Monday, February 26, 2018 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
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A nuts and bolts look at UF's road trip to Tuscaloosa.
By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer
FLORIDA at ALABAMA
When: Tuesday, 7 p.m. (EST) Where: Coleman Coliseum, Tuscaloosa, Ala. Records: Florida (18-11, 9-7); Alabama (17-12, 8-8) TV: ESPN (Joe Tessitore, Sean Farnham and Laura Rutledge) Radio: Gator IMG Sports Network (Kyle Crooks and Mark Wise)
STAKES (The Setup)
The Gators have won six straight at Coleman Coliseum, most recently the 80-67 victory Jan. 10, 2017.
Big game for both teams, especially after the events of the weekend. Florida stopped a three-game Southeastern Conference losing streak in beating No. 12 Auburn 72-66 in Gainesville, a win that also pushed the Gators out of a six-team entanglement in the middle of the league pack, and into a four-way tie for third place (with Kentucky, Arkansas and Mississippi State). It was also a key victory, as far as adding to an already solid postseason resume, based on the Ratings Percentage Index. UF's current total of eight "Quadrant 1" victories -- one of the metrics used by the NCAA Tournament selection committee in its revamped system to field the 68-team bracket -- is tied for the third most nationally. A win at Bama, which sits at 42nd in the RPI, would constituent yet another Q-1 victory. Alabama, meanwhile, entered the weekend in that jumbled group of third-place teams, but lost at home to Arkansas (also in the cluster), and thus fell back into a tie for seventh place with Missouri. The Crimson Tide are in OK shape, as far as "Q-1 wins with six, but may need to get off that 17-win number. ... Alabama leads the all-time series 75-67, including a 47-20 record in Tuscaloosa, though Florida has won the last six road games in the series, including last year's 80-67 victory. ... The two team's squared off Feb. 3 in Gainesville, where the Tide blasted the Gators 68-50 in what was UF's worst performance of the season; certainly its worst second half. In that one, Florida led by six at intermission, but Bama opened the second period with eight straight points and never trailed, holding the Gators to just 17 points on 22.5-percent shooting after the break. Alabama pummeled UF inside, shooting 56 percent overall and scoring 46 of its 68 points in the paint. STARTERS (Probable Lineups)
When Donta Hall came to the O'Dome earlier this month, he was shooting 72 percent on the floor for the season. After having his way against the Gators, he actually improved on that percentage. How? By going 7-for-7 from the floor. For the year, the 6-foot-9, 232-pound dunking machine has converted 132 of his 178 field-goal attempts. That's 74.2 percent. So far this season, Hall has not attempted a 3-pointer, which is a pretty good indication where he'll be positioned most of the game. Fouling Hall, versus letting him do pull-ups on the rim, might be a decent option, given that he's at 54.5 percent at the line. Oddly enough, Bama ranks last in the conference in offensive rebounding, but it's not because of Hall. He's averaging 7.1 rebounds per game and nearly a third of his caroms have come on the offensive end (64). When the SEC's All-Defensive Team comes out next week, Hall figures to be on it. He's second in blocked shots at 2.4 per game and is the reason the Tide lead the league in that category (6.0 pg). Opposing bigs, especially really physical ones (ala Tennessee's Grant Williams and Admiral Schofield, Georgia's Yante Maten, Vanderbilt's Jeff Roberson) have been a problem for the Gators this season. Florida will get a second chance against Hall. Maybe the Gators will do better than they did in their second crack at Maten.
