Friday, February 3, 2017 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
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A nuts and bolts look at the Gators big SEC home date against the Wildcats.
By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer
No. 8 KENTUCKY at No. 24 FLORIDA
When: Friday, 8:15 p.m. (ET) Where: Exactech Arena/O'Connell Center, Gainesville, Fla. Records: Florida 17-5 (7-2), Kentucky 18-4 (8-1) TV: ESPN (Dan Shulman, Jay Bilas and Maria Taylor) Radio: Gator IMG Sports Network (Mick Hubert and Bill Koss)
STAKES (The Setup)
If you're going to the game, make sure to be in your seats for pre-game introductions.
As big a game as there will be in the Southeastern Conference this season. Kentucky comes to town in a two-way tie with South Carolina for first place in the league standings. Florida is in sole possession of third place, just one game back, and can grab a piece of that top spot with a win at home. ... The game has been sold out for weeks, with ESPN's "GameDay" crew in town for live broadcasts and analysis throughout the day. ... UF has won three straight, all by 30 points or more, including Thursday night's 93-56 drubbing of Missouri. UK dropped a pair of games last week (at Tennessee, for its first SEC loss of the season, then at home against No. 2 Kansas in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge), but got back on the winning side Tuesday night with an overtime victory against Georgia. ... Kentucky leads the all-time series 99-37, including five straight wins, with the the last coming March 1, 2016 at the O'Dome. In that one, "Senior Night" for UF forward Dorian Finney-Smith, UK guard Jamal Murray (the seventh pick in the 2016 NBA Draft, now with the Denver Nuggets) scored 21 points on 4-for-6 shooting from the 3-point line to lead the Cats to an 88-79 win, with forward Alex Poythress carding 12 points and 10 rebounds. Finney-Smith had 15 points and five rebounds in his final O'Dome appearance, while centerJohn Egbunu had a career-high 27 points in defeat.
Freshman guard Malik Monk is coming off a 37-point outburst against Georgia. In December, he bombed 47 points on North Carolina, a record for a freshman in Kentucky's storied history. His three games of at least 30 points are also a UK rookie record. He can flat-out fill it up, but obviously he's not the only one on the Wildcats roster capable of stuffing the box score. Just the most likely one. Monk, a McDonald's All-American from LaPanto, Ark., is a deadly shooter in transition and coming off screens. Though incredibly athletic, he's not going to do a bunch of driving to the hole, but instead is more apt to be floating around the perimeter and hunting shots. He's expected to draw Florida's Kasey Hill, the team's best on-ball defender, in the halfcourt, but Monk and UF's other guard, KeVaughn Allen, have some real history. The two met in the Arkansas Class 7A state championship game in 2014, with Allen scoring 28 points on his way to MVP honors and leading North Little Rock High to a 66-59 victory.
STUFF (Need-to-Know Info)
Chris ChiozzaABOUT THE GATORS: After a home loss two weeks ago against a Vanderbilt team that sank 10 shots from the 3-point line, Coach Mike Whitetook a serious tone with his team about defense. The Gators were giving up 49 percent shooting at the O'Dome and things were going to change. Period. So off UF went on a two-game road swing, where it won by 35 at LSU and by 32 at OU, then returned home Thursday for that 37-pointer against Mizzou. Over those three games, Florida opponents have shot a combined 33.8 percent overall and 20.3 percent from 3-point line, while also winning the rebound battle by an overall plus-43 margin. Amassing such dominating numbers against the last three opponents is one thing, however. Now comes the real measuring stick. ... In UF's three wins, three different players came front and center. At LSU, it was Devin Robinson with a career-high 24 points. At OU, backup center Kevarrius Hayes went for career highs of 20 points and nine rebounds. Against Mizzou, reserve point guard Chris Chiozza tallied just the fourth triple-double in UF history, finishing with 12 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists. Eight different Florida players have led the team in scoring this season, a testament to its balance and unselfishness. The Gators, though, are going to need some production from Allen, who is shooting 48.3 from the floor and 44.4 from deep in SEC play. ... Backup forward Canyon Barry (12.8 ppg) is averaging 14.1 points on 48-percent