Pregame Stuff: No. 8 Florida vs North Florida (Thursday, 7 pm)

No. 8 FLORIDA vs NORTH FLORIDA

When: Thursday, 7 p.m. (ET)
Where: Exactech Arena/O'Connell Center, Gainesville, Fla.
Records: Florida 1-0, North Florida 0-3
TV: SEC Network (Dave Neal and Jon Sundvold)
Radio: Gator IMG Sports Network (Mick Hubert and Mark Wise)

STAKES (The Setup)

The Gators, ranked eighth in the nation by The Associated Press, are back home for the second of three straight games at Exactech Arena/O'Connell Center to open the 2017-18 season. UF crushed Gardner-Webb 116-75 in Monday night's opener, setting a record for most points scored in a first game of a season. ... After facing a team from the Big South Conference, now UF gets the Ospreys from the Atlantic Sun, a foe the Gators are very familiar with, based on recent seasons. Florida leads the all-time series 6-0, a perfect mark that includes two straight wins at the UNF Arena. ... Two seasons ago, UF thrashed UNF 97-68 in first-round play of the NIT, a so-called home game for the Gators because the O'Dome had just begun its renovations. Last year, Florida again went to Jacksonville, only this time for a true home game, and again bombed the Ospreys. That final was 91-60, as all 11 scholarship players who checked into the game got in the scoring colum. Point guard Chris Chiozza led the way with 16 points and nine assists. Forwards Justin Leon and Devin Robinson chipped in 13 and 12 points, respectively, as the Gators shot 58.7 percent from the floor and made nine of 19 shots from the 3-point line.

STARTERS (Probable Lineups)

FLORIDA	Pos.	Ht.	Wt.	Class	Per Game
Egor Koulechov	F	6-5	205	G-Transfer	34.0 pts / 5.0 reb / 5 ast
Keith Stone	F	6-8	245	R-Sophomore	3.0 pts / 2.0 reb
Kevarrius Hayes	C	6-9	225	Junior	7.0 pts / 4.0 reb / 2.0 blk
KeVaughn Allen	G	6-2	193	Junior	9.0 pts / 5.0 reb
Chris Chiozza	PG	6-0	180	Senior	5.0 pts / 6.0 reb / 6.0 ast

NORTH FLORIDA	Pos.	Ht.	Wt.	Class	Per Game
Garrett Sams	F	6-6	190	Sophomore	16.0 pts / 7.3 reb
Wajid Aminu	F	6-7	181	Sophomore	9.7 pts / 8.7 reb
Noah Horchler	F	6-9	218	Sophomore	6.3 pts / 5.7 reb
J.T. Escobar	G	6-2	180	R-Sophomore	13.0 pts / 1.7 reb
Ivan Gandia-Rosa	G	6-1	185	Sophomore	15.0 pts / 4.3 ast

STANDING OUT (One to Watch)

STUFF (Need-to-Know Info)

ABOUT THE GATORS: They only have one game to go by, but "Wow!" With Koulechov going nuts, UF shot 58 percent from the floor, buried 15 of 29 shots from the 3-point arc and 21 of 27 free throws. Along the way, the Gators shared the ball well, with 26 assists, and also protected it with just eight turnovers. ... Junior shooting guard KeVaughn Allen had just nine points, but also tallied five rebounds, three assists from his backup point guard spot, plus added a block and steal. ... Chiozza did not start against GWU after missing nine days of practice with a shoulder sprain. It took just 99 seconds for him to check into the game and look like his stunningly quick and efficient self over 26 minutes on his way to dishing six assists and turning the ball over only once. ... Jalen Hudson, the transfer wing from Virginia Tech, put in 11 of his 16 points in the second half and hit six of his eight field-goal tries, including three of five from deep. ... The situation at the power forward position bears watching, as UF's coaches look for consistency from third-year sophomore Keith Stone and freshman Chase Johnson, who had nine points and two rebounds off the bench against the Runnin' Bulldogs. Both have had their struggles with defense and some of that showed up again Monday. ... Freshman point guard Mike Okauru had an impressive, 13-point debut in going 3-for-4 from the floor, hitting both 3-point shots and five of seven free throws, to go with four assists and two turnovers in 16 minutes. ... ABOUT THE OSPREYS: They're now in their eighth season under Coach Matt Driscoll, with a 133-131 record, including Atlantic Sun championships in both 2014 and 2015, plus the league tournament title and NCAA berth in '15. ... Last season, UNF went 15-19, then had to say goodbye to score-first point guard Dallas Moore, who averaged nearly 24 points a game, shot 49 percent from the floor and 40 from the arc. Moore hung 31 on the Gators in their game last season ... The Ospreys' three losses have come at No. 2 Michigan State (by 32), at Michigan (by 20) and Monday night at Virginia Commonwealth (by 10). ... Under Driscoll, the program has embraced its "Birds of Trey" nickname and reputation -- the Ospreys led the nation in 3s two seasons ago -- and is averaging 28 attempts per game thus far. ... UNF's top three scorers are swingman Garrett Sams, plus guards Ivan Gandia-Rosa and JT Escobar, who sat out last season after transferring from Ole Miss. All three shoot at least 47.8 percent from the 3-point line, with Escobar at 57.9 percent, thanks to 11-for-19 to date. ... As a team, the Ospreys are shooting 3s at nearly 44 percent, but just 39 percent overall from the field, while opponents are shooting 51.5 percent and scoring at 93 points per game. Defense is not their strength.

STATS (Some Numbers of Note)

* 0 — Starts for Chiozza the last two seasons, a remarkable stat considering Chiozza's 106 career games rank first among active SEC players. Look for him to be in the first five on the floor against the Ospreys.

* 4 — Players who hit double-figure scoring for UF vs GWU. All four were playing their first game as Gators.

* 7 — Rebounds grabbed by sophomore backup center Gorjok Gak against Gardner-Webb, a career high, in just 12 minutes. The 6-foot-11, 245-pounder also blocked a couple shots and hit two of his four field-goal tries. His Year 1-to-Year 2 development could be one of the key storylines for this team as the season rolls on.

* 19.6 — Turnovers averaged by North Florida through their first three games. Anything close to that number will produce a transition fest for the Gators.

* 33.5 — Average margin of victory in Gators' six wins in their series against the Ospreys. The closest game was a 77-69 UF win at the O'Dome on Nov. 8, 2013 against a Florida team that eventually went to the 2014 Final Four.

STATEMENT (Random thought)

Sure is nice to have home games in November, huh?

Gators Calendar

Pregame Stuff: No. 8 Florida vs North Florida (Thursday, 7 pm)

Players Mentioned

KeVaughn Allen

Chris Chiozza

Gorjok Gak

Kevarrius Hayes

Jalen Hudson

Chase Johnson

Egor Koulechov

Justin Leon

Mike Okauru

Devin Robinson

Keith Stone

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Pregame Stuff: No. 8 Florida vs North Florida (Thursday, 7 pm)

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Players Mentioned

KeVaughn Allen

Chris Chiozza

Gorjok Gak

Kevarrius Hayes

Jalen Hudson

Chase Johnson

Egor Koulechov

Justin Leon

Mike Okauru

Devin Robinson

Keith Stone

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