Pregame Stuff: Texas A&M at No. 17 Florida (Saturday, noon)

Friday, February 10, 2017 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry

A nuts and bolts look at the Gators' SEC home date with the Aggies.

By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer

TEXAS A&M at No. 17 FLORIDA

When: Saturday, noon. (ET)
Where: Exactech Arena/O'Connell Center, Gainesville, Fla.
Records: Florida 19-5 (9-2), Texas A&M 13-10 (5-6)
TV: ESPN2 (Tom Hart and Kara Lawson)
Radio: Gator IMG Sports Network (Mick Hubert and Mark Wise)

STAKES (The Setup)

Florida looks to pile on an impressive five-game winning streak, a stretch during which its played as well as any in the country. The Gators have defeated each of those previous five opponents by double-digits, including a 22-point rout of then-No. 8 Kentucky, with the closest game coming Tuesday night when they left Georgia with a 72-60 road win. That one, coupled with Alabama's upset win in four overtimes at South Carolina, threw the Southeastern Conference standings into a three-way tie at the top. UF, USC and UK, the league's lone ranked teams, each have the exact same 19-5, 9-2 record with seven conference games to go. ... Texas A&M shared the SEC regular-season title last season with Kentucky, but that was a senior-laden team that lost some really good players. The Aggies started the league season 0-3, then 1-5, but have won four of the last six, including back to back victories at LSU and Tuesday at home against Missouri. ... The game has been sold out for weeks. ... Florida is 5-4 all-time against A&M and 3-3 since the Aggies joined the SEC for the 2012-13 season. A&M swept UF in two games last season, winning 71-68 at College Station, Texas, then ousting the Gators in quarterfinal play of the SEC Tournament 72-66 on March 11, 2015 at Nashville. The Gators definitely had their chances late in that one. Six UF players scored in double figures, including 18 points from point guard Kasey Hill and 11 points and nine rebounds from senior Dorian Finney-Smith. The Gators, though, went just 3-for-18 from the 3-point line. Aggies senior Danuel House had 15 points, including a huge 3-pointer late in the game.

STARTERS (Probable Lineups)

FLORIDA	Pos.	Ht.	Wt.	Class	Per Game
Devin Robinson	F	6-8	200	Junior	11.8 pts / 5.7 reb
Justin Leon	F	6-8	206	Senior	6.5 pts / 3.7 reb
John Egbunu	C	6-11	250	R-Junior	7.6 pts / 6.5 reb
KeVaughn Allen	G	6-2	183	Sophomore	13.3 pts / 2.4 reb
Kasey Hill	PG	6-1	175	Senior	10.0 pts / 2.9 reb / 4.9 asts

TEXAS A&M	Pos.	Ht.	Wt.	Class	Per Game
Robert Williams	F	6-9	237	Freshman	11.3 pts / 7.2 reb
Tonny Trocha-Morelos	F	6-10	224	Junior	8.1 pts / 5.0 reb
Tyler Davis	C	6-10	270	Sophomore	13.8 pts / 7.2 reb
Admon Gilder	PG	6-4	198	Sophomore	13.7 pts / 4.0 asts
J.C. Hampton	G	6-1	192	G-Senior	6.6 pts / 2.0 asts

STANDING OUT (One to Watch)

Center **Tyler Davis** was one of the best freshman in the SEC last season and a huge reason the Aggies tied for the league's regular-season title. It was Davis who had the offensive rebound and stick-back at the buzzer to upset the Wildcats in College Station late in the season and fuel their run to a piece of the crown. Davis, the 2015 Texas "Mr. Basketball," is enormous (6-foot-10 and every bit of 270 pounds), but he can move in the paint and has excellent hands. He's not going to draw defenders away from the basket (Davis has just one 3-point attempt this season), but uses his girth and mobility to create space and score in the paint. He's shooting 62.2 percent from the floor and 67.2 from the free-throw line. He had 15 points, eight rebounds and three blocked shots in A&M's defeat of UF in the SEC Tournament last season. In the Gators' perfect world, the game pace will be rapid-fire and up-and-down one, which would not play into Davis' strength. He (and the Aggies) want a half-court game.

