Pregame Stuff: South Carolina at Florida (Wednesday, 7 pm)
Tuesday, January 23, 2018 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
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A nuts and bolts look at UF's home game vs the Gamecocks.
By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer
SOUTH CAROLINA at No. 20 FLORIDA
When: Wednesday, 7 p.m. (EST) Where: Exactech Arena/O'Connell Center, Gainesville, Fla. Records: Florida (14-5, 6-1), South Carolina (12-7, 3-4) TV: SEC Network (Mike Morgan and Pat Bradley) Radio: Gator IMG Sports Network (Mick Hubert and Mark Wise)
STAKES (The Setup)
For the first time in a month, the Gators will play consecutive home games, starting with Wednesday night's league date against South Carolina set for Wednesday, which will be "Superhero Night" (above graphic courtesy of UAA Marketing Department), followed by Saturday's high noon showdown against Baylor in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge. The Baylor game is sold out.
Florida is coming off a really good week, after bouncing back from its first loss of the Southeastern Conference season (Jan. 15 at Ole Miss) to defeat a pair of Ratings Percentage Index Top 25 teams -- Arkansas at home, then 18th-ranked Kentucky on the road -- and stay alone atop of the league standings. UF has a half-game lead on Auburn for that first-place spot, a full-game lead on Alabama, and two-game cushion on Kentucky and Tennessee. The Gators are back in the Associated Press rankings for the first time since Dec. 17, and back at home for the next two games. After taking on South Carolina, UF will host Baylor at noon Saturday as part of the SEC/Big 12 Challenge. That game is already a sellout. ... The Gamecocks staged a stirring rally from 14 down in the second half to defeat Kentucky at home last week, but in their next game, also in Columbia, turned ice cold down the stretch -- failing to hit a shot the final four minutes -- and lost 70-63 against Tennessee. USC is tied with three other teams (Arkansas, Georgia and Ole Miss) for seventh in the conference standings. ... Florida leads the all-time series 44-25, including four in a row at the O'Dome. But after a run of seven straight wins spanning the 2011 and 2015 seasons, the Gamecocks have won three of the previous four, with the last meeting standing out in particular. The two teams held serve on their home floors during the 2017 regular season, then UF and USC met in the NCAA East Region title game on March 26 at Madison Square Garden. The Gamecocks won 77-70 to advance to the first Final Four in program history. Senior guard and 2017 SEC Player of the Year Sindarius Thornwell scored 26 points and grabbed seven rebounds, but it was the USC defense that overwhelmed UF in the second half. The Gators led by seven at the break behind 56-percent shooting, including 7-for-12 from the 3-point line. In the second half, though, Florida made just 31 percent overall and went 0-for-14 from deep, as South Carolina surged in front late and finished the game. UF senior forward Justin Leon led his team with 18 points and six rebounds, while senior point guard Kasey Hill had 11 points, five assists and three steals, but also four turnovers.
Power forward Chris Silva does it all for the Gamecocks, which Florida knows all too well after he helped do them in last March at the Garden. In that one, the 6-foot-9 junior scored 13 points, grabbed nine rebounds and converted nine of 12 free throws over 21 foul-plagued minutes, as UF failed to match his physicality inside. Now a junior, Silva is South Carolina's best player -- tied for 11th in the SEC in scoring and third in rebounding -- and demonstrated as much last week when he took the fight to Kentucky on his way to a career-high 27 points, plus eight rebounds over 35 minutes. He's long and tough and figures to be a handful for the undersized Florida front court. Silva won't stray too far from the post (he's attempted just 10 shots from the 3-point line, though he's made four of them). Instead, he'll park in the paint and body up. Thus far, Silva has converted 48.4 percent of his field-goal attempts and nearly 74 percent from the free-throw line, where his 167 attempts are 77 more than the next closest Florida player has attempted. For the Gators, the best-case scenario regarding Silva would be foul trouble, so don't be surprised to see backup "bigs" Gorjok Gak (back from concussion protocol) and Dontay Bassett get in there and try to mix it up. The Gamecocks navigated Silva's foul trouble last season against the Gators, but this year's roster doesn't have as deep a supporting cast.
