Pregame Stuff: Florida vs Cincinnati (Saturday, 6 pm)

Friday, December 8, 2017 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry

A nuts and bolts look at UF's date in Newark, N.J.

By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer

No. 5 FLORIDA vs No. 17 CINCINNATI
Never Forget Tribute Classic

When: Saturday 6 p.m. (ET)
Where: Prudential Center, Newark, N.J.
Records: Florida 5-3, Cincinnati 7-1
TV: ESPN2 (Jon Sciambi and Fran Fraschilla)
Radio: Gator IMG Sports Network (Mick Hubert and Bill Koss)

STAKES (The Setup)

The Prudential Center (capacity 18,711) at Newark, N.J., is home to the NHL New Jersey Devils, as well as Seton Hall men's basketball games.

After starting the season with five straight victories, the Gators have dropped three in a row, including a blowout loss to Florida State at the Exactech Arena Monday night and humbling home loss Wednesday to mid-major Loyola Chicago. They'll almost certainly fall from a No. 5 national ranking and out of the Associated Press Top 25. Now, comes a date against No. 17 Cincinnati, a team that exudes the very traits -- overall toughness and relentlessness on defense -- that UF coach Mike White says have been missing from his team since Day 1. The Gators will have their hands full with the Bearcats, who are well rested having not played since dropping its first game of the season last Saturday in a 89-76 setback against crosstown rival Xavier. ... The game will be the front end of a double-header -- with Virginia Commonwealth and Seton Hall in the nightcap -- that will benefit the Families of Freedom Scholarship Fund in support of the education of children of the victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks. ... Florida and Cincinnati will meet for the first time. ... The Bearcats play out of the five-year-old American Athletic Conference, having spent eight years in the Big East. UF is 46-30 all-time against teams currently in the AAC and 1-3 vs. the league since its inaugural 2013-14 season. One of those losses was to Connecticut in the 2014 NCAA semifinals.

STARTERS (Probable Lineups)

Florida	Pos.	Ht.	Wt.	Class	Per Game
Egor Koulechov	F	6-5	205	G-Transfer	15.5 pts / 6.9 reb
Keith Stone	F	6-8	245	R-Sophomore	6.0 pts / 2.8 reb
Kevarrius Hayes	C	6-9	225	Junior	4.7 pts / 4.4 reb
KeVaughn Allen	G	6-2	193	Junior	13.0 pts / 3.0 reb
Chris Chiozza	PG	6-0	180	Senior	11.4 pts / 5.5 reb / 6.1 ast

CINCINNATI	Pos.	Ht.	Wt.	Class	Per Game
Gary Clark	F	6-8	225	Senior	13.8 pts / 8.0 reb
Kyle Washington	F	6-9	230	Senior	9.1 pts / 5.1 reb
Jacobs Evans	G	6-6	210	Junior	13.0 pts / 4.0 ast
Justin Jenifer	G	5-10	175	Junior	7.8 pts / 2.9 ast
Jarron Cumberland	G	6-5	215	Sophomore	11.5 pts / 3.9 reb

STANDING OUT (One to Watch)

Senior forward **Gary Clark** is the next front court guy the Gators will put an "X" -- and the next candidate to have a big night in the paint. That's the pattern of the UF defense, as the opponents' best low-post offensive players have had field days against the Gators this season. At 6-foot-8 and 228 pounds, Clark is physical, skilled and a relentless offensive rebounder. He's shooting 49.3 percent from the floor, has made six of 18 from the 3-point line, and 84.2 from the free-throw line. He is the straw that stirs the Bearcats' brutality drink, but not the only one, maybe not even their best one. Just their most important one.

