Pre-Game 'Stuff' - Florida vs. Texas A&M (Tuesday, 9 pm)
Monday, March 2, 2015 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
FLORIDA vs. TEXAS A&M
When: Tuesday, 9 p.m. (ET)
Where: O'Connell Center, Gainesville, Fla.
Records: Florida 14-15 (7-9); Texas A&M 20-8 (11-5)
TV: ESPNU (with Rich Hollenberg and Dino Gaudio)
Radio: Gator IMG Sports Network (with Mick Hubert and Mark Wise), check for local outlets here.
STAKES, STARS & STATS
>>> The return game of a home-and-home series brings the Aggies to the O'Dome for UF's Senior Night, as the Gators will honor a pair of walk-ons in forward Jake Kurtz and guard Lexx Edwards before the game. Senior center Jon Horford, who transferred to Florida last spring after graduating from Michigan with a year of eligibility remaining, opted not to go through the senior ceremony. ... The Gators lead the all-time series 4-2, including a 3-1 mark as Southeastern Conference foes since the Aggies entered the league for the 2012-13 season. ... A&M defeated UF 63-62 on Feb. 14 at College Station behind 20 points from forward Kourtney Roberson. UF guard Eli Carter had a season-high 22 in that game, which went down to the final possession, but the Gators failed to get a shot off before the game horn sounded. 
>>> UF is coming off a 66-49 defeat of Tennessee that marked the Gators' best all-around game of the season and one that gave Coach Billy Donovan the 500th win of his career. Donovan became the second-youngest coach in college basketball history to reach 500 victories. Like Bob Knight, who was 48 when he hit it with Indiana in 1987, the 49-year-old Donovan did it before his 50th birthday. ... Aiding that effort was the return of junior forward Dorian Finney-Smith (13.2 ppg, 6.0 rpg), now the team's top scorer and rebounder, from a three-game suspension for violating team rules. Finney-Smith was terrific in scoring 20 points, grabbing 10 rebounds, blocking two shots and going 4-for-6 from the 3-point line. ... Florida expects to be without junior guard and top outside shooter Michael Frazier II (13.2 ppg, 4.6 rpg), who suffered a high-ankle sprain Feb. 7 against No. 1 Kentucky and has missed the last six games. ... The Gators got a big early lift from Carter against Tennessee. After struggling of late from distance, Catter hit his first three shots from 3-point range to help his team open an early double-digit lead. Carter is a volume shooter, but an incredibly streaky one. If he's making shots, the Gators will be in games. When he's not, they struggle to score. ... Horford (pictured above right) has averaged 8.6 points and 7.0 rebounds over the previous seven games, easily his best stretch of the season. 
>>> The Aggies, at 11-5, are alone in third place in the SEC and with an RPI of 38 appear in excellent shape for an at-large NCAA Tournament berth. A&M needs a win to stay a game up on fourth-place LSU and within striking distance of second-place Arkansas, which has a one-game lead. ... The 6-9, 247-pound Roberson (9.0 ppg, 6.2 rpg, pictured right) and 6-7, 223-pound forward Jalen Jones (13.5 ppg, 6.5 rpg) badly bullied the Gators at last month's meeting, pushing UF's frontcourt players around in the post with very little resistance on the way to 42 points in the paint. Jones had 16 points in that game. ... A&M's leading scorer is guard Danuel House (15.4 ppg, 3.7 rpg), while junior point guard Alex Caruso (9.4 ppg, 5.8 apg) leads the SEC in assists. Caruso had eight points, nine assists and seven rebounds last time out against the Gators. ... Defensively, the Aggies rank fourth in the SEC in field-goal percentage allowed (.396) and second in 3-point percentage (.300).
SOME NUMBERS OF NOTE
* .090 -- Florida's winning percentage against teams currently ranked in the RPI Top 50, thanks to a 1-10 mark in those games. A&M (38th) and Saturday's trip to Kentucky (1) will provide two more Top 50 targets for the Gators before heading into the SEC Tournament next week at Nashville. 
* 2 -- Double-doubles for Finney-Smith (right with Kurtz) over his previous two games. He also had 11 points and 10 rebounds in the game before his suspension, which happened to be against A&M.
* 2 -- SEC players who have had at least 20 points and 10 rebounds in games each of the last two seasons. Finney-Smith is one, LSU's Jordan Mickey is the other.
* 64.9 -- Texas A&M's free-throw percentage as a team. That ranks next-to-last in the SEC. On the Gators (64.4) are worse. It was two late, clutch free throws by Jones that proved the difference in the Aggies' win last time.
* 199 -- Career SEC victories for Donovan, which ranks third in league history. He's looking to join Kentucky's Adolph Rupp and LSU's Dale Brown as the only coaches ever to win 200 games in the league.
WATCH FOR IT
A much, much more aggressive Florida team than the last time these two met. The manner in which the Gators were shoved around is something they've been reminded of and something they've prepared for during practice. Provided UF can hit some early shots, the Gators' physicality, confidence and emotion of the O'Dome crowd will go a long way in the final home of a very difficult season.