from the floor, 35 from the 3-point line and 90 from the free-throw line in SEC play -- and that includes a two-point game in his league debut at Arkansas. ... The Gators lead the SEC in turnovers forced (11.5 pg) and turnover margin (plus-4.3) and would be wise to keep within those numbers against the Wildcats in hopes of more scoring opportunities in transition. UF also needs to challenge UK inside, where Egbunu was a force in the O'Dome game last season (12-for-15 from the floor), but against an altogether different set of personnel. ... Florida has held all but two opponents (Duke and Florida State, both losses) under 80 points. Kentucky has been held to less than 80 only three times this
De'Arron Fox
season (by Michigan State, Louisville and Kansas, the latter two of them losses). ... ABOUT THE WILDCATS: Coach John Calipari's dynasty is now in its eighth season, with an overall record of 235-51 that includes a 103-26 mark in SEC play, with four regular-season titles, another four league tournament crowns, four Final Fours, a national championship (2012) and a staggering 21 first-round draft picks (with more on the way). ... Kentucky leads the SEC in eight major statistical categories, including scoring (91.3), field-goal percentage (.491), rebounding (40.8 pg) and offensive rebounding (14.3). ... As good as Monk is (and he's fabulous), the guy who makes the Wildcats go is freshman point guard De'Aaron Fox, a McDonald's All-American (yes, another one) who was held out of the Georgia game this week due with the flu. He's long, rangy, left-handed and a holy terror in transition. Unlike Monk, Fox can break down a defense, get to the rim and finish both strongly and with touch. He's shooting 48 percent from the floor, but is not a 3-point threat (7-for-41 for the season), yet Fox is capable of putting up big numbers in the scoring column (24 vs UNC, 27 vs Arkansas). ... Freshman center Edrice "Bam" Adebayo is UK's best post presence. He's tied for sixth in the SEC in rebounding, shoots 61.7 percent from the floor and has three double-doubles this season. ... Point guard Isaiah Briscoe is one of those rare McDonald's guys who opted to stick around for a second season. Good call, too. Briscoe does a lot of everything. He's shooting 48 percent from the floor and 36 from the 3-point line and earlier this season had a triple-double (19 points, 10 rebounds, 11 assists) in a blowout win at Ole Miss. He was two assists shy of another at Georgia (23 points, 11 rebounds, 8 assists). He's a physical player who likely will draw one of UF's front-court players on defense. ... UK has some depth, of course, starting up front with 6-9, 228-poundf Derek Willis (7.4 ppg, 4.6 rpg), a rare UK senior, who shoots 39 percent from the arc, plus sophomore 7-footer Isaac Humphries (3.5 ppg, 3.7 rpg). In the backcourt, 6-4 Mychal Mulder (6.5 ppg) is efficient on offense in hitting 46 percent and 27s treys this season at 39 percent. ... The Cats do have one other marquee guard on the roster in freshman Hamidou Diallo, who was rated the nation's No. 1 shooting guard prospect in the 2017 graduating class, but finished school in December and enrolled at UK in January. He's yet to appear in a game and is expected to sit out the season, though there's speculation in the Bluegrass that could change.
STATS (Some Numbers of Note)
Canyon Barry* .300 — Kentucky's 3-point field-goal percentage in losses, compared to 37.2 in its wins. The Gators need to be on-guard at the arc.
* 5 — Times ESPN has brought its "GameDay" set to UF, which is only matched by Duke, Kansas, Kentucky for the most visits to a campus.
* 9 —Years of Division I college basketball since a player came off the bench and carded a triple-double -- until Chiozza did it Thursday. The last to do so was Chris Lowe, point guard from Massachusetts, with 14 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds in a 100-63 defeat of LaSalle on March 5, 2008.
* plus-18.0 — Average margin of victory for Kentucky, which leads the SEC and ranks fourth in the nation.
* 24 — Consecutive free throws made by Barry, dating back seven games. His last miss came Jan. 7, in the second half of the Tennessee game, when he went 6-for-8 from the line. Barry is shooting 88.2 percent for the season.
STATEMENT (Random thought)
Without a doubt, this is the biggest Florida home game since Kentucky rolled in March 8, 2014 for the regular-season finale and "Senior Day" sendoff for Patric, Scottie, Casey and Will, one of the all-time memorable moments in O'Dome history (and an 84-65 victory).
