Pregame Stuff: Alabama at Florida (Saturday, 4 pm)
Friday, February 2, 2018 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
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A nuts and bolts look at UF's upcoming home SEC game against the Crimson Tide.
By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer
ALABAMA at No. 20 FLORIDA
When: Saturday, 4 p.m. (EST) Where: Exactech Arena/O'Connell Center, Gainesville, Fla. Records: Florida (15-7, 6-3); Alabama (14-8, 5-4) TV: ESPN2 (Bob Wischusen, Dick Vitale and Allison Williams) Radio: Gator IMG Sports Network (Mick Hubert and Bill Koss)
STAKES (The Setup)
Florida has lost three home games this season after dropping just one in 2016-17.
A critical Southeastern Conference game between two teams that have tracked very similar paths of late. ... Florida has lost two straight in league play, bracketing those defeats around an impressive blowout of Baylor in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge. The last time out, the Gators were beaten up and beaten down in a road loss at Georgia, where they got smashed on the glass and shot just 31 percent in a dismal second half that included a span where they missed 20 of 21 shots. The Crimson Tide, meanwhile, also have suffered back-to-back SEC losses, sandwiched around a thoroughly impressive victory in the SEC/Big 12 event. Bama fell at Ole Miss, then beat Trae Young and No. 10 Oklahoma at home, then followed that feel-gooder with Wednesday night's 69-60 home loss against Missouri. ... At the midway point of the SEC season, the Gators sit in a three-way tie for second place (alongside Kentucky and Tennessee), two games behind front-running Auburn. The Tide are alone in fifth place, but just a game out of second. ... Alabama leads the all-time series 74-67, but Florida has won 12 of the previous 13, and 24 of the previous 27, dating to the 1999-2000 season. ... The two last met Jan. 10, 2017 at Tuscaloosa, where the Gators won 80-67 behind 13 points, five rebounds, four assists and five steals by senior point guard Kasey Hill. Redshirt freshman Keith Stone came off the bench to hit all three of his 3-point attempts on the way to 14 points, a career-high for him at the time. ... UF is 1-1 against Alabama under Coach Mike White. ... Florida has lost three home games this season after losing just one in 2016-17.
A consensus Top-5 prospect and No. 1 point guard in the nation, Collin Sexton averaged 28.3 points, 7.4 rebounds and 2.9 assists at Mableton (Ga.) Pebblebrook High, which he led to the Class 6A state championship. Sexton was named to the McDonald's All-America Game, where he won the event's slam-dunk competition and wowed the crowd with some amazing individual highlights in the game. When he signed with Alabama, Sexton became the marquee name of one of the nation's best freshman classes. Though a point guard by definition, Sexton is always in score-first mode. He leads the Crimson Tide and is third in the SEC at 18.5 points per game (and shot attempts), having made 43.4 percent of his field-goal tries, 35.9 percent from 3, and 79.7 from the free-throw line. In a game in November, Sexton famously scored a career-high 40 points in a loss to Minnesota when the Tide was forced to play the final 10-plus minutes with just three players (due to ejections and foul disqualifications). With just three players, Sexton and his two Tide teammates still outscored the Gophers 30-22 over those final 10 minutes.