STUFF (Need-to-Know Info)

ABOUT THE GATORS: After averaging 99.5 points, shooting 49 percent overall and 46 from deep through the first six games, Florida averaged 62.5 points, shot 36.5 percent and 18.1 percent from deep in the FSU and Loyola games. Meanwhile, those two opponents averaged 80 points and shot 44.3 percent. In too many cases, the baskets down low, whether on second-chance points after 23 offensive rebounds by Florida or 36 points in the paint by Loyola, came too easy. ... Point guard Chris Chiozza was averaging 13.2 points per game after the Gators returned from the PK80 in Oregon. He's combined for 12 points since, has made three of 12 field-goal attempts and has eight assists vs five turnovers. ... Fifth-year senior forward Egor Koulechov started the season by making 14 of his 25 shots from the 3-point line (56 percent), including 5-for-5 against Stanford in the PK80. He's 3-for-18 since (.166). Fourth-year junior swingman Jalen Hudson was 17-for-33 from deep through the first five games (.515), but 4-for-17 since. ... Without the services of fifth-year senior John Egbunu and freshman Isaiah Stokes, both rehabbing from knee surgeries last winter, plus freshman Chase Johnson (illness), the Gators are incredibly thin up front, with junior center Kevarrius Hayes, struggling of late with his post defense, the team's most experienced post player. ... Freshman Deaundrae Ballard scored seven points in his first career start Wednesday. He's averaging 8.1 points and shooting 49 percent from the floor, despite making just one of 12 shots from distance to date. ... ABOUT THE BEARCATS: Want a Southeastern Conference comparison? Cincinnati plays like South Carolina, with that kind of toughness and aggression. ... The Bearcats are in their 12th season under Coach Mick Cronin, a UC alum who served as an assistant for Bob Huggins and Rick Pitino. The team is 234-137 on his watch, with seven straight NCAA Tournament appearances. ... Cincinnati opened the season with seven wins by an average margin of 30.5 points. The closest was a six-point defeat of Buffalo. Then came last weekend's annual bloodbath game and loss to Xavier, which ended with some ugly words from both benches and as a colorful a post-game press conference between Cronin and Muskateers coach Chris Mack as you'll see all season. Google it and enjoy. ... As a team, Cincy is shooting 48 percent from the floor, 38 on the long balls and forcing better than 17 turnovers per game. ... After Clark, Kyle Washington is the next handful up front. He's a lefty who posts strong and boasts a motor that is constantly running. He's hitting 54 percent of his shots and almost 79 from the line. ... Jacob Evans is a combo wing who scores at all three levels, including nearly 52 percent overall and 42 from 3, and is probably the team's best all-around player. ... The Bearcats will send four to the offensive glass at all times, meaning there will be chances for the Gators to get out in transition, if they can secure the rebound, that is. Not easy against this opponent.

STATS (Some Numbers of Note)

* 7.0 — Team assists average for the Gators the last two games. Though it probably says something about their lack of sharing the basketball, baskets have to be made to get assists, and UF has made only 21 and 24, respectively, the last two games, after averaging 33.8 field goals over the first six games.

* 14 — Season-high for minutes from sophomore center Gorjok Gak, who is probably far enough along in his recovery from his nagging knee soreness that he could get 20 minutes in. Gak, though, still has trouble keeping defensive position and is not at his best against more physical players.

* 87.0 — KeVaughn Allen's career free-throw percentage, which ranks No. 1 in program history. Allen had a streak of 27 straight made free throws snapped Wednesday, but that string was enough to push Allen past Anthony Roberson (.864) in first place, for now.

* 1996 — The last time UF had four losses in nine games, something the Gators are trying to avoid. That was Coach Lon Kruger's final season, as the team opened 2-4.

* 2015 — Last time UF lost four in a row. It was late in Billy Donovan's final season, and the Gators fell at Vanderbilt, at home against Kentucky and Ole Miss, then at Texas A&M, with the last two coming by one point each. All told, the four defeats were by a combined 15 points. UF halted the skid with a three-point home win over Vanderbilt.

STATEMENT (Random thought)

If the Gators don't take the fight to the Bearcats, it could be a painful night and hurtful flight home late Saturday.