STUFF (Need-to-Know Info)

ABOUT THE GATORS: The average margin of victory during the five-game winning streak is 28 and that includes a trio of road games. Three weeks ago, Coach Mike White put a challenge to his team to embrace the defensive identity he demands, and over those five games UF has held opponents to 33.3 percent overall, 25.8 percent from the 3-point line and forced 65 turnovers. ... UF should have a significant advantage on the perimeter, as far as quickness goes, so the Gators will be looking to make the game heavy on transition. ... On a team with phenomenal balance, the guy who has shown up of late is backup guard Chris Chiozza, who after garnering SEC Player of the Week honors for his triple-double against Missouri and all-around play against Kentucky then went out and led the Gators with 15 points, four rebounds, two assists and four steals in the win at Georgia. ... Against the Bulldogs, point guard Kasey Hill was the engine driving UF again. He finished with 12 points, five assists, two steals and played outstanding defense -- now his calling card -- on the perimeter. ... Since scoring 29 in the Jan. 21 loss to Vanderbilt, shooting guard KeVaughn Allen has averaged just 10.6 points during the five-game winning streak, but is still at 39 percent from the 3-point line. ... Forward Devin Robinson had a quiet night at Georgia (6 points, 2 rebounds) and is in for physical afternoon against the Aggies' front line. Robinson, though, could be heard from in transition against an Aggies bunch that prefers not to run, be it with finishes or walk-up 3s. ... Reserve forward Canyon Barry (12.7 ppg) has reached double figures in nine of the 10 SEC games he's played. He's also made 35 free throws in a row, dating back 10 games, and is now at 92.3 percent in SEC play. ... Backup forward Keith Stone (4.1 ppg, 2.3 rpg) returned to action Tuesday after missing two games and dealing with a viral illness that affected him the last several weeks. Stone went 0-for-4 from the floor against the Bulldogs, but grabbed four rebounds and provided much-needed depth, defense and minutes in the front court. ... ABOUT THE AGGIES: They're in the sixth season under Coach Billy Kennedy, with a 112-80 record to show for it and a run to the NCAA Tournament round of 16 last season, highlighted by the improbable, historic comeback from 12 points down with 44 seconds to play -- and 10 with 30 to go to go -- in shocking Northern Iowa in double-overtime. ... The Aggies are one of the bigger teams in the league and use their size in the front court to find baskets in close, hence the 46.6 field-goal percentage that ranks second in the SEC. They're also No. 5 in field-goal percentage defense (41.3) because they protect the rim and challenge shots and rank first in both opponents' rebounds and offensive rebounds, again, because of their size. ... After Davis, a guy to watch closely is freshman forward Robert Williams, who NBA scouts and analysts project as a potential lottery pick in the June draft. Not only is Williams 6-9 and nearly 240 pounds, but his wing span is a ridiculous 7-5. He leads the SEC with 57 blocked shots. He's not a shooter (57.6 percent overall, but 0-for-9 from the arc), but scoring comes easily for him at times because of his athleticism and length. He will have a highlight moment or two in the game. ... Tonny Trocha-Morelos is another Aggies big who has a decent mid-range game, but can stretch the defense and hit 3s when left open (27.4 percent). ... Backup sophomore forward D.J. Hogg (12.2 ppg, 5.1 rpg) goes 6-9, 220, is the Aggies' third-leading scorer and makes 37.4 percent from deep. ... Point guard Admon Gilder will have a size and strength advantage on any of the three guards UF sends his way. He makes 45.9 percent from the floor and leads the league in 3-point shooting in SEC play (47.2). He made six treys Wednesday against Missouri. Bt he'll also have to keep up with UF's guards in the open floor. Not an easy task. ... Off guard J.C. Hampton is a fifth-year graduate transfer by way of Lipscomb.

STATS (Some Numbers of Note)

* 1.000 — UF's winning percentage against A&M at home, based on a 3-0 record. The Gators' last win over the Aggies came by a 66-62 count at the O'Dome on March 3, 2015, in what turned out to be the final UF home game for Coach Billy Donovan.

* 1 — RPI Top 50 wins for Texas A&M (in 10 tries). That lone victory was a 68-65 neutral-site defeat of Virginia Tech. But sprinkled among those nine losses are close ones against a trio of strong Pac-12 teams, plus one against a Big 12 heavyweight. A&M lost at home to Southern Cal 65-63, on neutral courts to UCLA 74-67 and Arizona 67-63, and at West Virginia 81-77 in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge just two weeks ago. The Aggies are capable of keeping things close, if they manage to slow the game down.

* 4 — Blocked shots by UF backup center Kevarrius Hayes against Georgia. Hayes leads the Gators with 38 blocks, despite playing just 15.6 minutes per game.

* 19 — Wins through 24 games for the Gators (with seven to play), including that 9-2 mark in the SEC. This time last season, UF was 16-8 overall and 7-4 in SEC play.

* 40 — Victories for White, the most in the first two seasons of any coach in UF history. The previous mark was 36, held by Tommy Bartlett, who arrived at Florida in 1966. Other notables: Norm Sloan's first tenure (27), John Lotz (27), Lon Kruger (30) and Donovan (27).

STATEMENT (Random thought)

The Gators will play for a 20th win on the 11th day of February. Who saw that coming?