Pregame Stuff: Florida vs Florida State (Monday, 9 pm)
Sunday, December 3, 2017 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
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A nuts and bolts look at the Gators' home date against the rival Seminoles in the latest "Sunshine State Showdown."
By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer
No. 6 FLORIDA vs FLORIDA STATE "Fresh From Florida Sunshine Showdown"
When: Monday, 9 p.m. (EST) Where: Exactech Arena/O'Connell Center, Gainesville, Fla. Records: Florida 5-1, Florida State 6-0 TV: ESPN2 (Tom Hart and Sean Farnham) Radio: Gator IMG Sports Network (Mick Hubert and Mark Wise)
STAKES (The Setup)
After three games on the other side on the country, the Gators are back home Monday night against the rival Seminoles.
The Gators are back in action after a week to decompress from the long trip to the Pacific Northwest and the prestigious PK80 Invitational at Portland, Ore. UF acquitted itself nicely out there, but left with something of an empty feeling after blowing a 10-point lead in the final four minutes and losing to No. 1 Duke in the "Motion" bracket championship game. ... Florida leads the all-time series against Florida State 43-24, including a 21-7 mark at home, but FSU has won three straight to match their longest win streak against its cross-state rival. Obviously, the Gators don't want to see a first-time four-game losing skid. ... The Seminoles won last year's meeting 83-78 in Tallahassee behind 24 points from Dwayne Bacon. The Gators got 21 points from senior point guard Kasey Hill, but finished just 4-for-16 from the 3-point line and were outscored 25-12 at the free-throw line. That FSU team went on to finish 26-9 and got a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament, only to lose in the second round. Two players from that squad are now in the NBA: Jonathan Issac (Orlando Magic) and Bacon (New Orleans Pelicans) ... UF coach Mike White is 2-5 vs. Atlantic Coast Conference opponents, with all but the 2015 visit from the Seminoles, a 73-71 loss, coming on the road or at neutral-court sites.
STARTERS (Probable Lineups)
Terance Mann is a tweener, but in size only. The 2015 New Hampshire Gatorade Player of the Year plays more like a big guard -- and at 6-6, 215, will likely be matched against one -- especially on the glass, and with as much energy as anyone on the floor. He's the Seminoles' leading scorer, tops their starters in rebounds and is second in assists. In FSU's win over UF last year, he bullied his way to a double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds. During the Seminoles' 2016-17 season that ended in the NCAA Tournament, Mann shot 57.6 percent from the floor, which was 18th-best in school history. This year, he's at a whopping 66.6 percent. Mann is not a 3-point shooter (just four of 14 attempts on this season), and doesn't live at the free-throw line (just 8-for-13, thus far). His numbers may not be eye-popping, but Mann (and his intangibles) will be all over the floor.
STUFF (Need-to-Know Info)
Deaundrae Ballard (24).ABOUT THE GATORS: They spent the week reviewing not just went wrong in those last four minutes in Oregon, but making low-post defense an even bigger point of emphasis after Stanford, 17th-ranked Gonzaga and No. 1 Duke shoved the UF front court around over the three-game PK80. Florida, though, won two of the three games by scoring points on top of points, and at week's end led the nation in points per game at 99.5. The Gators are shooting 48.8 percent as a team, 46 percent from the 3-point arc and 78.3 from the free-throw line. ... Jalen Hudson, the wing transfer from Virginia Tech, was named Southeastern Conference Player of the Week after averaging 25.3 points at the PK80. Hudson is hitting field goals at a 55-percent clip, 3s at 48.7 percent, and leads the nation in individual offensive efficiency at 1.33 points per possession. Hudson's digits make a strong case for the Gators to continue with their "small-ball" lineup of basically four guards, but making it paramount to get production from whoever is playing the "5" spot. The three-headed combination of Keith Stone, 6-9 Kevarrius Hayes and 6-11 Gorjok Gak averaged just 10.3 points and 6.3 rebounds over the three games in Portland. ... White has called forward Egor Koulechov, at just 6-5, the team's best low-post defender to date. Though he struggled shooting vs. Gonzaga (1-9 from the floor, 4 points), he bounced back nicely with 15 points and six rebounds against Duke. ... Those SEC honors that went to Hudson just as easily could have gone to point guard Chris Chiozza, who averaged 17.7 points, 5.6 rebounds and 9.3 assists in PK80 action, while playing a collection of maladies (bruised ribs and elbow, shoulder strain, quad cramps). ... Shooting guard KeVaughn Allen went west averaging 10.3 points and came back averaging 13.5, but was just 6-for-19 from the 3-point line. His turn for a big game is coming, though. ... What to do with backup freshman wing Deaudrae Ballard (8.3 ppg)? In the three Portland games, he went 10-for-16 from the floor, including 3-for-3 vs. Duke, was more selective with his offensive aggression, played solid defense and gained trust from his coaches. Unfortunately for Ballard, he's the fifth guard on a perimeter-heavy team. ... ABOUT THE SEMINOLES: They're in the 16th season under Coach Leonard Hamilton, who has gone 488-406, with one ACC title, five NCAA Tournament and seven NIT berths since
Christ Koumadje (21) swats UF's Dorian Finney-Smith in 2015.