STUFF (Need-to-Know Info)
KeVaughn Allen (5)ABOUT THE GATORS: This will be their fourth rematch of the season, having gone 1-2 in the previous three. UF beat South Carolina on the road the second time around, but lost at home to Georgia and then at Vanderbilt in back-to-back games. ... UF leads the SEC in turnover margin (plus-4.2), assist-to-turnover ratio (plus-1.3) and ranks third in 3-pointers per game (9.0). ... After scoring just 37 points the previous five games (including none at Tennessee), shooting guard KeVaughn Allen broke out for 24 points and six 3-pointers on 10 attempts in the big win over Auburn. Those 15 shot attempts equaled the second-most for Allen in a game this season, and pleased his coaches to no end. Now, he needs to take that aggression on the road, where Allen hasn't had a lot of success this season. Allen is shooting 34.2 percent from distance overall, but he's just 5-for-32 -- or 15.6 percent -- in UF's eight road games, and 13-for-61 (.213) in the 13 games away from the O'Dome. ... Point guard Chris Chiozza had a career-high 12 assists Saturday, but went 1-for-5 from the free-throw line, including a pair of late misses in a three-point game. Four games ago, Chiozza was shooting 87 percent from the line, but (inexplicably, unfathomably, take your pick) has gone 1-for-his-last-9 since the Feb. 14 loss to Georgia. He's now at 78.8 percent. ... Jalen Hudson got off to a strange start against the Tigers. In the first half, he was fouled attempting a 3-pointer and missed all three free throws. He went on to finish with 19 points, hit four 3-pointers, and converted the go-ahead "and-one" play (and free throw) with 25.6 second left. Hudson also had a key blocked shot of a 3-pointer in the final minute. ... Forward Egor Koulechov went 2-for-12 night against Auburn (just 2-for-8 from deep), but also had a huge offensive rebound late that secured an extra possession that ended with an Allen 3. ... Forward Keith Stone had his first scoreless game of the season against the Tigers, but had one of the best games of his career at
Collin Sexton
Alabama last year when he scored 14 points, went 3-for-3 from the arc, and dished a couple assists. ... ABOUT THE CRIMSON TIDE: Alabama seeks its first NCAA Tournament berth in three seasons under Coach Avery Johnson, who is 54-42 since making the jump from the NBA to college. This is easily Johnson's best team, but it's also become his most scrutinized, as freshman point guard Collin Sexton's name is prominent in the headlines of the bubbling FBI investigation into illegal payments to basketball prospects. When the story broke last October, Alabama terminated a member of its administrative staff, but where else it all leads remains to be seen. The playing status of Sexton, however, has not been impacted during the regular season, and if the Tide do reach the NCAA Tournament he will be a big reason why. ... Alabama is 6-2 at home this season, with Saturday's setback against Arkansas, and a 69-60 loss to Missouri as the lone defeats. ... Bama is a talented team, armed with one of the best crop of freshmen in the nation, but they're not an upper-echelon group when it comes to fat statistics. In fact, the Tide are just 11th in scoring offense (73.3 ppg), but they do shoot 46.8 percent as a team. A huge chunk of that percentage belongs to Hall. Bama makes just 6.5 3s per game and shoots only 67.5 percent from the free-throw line. Both rank 12th in the league. The Tide are last in offensive rebounding (9.6 pg) and assist-to-turnover ratio (plus-0.9), but they're pretty good at sharing the ball on the interior. ... Sexton's 18.3 points per game rank second in the SEC. He's shooting 43.8 percent from the floor, but only 31.7 from deep. Though a point guard, he doesn't generate a bunch of baskets for his teammates (91 assists), as he more often is looking to drive the ball and get to the free-throw line, where he's been 190 times and converted at 77 percent. ... Guard John Petty, another marquee freshman, is shooting 3s at a 37-percent clip, with his 75 makes fourth in the conference. ... Forward Braxton Key and guard Dazon Ingram are similar players, both combos with toughness. Ingram is far more deft at getting to the free-throw line (his 153 attempts are second-most on the team) and is a better passer (76 assists). ... Reserve guard Avery Johnson Jr. (4.6 ppg), the coach's son, came off the bench to kill the Gators in the first meeting, finishing with 10 points on 4-for-8 shooting in 21 minutes. ... Another talented freshman, guard Herb Jones (4.6 ppg, 3.6 rpg), is also capable of causing problems in a reserve role, both shooting and slashing to the basket.
STATS (Some Numbers of Note)
Erving Walker's six-year reign as Florida's all-time assist leader could end tonight.
* .699 — UF's free-throw percentage in SEC play, which has dipped under 70 percent for the first time this season.
* 1 — Points scored by Florida's bench in the first meeting against Alabama, compared to 29 by the Tide. Take a bow, Mike Okauru, who had a free throw in the game. The Florida reserves combined to go 0-for-7 from the floor.
* 50 — Points scored by the Gators in the first meeting with Alabama, their fewest in a game this season. UF made just seven second-half field goals.
* 543 — Career assists by Chiozza, who needs five more to pass Erving Walker (2008-12) and move into first place on UF's all-time list.
* 2006 — The last year Alabama defeated Florida in Tuscaloosa. That, of course, was the season the Gators went on to win their first NCAA title, and that game, played Feb. 26, marked UF's final loss of the season. Bama guard Ronald Steele scored 19 points and went 6-for-6 from the free-throw line in the final 31 seconds to ice the game. Taurean Green scored 20 and Lee Humphrey 15 for Florida, which then finished the regular season with a home win over Georgia and road win at Kentucky, stormed to its second straight SEC Tournament title, and on into NCAA play.
STATEMENT (Random thought)
The vibe about the Gators is drastically different than a few days ago. Imagine what another big win could do for their momentum.
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