'Pre-game Hoopla' -- Florida vs Barry (exhibition), Thursday, 7 p.m.
Thursday, November 6, 2014 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
“THE TIP SHEET”
No. 7 FLORIDA vs. BARRY (exhibition game)
When: Thursday, 7 p.m.
Where: O'Connell Center, Gainesville, Fla.
TV: Streaming and SEC Network+ (only)
Radio: None
STAKES, STARS & STATS 
> Consider this the almost-official start to life after Patric, Scottie, Casey and Will. Very little about the 2014-15 Gators will resemble last year's senior-dominated squad that went 36-3, including a 21-0 mark in the Southeastern Conference, and advanced to the fifth Final Four in school history. ... Coach Billy Donovan (left), entering his 19th season, will mess with a variety of combinations to try and get a feel of how each grouping works and reacts in game-like situations, with the starting unit expected to debut with a three-guard lineup of junior Michael Frazier (playing on the wing or small forward position), sophomore point guard Kasey Hill and fourth-year junior Eli Carter, who transferred last year from Rutgers. ... For UF, 6-8 forward Devin Robinson and 6-foot point guard Chris Chiozza, the lone freshmen on the roster, will make their collegiate debuts. Robinson, a top-20 prospect out of Virginia, is a fairly polished offensive player who has a chance to be a difference-maker this season is he can pick up his defensive game. Chiozza, out of Memphis, Tenn., is expected to provide key backup minutes to Hill. 
> Frazier (12.4 ppg, 3.5 rpg), pictured right, is the lone returning starter from last season's team. He shot 44.7 percent from 3-point range and broke the school's single-season mark for 3-point field goals in a season with 118. ... Junior forward Dorian Finney-Smith, the reigning SEC Sixth Man of the Year, won't come off the bench on this team. Count on “Doe-Doe” (8.7 ppg, 6.7 rpg) for bigger numbers and more consistency on the front line, where he likely will see time at three positions early in the season. He'll pair in the first-unit frontcourt with 6-10 center Jon Horford, the instantly eligible transfer from Michigan (3.8 ppg, 4.2 rpg there last year). ... Neither sophomore center Chris Walker nor junior forward Alex Murphy will play against the Buccaneers. Walker must serve a three-game suspension for violating team rules (yes, exhibition games count) and Murphy, who transferred from Duke last December, turns eligible per NCAA rules after the fall semester ends. 
> Barry, a private Catholic university in Miami Shores, competes in the Division II Sunshine State Conference. The Buccaneers played an exhibition Saturday at No. 8 Louisville and lost 91-71, but along the way out-rebounded the Cardinals 53-41. That's good for the Gators because Donovan and his staff have been harping on more aggressive play under the boards during preseason practices. ... The Bucs return both leading scorers from last season's team in guards Juan Ferrales (15.7 ppg, 42.6 from 3-point range) and Yunio Barrueta (14.1 ppg). Barrueta, at 6-6, also led the Buccaneers in rebounding at nine per game and posted 12 double-doubles. Barry has five Division-I transfers on its roster, including 6-8, 225-pound former North Carolina State forward Jevoni Robinson.
SOME NUMBERS OF NOTE
37-2-1 -- Donovan's record in exhibition games, with losses to the EA Sports All-Stars in 2001, plus a loss and tie during a summer tour through Europe in 2000. The Gators defeated Florida Southern, also out of the SSC, 110-88 in last year's exhibition game. 
799 -- Points scored by Carter (right) during his two seasons at Rutgers, where he averaged 14.3 per game and hung a career-high 31 in an upset of the 10th-ranked Gators on Dec. 27, 2011. His strength isn't shooting as much as it's scoring and having a really nice feel for the game.
32 -- Consecutive home wins for the Gators (not including a couple exhibitions), dating to a 74-59 setback March 4, 2012 to Anthony Davis and eventual national champion Kentucky.
WATCH FOR IT
Instead of a 35-second shot clock, the Gators and Bucs will play with a 30-second clock. The SEC has asked its teams to experiment with the 30-second rule clock during exhibition games this preseason as part of the NCAA's examination on whether a change in the shot-clock rule may benefit the college game.