STUFF (Need-to-Know Info)
KeVaughn AllenABOUT THE GATORS: Nine days ago, they were alone atop the SEC standings. Now, they're two games back halfway through the league season and face the one team that lurks just a game back. ... UF leads the conference in turnover margin (plus-4.3), ranks second in free-throw percentage (.756), assist-to-turnover ratio (plus-1.3) and 3-pointers per game (9.6), and third in scoring offense (79.8 ppg) and 3-point field-goal percentage (.385). ... The 60 points the Gators scored Wednesday at Georgia were their fewest in SEC play and the second-lowest of the season, behind the 65-59 loss to Loyola Chicago on Dec. 6. ... Point guard Chris Chiozza continues to lead the team. The last four games he's averaged 14.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 7.5 assists. He's committed just one turnover in each of the last five games, despite playing more than 30 minutes in each. ... Backup guard/forward Jalen Hudson (16.2 ppg) had a run of eight straight games scoring in double figures snapped at Georgia, where he finished with just nine points and went 3-for-14 from the floor. Hudson has been too consistent this season on offense to think his cold snap could happen twice in a row, but Alabama's stingy defense will have a say in that. ... Since erupting for 28 against Arkansas and going 6-for-7 from the 3-point line, shooting guard KeVaughn Allen has averaged just 32 percent from the floor and 28 from deep the last four games. ... Forward Egor Koulechov's run of seven straight games with at least eight rebounds ended against UGA, but only because he had seven. He will need to do his overachieving thing on the glass against Bama, also. ... Center Kevarrius Hayes had just five points, two rebounds and did not block a shot at Georgia. Similar numbers won't do for the Gators to have a chance in this one. ... After four straight games in double-figure scoring, forwardKeith Stone has gone three straight (and four of five) in single figures. He has just 16 total points the previous three games. ... Over the last four
Donta Hall
games, backup guards DeAundrae Ballard and Mike Okauru have combined for one point and five rebounds, as their rotational minutes have declined. ... ABOUT THE CRIMSON TIDE: Now in the third season under former NBA standout point guard and head coach Avery Johnson, the Tide are 51-38, with a couple NIT appearances to show for it. ... Alabama has beaten the first-place team in the league (Auburn), with Sexton sidelined by injury, and lost to the last-place team in the league (Vanderbilt), so consistency has been an issue. ... In league play, the Tide ranks first in blocked shot (6.3 per game), and second in scoring defense (67.1 ppg), field-goal percentage defense (.385), steals (7.8 pg) and defensive rebounding (26.5). ... Bama starts three guards, but has big and long guys that crash the glass, chase rebounds, bang bodies and play above the rim. In other words, the kind of players that tend to give Florida problems. The Tide also guard the perimeter, allowing just 31 percent shooting from the 3-point line. ... Dazon Ingram is listed as a guard, but as the Tide's second-best rebounder he tends to play more of a forward role and float around the paint. He is virtually no threat from the 3-point line (6-for-31), but is making nearly 42 percent of his overall shots. ... Forward Donta Hall, simply put, is an animal. What else can you say about a guy who is shooting -- get this -- 74 percent from the floor, mostly on explosive dunks and follows. Might be a good idea to foul him hard, rather than get dunked on. Hall is only 58.5 percent from the free-throw line. ... Guard John Petty was the three-time Gatorade Player and won three straight state championships on his way to consensus five-star status. Petty, a slam-dunk SEC All-Freshman-in-waiting, is the Tide's best 3-point shooter at 38.7 and with a team-high 60 makes from deep. ... Bama has three really good reserves, starting with 6-7 freshman forward Herbert Jones (5.4 ppg, 4.0 rpg), who can play four different positions, runs like a deer and is a freaky athlete. He actually took an official visit to UF last year and was leaning to the Gators, but his home-state team came in and closed late in the recruiting process. ... Alex Reese (6-9, 250) and Ohio State transfer Daniel Giddens (6-11, 247) combine to average 10.8 points and 8.0 rebounds in spelling Hall in the post. ... John Pelphrey, an assistant at Florida during two stints (1996-2005 and 2011-15) under coach Billy Donvovan, will be back in the O'Dome as an assistant on Alabama's staff.
STATS (Some Numbers of Note)
Alabama forward Reggie King, circa 1978 * .532 — What Missouri shot from the floor overall Wednesday night against the conference's No. 2 field-goal percentage defense, as the Tigers went to Tuscaloose and were in control for basically the entire game.l
* 2 — Assists needed by Chiozza to become the fourth player in program history to reach 500 in a career. He needs six to hit 504 and pass Ronnie Montgomery (1984-88) as No. 3 on the all-time list.
* 3 — UF players shooting 90 percent or better from the free-throw line in SEC play: Allen (.941), Chiozza (.941) and Koulechov (.900).
* 1978 — The last year an Alabama player scored at last 40 points in a game, before Sexton did it on Nov. 25. Reggie King had 43 against Virginia in a holiday tournament nearly 40 years ago.
* 2015-16 — The last season the Gators lost at least four home games (White's first on the UF sidelines). That season, Florida was beaten by Florida State, Alabama, Vanderbilt and Kentucky at the O'Dome. The Gators have been beaten at home this season by FSU, Loyola Chicago and South Carolina.
STATEMENT (Random thought)
It's time for the Gators to starting taking their defense of the home floor a little more personally.
