaches were ecstatic with the performance turned in against the Razorbacks by point guard Kasey Hill. Not so much because of eye-popping stats -- Hill scored 10 points on just 4-for-12 shooting to go with two rebounds, six assists and four turnovers) -- but with the way he ran and led the team. ... In starting the last three games, center Kevarrius Hayes has averaged 10.1 points and 6.0 rebounds, while shooting 80 percent. His consistency, demeanor and the way he goes about his craft belies his age and experience. ... ABOUT THE REBELS: This is their 11th season under Coach Andy Kennedy and that makes him the dean of all SEC coaches, with a 221-130 overal mark there, two NCAA Tournament appearances (2013 and '14) and five trips to the NIT. ... Ole Miss has played some pretty good teams to date, with all four of its losses coming to opponents ranked in the RPI Top 50 (Creighton and Middle Tennessee on neutral floors, at Virginia Tech, and home against Kentucky in the Rebels' SEC opener) ... Guard Deandre Burnett, who sat out last season after transferring from Miami (Fla.), ranks third in the league in scoring. He's a volume shooter at 13 shots per game. So far, Burnett has made just 36 percent of his field goals, but he's 29-for-78 from the arc (37.2 percent) and has a knack of drawing contact and getting to the free-throw line, where he's 91.1 percent for the season. The former Miami Gardens High product has some decent bloodlines, too. His half-brother plays football at Florida State. His name is Dalvin Cook. ... The Rebels lead the SEC in rebounding margin (plus-6.3) and free throws made per game (19.9), but they're last in scoring defense (77.5 points pg) and next-to-last in shooting percentage from the floor (42.8).

STATS (Some Numbers of Note)

4 — Seasons White worked under Kennedy as an assistant at Mississippi, helping groom a path to that first head-coaching post at Louisiana Tech, where White remained for four seasons before coming to Florida.
11 — Rebounds by Egbunu in just 16 minutes of action at Arkansas. It was his first game back after missing two with a hamstring injury.
45.7 — UF forward Justin Leon's 3-point shooting percentage, which leads the team. He doesn't take a lot of 'em (16 of 35 for the year), but he has a knack for finding the open space and making himself available for teammates on the deep perimeter. Leon led the Gators from the arc last year at 37.3 percent, so he's gotten better from out there.
66.7 — Florida backup forward Keith Stone's 3-point percentage over the last seven games. Since missing the first six long-ball attempts of his career, the redshirt freshman "stretch-4" has made six of nine from deep while playing 17 minutes a game.
2,200 — Rowdy Reptiles expected for their first game at the O'Dome, compared to the 100 or so who were there for the Arkansas-Little Rock game.

STATEMENT (Random thought)

Welcome back, students. Pretty sure you're going to like the new digs.

Gators Calendar

Pregame Stuff: Ole Miss at No. 24 Florida (Tuesday, 7 pm)

Players Mentioned

KeVaughn Allen

John Egbunu

Dorian Finney-Smith

Kevarrius Hayes

Kasey Hill

Justin Leon

Devin Robinson

Keith Stone

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Pregame Stuff: Ole Miss at No. 24 Florida (Tuesday, 7 pm)

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Players Mentioned

KeVaughn Allen

John Egbunu

Dorian Finney-Smith

Kevarrius Hayes

Kasey Hill

Justin Leon

Devin Robinson

Keith Stone

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