Pregame Stuff: No. 12 Florida vs Arkansas (Wednesday, 7 pm)
Tuesday, February 28, 2017 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
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A nuts and bolts look at UF's home finale against the Razorbacks.
By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer
No. 12 FLORIDA vs ARKANSAS
When: Wednesday 7 p.m. (ET) Where: Exactech Arena/O'Connell Center, Gainesville, Fla. Records: Florida 23-6 (13-3); Arkansas 22-7 (11-5) TV: ESPN2 (Joe Tessitore and Sean Farnham) Radio: Gator IMG Sports Network (Mick Hubert and Mark Wise)
STAKES (The Setup)
Seniors Justin Leon (bottom) and Canyon Barry work their way through the Rowdy Reptiles following last week's home defeat of South Carolina. Leon and Barry make up half of the outgoing 2017 senior class that will be honored before playing its final game at the O'Connell Center Wednesday night.
The final home regular-season game for Florida, as well as for its four-member senior class, has major ramifications for both teams. Florida, which had a nine-game winning streak snapped Saturday at Kentucky, can clinch no worse than the No. 2 seed in next week's Southeastern Tournament with a win. Arkansas, on a five-game winning streak, can remain very much in the running for that No. 2 tournament spot with a victory at the O'Dome. Both teams are also playing for NCAA Tournament seeding, with the Gators not only a lock for an at-large berth but with a chance at a top-3 seed with a strong finish. The Hogs, on the strength of five straight wins, are in everyone's projected field as an at-large team, probably around a 9-seed, but with a chance to move up. ... The game marks the fourth of UF's five league regular-seasoon rematches, with the Gators having defeated the Razorbacks 81-72 at Fayetteville, Ark., back on Dec. 29 in the conference opener for both teams. In that one, shooting guard KeVaughn Allen, out Little Rock, returned to his home state and bombed the Hogs for 21 points, including five 3-pointers. Forward Devin Robinson added 17 points and seven rebounds. ... UF leads the all-time series 20-11, including six straight wins, 11 of the last 12 and 19 of the previous 23, dating to the 2000 season. ... Florida is 11-2 against Arkansas at home. The last team of Hogs to win at the O'Dome was the '95 defending national championship squad that lost to UCLA in the NCAA title game. STARTERS (Probable Lineups)
Defensively, the Gators did a nice job keeping Arkansas fifth-year senior guard Dusty Hannahs in check during the first meeting in December, limiting him to 11 points and a couple 3-pointers in 27 minutes. Hannahs, in his second season with the Hogs since transferring from Texas Tech, is capable of popping the scoreboard, like he did last March in shredding the Gators for 33 in the 2016 SEC Tournament. In that one, Hannahs made just two 3-pointers, but killed UF with a mix of mid-range shots and his deft (and underrated) touch on floaters in the lane, one of the reasons he makes 45.6 of his overall shots. Hannahs ranks 12th in the SEC in scoring and fourth in both 3-point field-goal percentage (39.0) and free-throw percentage (88.0). The Gators do not want him to get into a comfort zone.
