Pre-Game Stuff: Vanderbilt at Florida (Wednesday, 7 p.m.)
Wednesday, February 18, 2015 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
FLORIDA vs. VANDERBILT
When: Wednesday, 7 p.m. (ET)
Where: O'Connell Center, Gainesville, Fla.
Records: Florida 12-13 (5-7); Vanderbilt 14-11 (4-8)
TV: SEC Network (with Mike Morgan and Barry Booker)
Radio: Gator IMG Sports Network (with Mick Hubert and Bill Koss), check for local outlets here.
STAKES, STARS & STATS
>>> The Gators and Commodores are playing for the second time this season. UF went to Vandy on Feb. 3 and played arguably its worst across-the-board game of the season, falling 67-61, as the Gators fell behind 15-0 from the start. Florida managed to whittle the margin down to three points deep into the second half, but the Commodores hit some 3-pointers and roughed up the Gators on the boards to stave off any comeback attempt. ... Vanderbilt leads the all-time series 65-62, but UF has a 24-13 edge under Coach Billy Donovan, including a 14-3 mark at home. 
>>> Florida is on a four-game losing streak that represents the program's longest since the 2007-08 season; a fifth straight defeat would be the longest since way back at the end of the '97-98 campaign. ... The last two losses were both one-point heartbreakers. Ole Miss bombed a 3-pointer Thursday at the O'Dome with 2.7 seconds left for a 62-61 win, then Texas A&M escaped a late UF rally to hold on for a 63-62 win Saturday night at College Station. ... Florida ranks eighth in the SEC field-goal percentage defense (.409) and ninth in 3-point field-goal defense (.332). Those two numbers will be put to the test by a Vandy offense that is the best in the league at both. ... Junior guard top perimeter threat Michael Frazier II (12.1 ppg, .449 from 3-point range) remains sidelined with an ankle sprain suffered Feb. 7 against Kentucky. Frazier is expected to miss at least two more games; more likely three. ... Just what the Gators get from Frazier's replacement, freshman forward Devin Robinson (5.7 ppg, 2.5 rpg, pictured right) will go a long way in determining the outcome. Robinson replaced Frazier against Ole Miss and had his career game (14 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks), then followed it up at Texas A&M with a polar-opposite performance (0 points, 1 rebound, 0 assists, 4 fouls). ... Sophomore point guard Kasey Hill (7.3 ppg, 4.4 apg) went 0-for-7 from the floor against the Aggies, but grabbed six rebounds and tied his career-high with 10 assists, while committing just three turnovers, but was pretty solid defensively. 
>>> When UF went to Nashville two weeks ago, the Commodores were tied for last place, but their upset of the Gators kicked in a run of three wins over the last four games, including a road victory Saturday at Alabama. ... Center Damian Jones (15.1 ppg, 6.7 rpg) goes 6-foot-10 and 248 points and may be the SEC's best big man outside of Lexington, Ky. He will be a problem for Florida's struggling post play. So too might be 6-7, 225-pound forward James Siakam (9.0 ppg, 5.7 rpg), who physically manhandled UF's frontcourt last time with 12 points, 11 rebounds. He has 29 blocks on the season and five of them came against the Gators. ... As mentioned above, the Commodores are the SEC's best overall shooting team (46.9 percent from the floor) and 3-point shooting team (36.9 percent), with freshman point guard Riley LaChance (12.5 ppg, 3.1 rpg, pictured right) topping his team with 49 makes from distance. Backup guard Matthew Fisher-Davis (6.2 ppg) hits the long ball at 40.8 percent.
SOME NUMBERS OF NOTE 
* .067 - Junior forward Alex Murphy's 3-point shooting percentage for the season, based on 1-for-15 marksmanship. And, no, that does't include the miss at the end of Saturday's loss to the Aggies. That 3-point attempt (pictured right) came after the clock expired.
* .105 - Freshman guard Chris Chiozza's 3-point shooting percentage in SEC play, based on 2-for-19 marksmanship. Chiozza has missed his last 10, spanning five games and dating to a big make he knocked down in the second half in UF's win at Alabama.
* .376 - Hill's combined shooting percentage from inside the 3-point line. A lot of those misses have been makable layups and no one feels worse about them than Hill. He's getting penetration, getting to the rim, but it's really been a struggle for him to finish.
* .388 - UF junior guard Eli Carter's 3-point shooting percentage the last two games (based on 7-for-18 marksmanship), after hitting 23 percent (9-for-39) the previous seven games. The Gators will need his offense badly from here on out.
* 15 - Combined points that have decided UF's last four losses. In addition to the consecutive one-point defeats, the Gators lost by seven to No. 1 Kentucky and by six at Vandy two weeks ago.
WATCH FOR IT
The last time these two teams met, Florida forced Vandy into 18 turnovers, most of them coming against full-court pressure and several of them. Of course, you have to score or have a dead-ball stop in the opponent's halfcourt to set up the press, but the Gators figure to extend their defense on LaChance and point guard Wade Baldwin IV, as opposed to letting the Commodores walk the ball up and work the ball to Jones in the halfcourt.
