'Pre-Game Stuff' -- Florida at South Carolina, Wednesday, 7 p.m.
Tuesday, January 6, 2015 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
FLORIDA at SOUTH CAROLINA
When: Wednesday, 7 p.m. (ET)
Where: Colonial Life Arena, Columbia, S.C.
Records: UF 7-6, South Carolina 9-3
TV: SEC Network (with Dave Neal and Jon Sunvold)
Radio: Gator IMG Sports Network (w/Mick Hubert and Mark Wise), check listing for outlets here.
STAKES, STARS & STATS
> The Gators open their Southeastern Conference slate. UF holds a 26-11 all-time record against USC, with a 26-11 mark under Coach Billy Donovan (11-6 on the road) that includes six straight wins in the series. ... Florida last faced South Carolina on March 4, 2014 when guard Michael Frazier bombarded the Gamecocks by going 11-for-17 from 3-point range on his way to a career-high 37 points and setting a league record for the most 3-pointers in an SEC game. In that game, the Gators led by just two at halftime, but went on to win 72-46, as Frazier outscored the Gamecocks by himself after intermission. ... UF is 13-5 under Donovan when starting conference play, with its last defeat in a league opener coming at Tennessee in 2012.
> The Gators are coming off a brutal week when they lost two straight -- at Florida State and home against Connecticut -- with both games being decided in the closing moments. The 63-59 defeay against UConn marked the third time this season UF had a double-digit lead in the second half and could not close out a win. ... Florida shot an atrocious 40 percent (8-for-20) from the free-throw in that four-point loss. The Gators were 2-for-8 in the second half, including 1-for-6 in the last four minutes. ... Frazier (14.1 ppg, 4.9 rpg), the junior guard and wing, leads the team in scoring, but his .375 shooting percent from the 3-point line is well off the combined .453 he averaged his first two seasons. Against UConn, he had just eight points, the first time he failed to score in double-figures this season. ... Junior forward Dorian Finney-Smith (13.4 ppg, 5.4 rpg), who suffered two hand fractures in the season opener and was slow to recover his offensive game while he wore a hard splint, has now scored in double figures six straight games, averaging 16.5 points on 47.4-percent shooting along the way. Finney-Smith also has upped his 3-point shooting percentage from 29.3 percent last season to 41.3 this season. ... After making just 16 of his first 59 shots (27.1 percent) through the first seven games of the season, sophomore point guard Kasey Hill (7.7 ppg, 4.4 apg) has gone 20-for-36 (that's 55.5 percent) the last six games. ... Sophomore center Chris Walker made just the second start of his career against UConn. He converted all three of his field-goal attempts and grabbed five rebounds in 18 minutes. He may get another chance to start -- and perhaps even log more minutes, as he averages just 16 per game -- against the Gamecocks.
> South Carolina has been floundering around the bottom of the league standings the last few years, but Coach Frank Martin, now in his third season, is starting to make some headway and his team is starting to play with the sort of physicality and toughness displayed by the ones he coached at Kansas State. This game will be a much bigger challenge than UF's last three visits to Columbia, where the Gators' margin of victory averaged 19.6 per game in '12, '13 and '14. ... Since dropping a pair of games to mid-majors UNC-Charlotte and Akron in the Charleston Classic, the Gamecocks have reeled off seven straight victories, beating Oklahoma State and Clemson along the way. ... In non-conference play, USC averaged 73.6 points per game and allowed just 58.1, both stats ranking in the league's top five. The Gamecocks' field-goal defense (.338) is second only to Kentucky's, so the Gators will need to really be patient and sound with their halfcourt execution and take advantage of all opportunities to push the ball. ... USC prefers a three-guard look led by Duane Notice (13.3 ppg) and 6-5 Sindarius Thornwell (11.5 ppg, 5.9 rpg), but the Gamecocks have gotten a big boost from the development of 6-11, 251-pound junior forward Laimonas Chatkevicius (above), one of two Lithuanians who log substantial minutes in the front court. 
SOME NUMBERS OF NOTE
* .433 - 3-point shooting percentage (13-for-30) by UF freshman guard Chris Chiozza (right), which ranks first on the team.
* 5 - UF players shooting under 60 percent from the free-throw line: Alex Murphy and Jacob Kurtz (.545), Chiozza (.529), Finney-Smith (.516), Chris Walker (.435).
* 8 - Minutes the Gators went against UConn without a field goal Saturday, while the Huskies were on a 17-2 run to take command of the game.
* 40 - Years since Florida entered the SEC schedule with at least six losses.
* 2011 - The last year South Carolina beat UF. The Gamecocks won 72-69 at Gainesville that year, two weeks into what would be the Gators' first run to the SEC title in four years, as well as their first of three league crowns the last four seasons.
WATCH FOR IT
Though Donovan and his staff have rolled out nine different starting lineups through the first games, don't be surprised if there is yet another shakeup to the first unit for this game. Just what other combinations are left? Wait and see.