STUFF (Need-to-Know Info)
Kasey HillABOUT THE GATORS: It's "Senior Night" for point guard Kasey Hill, forwards Justin Leon and Canyon Barry, and walk-on center Schyuler Rimmer. ... Despite Saturday's disappointing loss at Kentucky, there is still plenty to play for, even the outside shot at a share of the SEC title, should the Wildcats falter either at home against Vanderbilt Tuesday or in their season finale at Texas A&M. There's also the matter of stockpiling wins and either solidifying or improving their standing for the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee. ... UF remains one of the best scoring offenses (79.1 ppg) and defenses (66.2 ppg) in the league, but scored its fourth-fewest points of the season against UK, while surrendering 10 more than its defensive average, albeit against an outstanding opponent. The Wildcats, specifically, guard Malik Monk, ripped the Gators for 48 in the second half, with Monk scoring 30 of those. Defense will be on their minds against a high-scoring opponent. ... Allen has put together his two best games of the season, combing for 50 points on 14-for-24 shooting, including eight of 16 from deep, against two of the league's best teams in South Carolina and Kentucky. The more aggressive Allen is, the more dangerous he is. ... Point guard Kasey Hill went just 2-for-10 and scored only four points at UK, but was saddled with foul trouble that impacted his defense-to-offense game. Backup guard Chris Chiozza had foul issues as well, but still went for nine points, five rebounds and five assists, though his run of five straight games scoring in double figures was halted. ... Sophomore centerKevarrius Hayes won't have a "Bam" Adebayo dude to deal with this game, so look for him to tally more than the four points and four rebounds in had in Lexington. ... Barry was the team's scoring leader a week ago, but has totaled just three points the last two games while trying to work through an ankle sprain. ... The availability of 6-11 freshman center Gorjok Gak, out the last two weeks with a foot sprain, figures to be a game-day decision, but he's only logged 44 minutes this season and mostly in late-game, blow-out situations. ... ABOUT THE RAZORBACKS: Just over three weeks ago there were rumblings in the Ozarks about the job security of Coach Mike Anderson, after the Razorbacks went to last-place Missouri -- two days after the Tigers were drummed by 39 in Gainesville -- and were beaten, giving Mizzou its first SEC win of the season. Not only have the Hogs not lost since, but they've now racked up six league victories on the road (including three straight). That's more than any in Anderson's previous six seasons. And in five of those wins, the Hogs have come from at least 12 points down. Now, imagine if they can put a win over Florida, currently No. 5 in the Ratings Percentage Index, on their postseason resume. ... Arkansas ranks second in the league in points per game (81.0) and field-goal percentage (.465), in no small part because of an attack mentality that puts the Hogs at the free-throw line a lot. They're 18.4 makes per game rates third in the league, plus they're good collectively at the stripe (.758, also third in the SEC). ... Guess what? Arkansas also is second in the conference in knocking down 3s, at 37.5 percent, with backup guards Daryl Macon (13.7 ppg) and Anton Beard (8.2 ppg) at 39.2 and 38.5, respectively... Power forward Moses Kingsley is one of the conference's best NBA prospects not playing at Kentucky, though his 45.1-percent numbers from the floor represent a career-low for him (he was 54.8 last season). He's still playing outstanding defense, though, and leads the SEC in blocked shots (2.7 pg), and won't have injured UF center John Egbunu to contend with this time. ... Arkansas does not have a true point guard, but stills rank third in the SEC in assists per game (14.6), a testament to the Hogs' willingness to share the ball. They have four players with between 55 and 66 assists. In comparison, UF has two guys with well over 100 assists, but the Gators' next-high disher is at 43.
STATS (Some Numbers of Note)
Kenny Boynton* .420 — The worst shooting percentage among the Razorbacks' 11 rotation players. The other 10 are all over 45 percent for the season.
* 1 — Steals needed by Hill to become just the sixth player in SEC history to total at least 1,000 points, 500 assists and 175 steals.
* 23 — Current number of regular-season victories for Florida, the 10th time the Gators have reached that number and just the second under a coach not named Billy Donovan. Mike White joined Lon Kruger (1993-94) in that elite company. If UF can win its final two games, the Gators will hit 25 regular-season wins for only the third time in school history. The others: 26 in 2006-07 and 29 in 2013-14.
* 823 — Career points for Allen, the most accumulated by a UF sophomore since Kenny Boynton reached 1,001 before his second season came to a close.
* 2013 — The last year the Gators lost to the Razorbacks, an 80-69 defeat at Fayetteville that UF entered ranked second in the country and 7-0 in league play.
STATEMENT (Random thought)
Get there early and give Kasey, Justin, Canyon and Schuyler a proper senior send-off.
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No. 12 FLORIDA vs ARKANSAS 
