Pre-Game 'Stuff' - Florida vs. Arkansas (Saturday, 1 pm)
Friday, January 30, 2015 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
FLORIDA vs. ARKANSAS
When: Saturday 1 p.m. (ET)
Where: O'Connell Center, Gainesville, Fla.
Records: UF 11-9 (4-3), Arkansas 16-4 (5-2)
TV: CBS (with Spero Dedes and Clark Kellogg)
Radio: Gator IMG Sports Network (with Mick Hubert and Mark Wise), check for local outlets here.
STAKES, STARS & STATS
>>> Florida leads the all-time series 16-11, with all the wins coming in Coach Billy Donovan's tenure. He's 16-6 all-time against the Razorbacks and 9-0 at home. Florida has won two straight in the series and seven of the last eight, with the lone defeat coming at Fayetteville in 2013. ... The teams last played Jan. 11, 2014 when guard Scottie Wilbekin hit a driving bankshot with two seconds left to send the game into overtime -- negating a seven-point deficit with less than five minutes to play -- and the Gators prevailing 84-82 in the extra period. Forward Dorian Finney-Smith made the first start of his UF career that night and tallied 22 points and a career-high 15 rebounds in a win that was a huge confident booster early in the season. Wilbekin had 18 points, including nine in overtime. ... This marks the first year since the SEC expanded to 14 teams for the 2011-12 season the Gators won't go to Fayetteville to play. 
>>> After back-to-back road SEC dates, the Gators are home for one game before hitting the road again Tuesday night at Vanderbilt. ... UF won 52-50 Tuesday at Alabama to snap a three-game SEC losing skid. It wasn't pretty (not in the least), as the Gators overcame a 17-point second half when Finney-Smith (13.1 ppg, 5.6 rpg), scoreless through 59-plus minutes, gave them the lead on a power move and slam-dunk with 21 seconds left, then blocked the potential game-tying shot on the defensive end as time expired. ... UF hit just 35 percent in the second half and scored its fewest points of the season, but somehow managed to steal a win on the road. ... Florida is averaging 66.7 points per game, which ranks 11th in the league, but gives up only 59.1, which rates second. ... Junior guard Michael Frazier II (13.4 ppg, 4.8 rpg) played against the Crimson Tide through a nagging hip pointer and went 0-for-4 from the floor, stopping a 41-game streak of hitting at least one 3-point shot. ... Sophomore point guard Kasey Hill (7.6 ppg, 4.4 apg; pictured above) continued to fight consistency at Tuscaloosa, where he started the game by hitting just his fifth 3-point shot of the season, but minutes later missed a point-blank driving layup and went on to finish with 5 points, 3 assists and two turnovers while freshman Chris Chiozza (4.1 ppg, 2.1 apg) played the final 9:04. ... Junior guard Eli Carter (9.7 ppg in SEC play) has started the last two games. He's shooting nearly 47 percent from the play against league opponents (34.5 from distance), but has as many assists as turnovers (14).
>>> Arkansas has emerged from a jumbled bunch to look like the second-best team in the league behind Kentucky and along the way taken steps to defy its MO under Coach Mike Anderson for being an awful road team. The Razorbacks already have won at Georgia (something the Gators could not do) and Missouri. ... The Hogs lead the SEC in 3-point shooting (.371) and 3-pointers per game (7.2), which speaks to their offense; they also top the SEC in rebounding margin (plus-17.4, which is sixth nationally), forced turnovers (15.9, which is 23rd nationally) and assist-to-turner ration (plus-1.5, which is 12th nationally) -- and that says a lot about what they do on defensive. ... Sophomore 6-11, 242-pound forward Bobby Portis (17.5 ppg, 8.5 rpg) could have turned pro after his freshman season, but opted to return and is having an all-conference year. He's also turning up in some mock drafts on the fringe of the NBA lottery. Against a team like UF, which struggles for productivity in the post, Portis will be a problem. And though he's attempted only 16 long-distance shots this season, Portis has made nine, so his 56-percent efficiency from the arc makes him a “stretch-4” threat as well. ... On the outside, the Hogs are led by 6-6 junior guard Michael Qualls (16.5 ppg, 5.4 rpg), who is a matchup issue -- and dunking machine -- with his size and ranginess, and point guard 6-5 Rashad Madden (10.2 ppg, 4.9 apg), another big perimeter player and also the most productive 3-point threat in the Arkansas backcourt (.439).
SOME NUMBERS OF NOTE 
* 0 - Wins by the Gators against teams in the RPI Top 50. Florida is 0-4 vs. the RPI Top 25 and 0-7 vs. the RPI Top 50. Arkansas checked in at No. 19 heading into the weekend, so Florida (at No. 70) has an opportunity to score some quality points.
* 12 - Points from sophomore center Chris Walker (right) against the Tide, his career-high for an SEC game. Walker played an efficient game, going 6-for-8 from the floor, working the baseline and setting high-post screens, while taking shots suitable to his skill level. The Gators need more of that from him. A lot more.
* 45 - Fewest points ever scored by a Donovan team in a victory. That was Jan. 20, 2011 in a 45-40 win at Auburn. It also marked one of five times in Donovan's 19 seasons that UF has won while scoring 52 points or less. The victory at Alabama was the latest.
* 48 - Consecutive games Frazier had at least one field goal before that streak was snapped Tuesday at Alabama.
* 84.7 - Frazier's career free-throw percentage on 144 attempts, which ranks third in UF history. Frazier hit the 140-attempt minimum in the last game when he went 5-for-5 from the line, part of a string of 24 straight free throw makes dating to the South Carolina game.
WATCH FOR IT
Arkansas, much like Florida, wants to set a chaotic tempo. Unlike Florida, the Hogs want to maintain that tempo throughout the game. Thus, they will overplay and gamble and press and trap to the point of exhaustion for the UF ball-handlers. That means Hill, Chiozza, Frazier and Finney-Smith need to be poised against the pressure and know where teammates will be in the passing lanes. Live-ball turnovers will be points for the Razorbacks. Yet, because of the way Arkansas plays, there will be multiple opportunities for run-outs, dunks and open shots. The Gators need to capitalize.