coming to Tallahassee in 2002. Hamilton is 7-8 vs. UF, and has two of the three all-time three-game winning streaks in the series, with a chance at the first four-game run for the Seminoles in series history. ... FSU is trying to go to 7-0 for the first time since 2011, having won its first six by an average of 20 points, with wins over George Washington, Kennesaw State and the Citadel at home, on a neutral floor against Fordham and Colorado State at the Jamaica Classic in Montego Bay, and Tuesday's road defeat of Rutgers. The five-point victory over the Scarlett Knights was by far the closest margin of the season. ... The Seminoles will be without 7-foot-4, 233-pound center Christ Koumadje (7.0 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 3.6 bpg), who is expected to miss several weeks with a lower body injury. Koumadje, the tallest player in FSU history, was not a box-score stuffer, but a rim-protector and deterrent to drive the basketball. ... As a team, the Seminoles are shooting 51.7 percent from the floor and nearly 36 percent from the 3-point line, while holding opponents to just 37.5 and 30.0 in the two categories, respectively. ... The way low-post scorers have thrived against the Gators thus far, keep a close eye on power forward Phil Cofer, who not only is doing work down low (64.2 percent), but has also proved efficient from distance (6-for-12) and gets to the free-throw line. ... Backup freshman guard M.J. Walker (7.8 ppg, 11-for-23 from 3-pt line) is a 6-5, 205-pounder and 2017 McDonald's American, but he's the second-best Walker on the team. That title goes to point guard C.J. Walker, who had a big night (24 points) Tuesday against Rutgers. ... Seven-foot, 240-pound freshman center Mifiondu Kabengele (11 ppg, 6.0 rpg) and junior guard P.J. Savoy (5.8 ppg) give FSU two solid backups on each line.
STATS (Some Numbers of Note)
* .800 — Free-throw percentage of UF opponents this season, based on 104-for-130. That's incredible. It also contributed heavily to Duke's win Sunday night, as the Blue Devils went 19-for-20, with power forward Marvin Bagley III, a 51-percenter going into the game, finishing 9-for-10.
KeVaughn Allen* 5.7 — Chiozza's per-game rebound average, which at 6-feet tall (maybe) ranks second on the team only to Koulechov's 7.0. In fairness to the UF front court, it's doing a decent job of boxing out and Chiozza is taking advantage by crashing the glass, negating the need for an outlet pass and initiating transition offense himself.
* 117 — Florida's current position in the Ratings Percentage Index, despite playing both Gonzaga and Duke. That'll change, given there are currently six Southeastern Conference teams in the top 18. FSU, by the way, checks in at 47th.
* 1,004 — Career points for Allen, who in scoring 17 against Duke became the 53rd player in UF history to reach 1,000 points in his career. He now sits at 52nd and figures to rocket up the list.
* 1951 — The first year Florida and Florida State played a men's basketball game. UF won 61-51 at the Gator Bowl Tournament in Jacksonville.
STATEMENT (Random thought)
If you're going to the game, get there and be in your seat for pre-game introductions and treat yourself to the new 3D floor-projection show. Here's a tease.
Florida Men's Basketball | Rueben Chinyelu and Thomas Haugh Post Double-DoublesFlorida Men's Basketball | Rueben Chinyelu and Thomas Haugh Post Double-Doubles
Thursday, November 13
Florida Football | Interim Head Coach Billy Gonzales Media Availability | Ole MissFlorida Football | Interim Head Coach Billy Gonzales Media Availability | Ole Miss
itself nicely out there, but left with something of an empty feeling after blowing a 10-point lead in the final four minutes and losing to No. 1 Duke in the "Motion" bracket championship game. ... Florida leads the all-time series against Florida State 43-24, including a 21-7 mark at home, but FSU has won three straight to match their longest win streak against its cross-state rival. Obviously, the Gators don't want to see a first-time four-game losing skid. ... The Seminoles won last year's meeting 83-78 in Tallahassee behind 24 points from Dwayne Bacon. The Gators got 21 points from senior point guard Kasey Hill, but finished just 4-for-16 from the 3-point line and were outscored 25-12 at the free-throw line. That FSU team went on to finish 26-9 and got a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament, only to lose in the second round. Two players from that squad are now in the NBA: Jonathan Issac (Orlando Magic) and Bacon (New Orleans Pelicans) ... UF coach Mike White is 2-5 vs. Atlantic Coast Conference opponents, with all but the 2015 visit from the Seminoles, a 73-71 loss, coming on the road or at neutral-court sites.