STUFF (Need-to-Know Info)
Jalen HudsonABOUT THE GATORS: They've won eight out of nine and 10 of 12 since a tailspin of four losses in five games at the end of November and into December. ... Statistically, Florida ranks first in the SEC in turnover margin (plus-4.8) and 3-pointers per game (9.6), second in 3-point shooting percentage (.384) and free-throw percentage (.762), and third in scoring offense (81.2 ppg), steals (7.3 pg) and assist-to-turnover ratio (plus-1.4). UF ranks last in the league in 3-point percentage defense (.370) and next to last in rebounding defense (36.8 pg). ... The Gators are coming off a rare win at Kentucky (just their 10th in 62 tries there), despite a dismal display on the offensive end, where they made just 33 percent of their shots and 20 percent from the 3-point line. UF, however, defended well enough to win and also won the hustle battle on 50-50 plays, despite being smashed on the glass 49-38. ... Florida has five players averaging in double figures in SEC play. ... Backup center Gorjok Gak, out since Jan. 13 taking an elbow to the face in the first half against Ole Miss, was cleared from concussion protocol Monday, returned to practice this week and will be available to play. ... Point guard Chris Chiozza had a fabulous game in Lexington, where he scored 13 points, dished eight assists, had six rebounds and just one turnover. His assist-to-turnover ratio in conference play is now 46-to-10. ... Backup guard Jalen Hudson (16.5 ppg), tabbed as SEC Co-Player of the Week after netting 17 points at UK, continues to lead the team in scoring, despite coming off the bench. He's shooting nearly 47 percent from the floor and 42 from deep. ... Forward Egor Koulechov had a nightmare shooting night at Rupp, where he missed all eight of his field-goal tries, including five 3s. But he also grabbed a team-high nine rebounds, played solid defense and (along with Hudson) had one of the two blocked shots in the final seconds to help secure the win. ... Guard KeVaughn Allen did not shoot well against the Wildcats (no one did), but he shot it 16 times, and thus for a second straight game demonstrated an element of aggressiveness the UF coaching staff has been pining for all season. Allen played 38 minutes at UK and had a second straight double-figure scoring output for the first time in eight games. ... Forward Keith Stonescored his team's first eight points at Kentucky, but also made a couple huge baskets (and one great assist) in the closing minutes. He's at 13.0 points and 5.6 rebounds in SEC play. ... Center Kevarrius Hayeshad nine rebounds late against the Wildcats and might have played his all-around best (and smartest) defensive
Guard Frank Booker and Coach Frank Martin
game of the season. HIs 2.6 blocks per game in SEC play tops the league. ... ABOUT THE GAMECOCKS: Now in the sixth season under Coach Frank Martin, they're 108-81 overall (.571) and just 41-56 in SEC play, but coming off an historic 2016-17 season when Martin guided the Gamecocks to a 26-7 record and, as a No. 7 seed, to the Final Four, where they eventually lost to No. 1 Gonzaga. After losing a trio of starters, USC is doing something of a pseudo rebuild, but the Gamecocks were good enough to go to Georgia and win, then follow that with the huge comeback at home against Kentucky. ... The blueprint of a Martin-coached team starts with defense, uncompromising effort, and fouling. Expect a game with lots of stoppages. The Gamecocks foul to the point where officials can't call them all, which plays right into the hands of their physical nature. ... USC ranks first in the league in defensive rebounding percentage (.762), and second in scoring defense (65.5 ppg), rebounding defense (32.5 pg) and offensive rebounding (12.7 pg). The team is last in the SEC in field-goal percentage (.406) and blocked shots (3.3 pg); next to last in assists (12.7 pg) and assist-to-turnover ratio (plus-0.9). ... Grad-transfer guard Frank Booker, by way of Florida Atlantic, joins Silva as the only Gamecocks averaging in double figures. Booker is USC's most dangerous 3-point shooter at 39.8 percent with a team-high 43 makes. He'll also show on the defensive end, where he's tallied a team-best 23 steals and is one of the best in the league at drawing charges. ... Forward Maik Kotsar is not a particularly dangerous offensive player, but he certainly hurt the Gators in the Elite Eight last season when he hit six of his 10 shots. He needs to be accounted for in the paint, given his 46-percent efficiency, but has made just three 3s this season and is a 50-percent free-throw shooter. ... Forward Justin Minaya is a promising freshman who has started every game and can get it going from deep (.385).
STATS (Some Numbers of Note)
* 4 — Victories by the Gators against ranked opponents away from home (No. 17 Gonzaga at Portland; No. 17 Cincinnati at Newark, N.J.; at No. 11 Texas A&M; at No. 18 Kentucky). UF is the only team in the country with that many. In fact, only five other teams have defeated as many as four ranked teams at home, on the road or at neutral sites: Oklahoma and Texas Tech have five, while Duke and Xavier have four.
* 6 — Wins in SEC play for the Gators through seven games. That's one more than UF had a season ago when it opened 5-0 against the league, then lost two straight (at South Carolina and home against Vanderbilt) before taking off on a season-best nine-game winning streak (that included a non-conference victory at Oklahoma).
KeVaughn Allen was 1-for-7 from 3 at Kentucky.* 19 — Margin of victory for the Gamecocks over Wofford in their 2017-18 season opener, a 73-54 road win Nov. 10. That same Wofford team went to North Carolina and defeated the reigning NCAA champion Tar Heels on Dec. 20. Anything can happen in college basketball.
* 20.0 — UF's 3-point percentage at Kentucky (6-for-30), marking the first time since Feb. 16, 2016 at Georgia that the Gators shot 20 percent or worse from deep and still beat an SEC opponent. They were 5-for-25 against the Bulldogs that day (also 20 percent).
* 23 — Florida's place in the RPI, as of Tuesday morning, the fourth-highest among teams from the SEC behind Auburn (8), Tennessee (12) and Kentucky (18), and one spot ahead of Alabama (24).
* 48.7 — Average number of free throws shot this season in games involving South Carolina. In comparison, games involving Florida have yielded an average of 39.7.
STATEMENT (Random thought)
After mostly spinning their wheels at home for the first six weeks of the season, the Gators have appeared a little more bouncy at the O'Dome of late. That needs to continue. The parity in this league demands defense of the home floor.
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