Pregame Shootaround: NIT -- Florida at North Florida (Tuesday, 9 pm)
Monday, March 14, 2016 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
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The Gators are making their 10th trip to the NIT; their first since 2009.
By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer
FLORIDA at NORTH FLORIDA NATIONAL INVITATIONAL TOURNAMENT
When: Tuesday, 9 p.m. (ET) Where: UNF Arena, Jacksonville, Fla. Records: Florida (19-14), North Florida (22-11) TV: ESPNU (with Mike Morgan and Paul Biancardi) Radio: Gator IMG Sports Network (with Mick Hubert and Mark Wise). Check for availability here.
STAKES, STARS AND STATS
>>> Background: Florida is in the NIT for 10th time in program history and the first time since the 2009 season. The Gators are 11-11 all-time in the event, including a 4-5 mark in the first round and a 2-2 record on the road. ... UF is a No. 2 seed in the event, while UNF, the regular season champion of the Atlantic Sun Conference, is a No. 7 seed. ... The Gators hold a 4-0 record in their series with the Ospreys, with November wins in 2006, '07, '11 and most recently in '13 when Casey Prather scored 28 points and Michael Frazier II had 19 points and nine rebounds in a 77-69 win to open what eventually turned into a Final Four-bound season. All four of the previous meetings were at the O'Connell Center, so a visit by the state's flagship university to the 5,800-seat UNFL campus venue figures to be a really big deal to the small school on the south end of Jacksonville. ... Florida coach Mike White is 5-3 in NIT games, dating to three trips with Louisiana Tech, where his teams defeated the likes of Florida State, Georgia and Texas A&M on the road, but never made it to the semifinals in New York.
Kasey Hill>>> About the Gators: Florida is coming off a two-game run through the Southeastern Conference Tournament, where it defeated Arkansas in second-round play and lost a tough one in the quarterfinals to league regular-season co-champion Texas A&M. That game was tied with just over two minutes left when the Aggies scored seven straight points to put the game away and dash any long-shot hopes for the Gators as far as the NCAA Tournament goes. IA&M shot just 39.4 percent for the game and connected on a mere four of 16 shots from the 3-point line, but once again some good Gators defense was undermined by unproductive offense: 38.7 from the floor, just 3-for-19 from deep (.158). ... Whatever turns out to be UF's final game this season also will be the final game for fifth-year senior forward Dorian Finney-Smith (14.8 ppg, 8.2 rpg), who's gone six straight games without a double-double, coming one rebound shy in each of the last two games. "Doe-Doe" needs 12 points to hit 500 for the season.The last Gator to do that was Prather, who tallied 511 in his All-SEC senior season of 2013-14. ... Sophomore center John Egbunu (11.4 ppg, 6.4 rpg) is questionable for the game due to the torn ligament suffered in his right thumb at practice last week. Egbunu played and was effective beyond expectation in the SEC tourney, converting on seven of eight field goal attempts, plus five of seven free throws, and grabbing 15 rebounds. Egbunu did make the trip, but whether the 6-11, 250-pounder can play is uncertain given the nature of the injury and the need to undergo surgery sooner rather than later. Look for freshman Kevarrius Hayes (2.1 ppg, 2.5 rpg) to get a chunk of Egbunu's minutes. He started both SEC Tournament games, with Egbunu coming off the bench. ... Junior guard Kasey Hill had the best back-to-back games of his career in Nashville. He scored 18 points in both tournament games, converting on 12 of 17 shots, plus 11 of 18 free throws. The scoring production, though, came at the expense of his playmaking, with seven assists versus five turnovers, but Hill was one of the few UF players (along with Egbunu) who provided some offensive consistency. ... Freshman shooting guard KeVaughn Allen (11.4 ppg, 2.7 rpg) has four straight games in double figures, but has hit just 28.2 percent over that stretch -- and just 24.6 over the previous six games. Allen is just 7-for-32 from the 3-point arc over the last seven games (.219).
Dallas Moore >>> About the Ospreys: UNF was an automatic qualifier to the NIT because it won its conference regular-season title. The Ospreys, though, missed out on the A-Sun's automatic NCAA berth when they were obliterated 89-56 by Florida Gulf Coast in the league tournament title game. ... UNF has played several high- and mid-major opponents, defeating 93-81 Illinois in its season opener, but losing to Louisville, LSU, Dayton and Arkansas all by double-digits. Those games, though, were either on the road or at neutral sites. ... As far as common opponents (outside the SEC), the Ospreys went 3-1 against FGCU and Jacksonville, whereas the Gators went 2-0 against those two teams, defeating FGCU 70-50 and JU 89-65. ... North Florida averages 84.8 points per game and does the overwhelming percentage of its damage from the 3-point line. The Ospreys' 402 made 3s rank No. 1 in the nation. Of their 2,010 field-goal attempts this season, 977 of them were 3s. That's 48.6 percent. Oh, and they also convert them at 41.1 percent, which isn't great news for a Florida defense that was one of the worst in the SEC at allowing the long ball (.345). ... UNF has four players with at least 55 3-pointers (for context, Florida has one), led by 6-3 guard Trent Mackey (12.1 ppg), who's made 107 at 46.3-percent efficiency. Forward Beau Beach (15.4 ppg, 3.9 rpg), who had 16 in the game at the O'Dome three seasons ago, has made 96 3s at 42.7 percent. ... The team's leading scorer is 6-1 point guard Dallas Moore (19.7 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 6.1 apg), out of St. Petersburg Boca Ciega, who is shooting nearly 52 percent from the floor and 39.5 from deep. ... If the Ospreys, who have started the same five in all 33 of their games, have any glaring weakness it's on the defensive end. Their mad-bombing ways leave them exposed in transition defense. UNF opponents shot 46.2 percent. The Gators need to take advantage of their open-floor opportunities, as well as with their substantial size and athleticism edge inside.
SOME NUMBERS OF NOTE
KeVaughn Allen* .530 -- Florida's winning percentage over the last two seasons, based on a 35-31 record.
* 9 - Players on the UNF roster from the state of Florida.
* 21 -- Twenty-win seasons in UF history. The Gators have won at least 20 games in 16 of the previous 17 seasons (the lone exception last year's 16-17 mark). Doing so would make White the second Florida coach to hit the 20-win milestone in his first Gators season, joining Tommy Bartlett, who went 21-4 in 1966-67.
* 35.3 -- Average margin of victory by the Gators in the series, which includes that eight-point win three seasons ago. In the other three games, UF smashed UNF by 46, 51 and 36 points, respectively.
* 173 -- How many more 3-pointers the Ospreys have made than the Gators this season.
WATCH FOR IT
An incredibly rowdy (if not hostile) environment. Worth noting: They serve beer at UNF home games. What more needs to be said?
FLORIDA at NORTH FLORIDA
