Pregame Shootaround - UF at Tennessee (Wednesday, 7 pm)

FLORIDA at TENNESSEE

When: Wednesday, 7 p.m. (ET)
Where: Thompson-Boling Arena, Knoxville, Tenn.
Records: Florida (9-4, 1-0), Tennessee (7-6, 0-1)
TV: ESPN2 (with Dave LaMont and Sean Farnham)
Radio: Radio: Gator IMG Sports Network (with Mick Hubert and Mark Wise). Check for availability here.

STAKES, STARS AND STATS

>>> After opening the Southeastern Conference season Saturday with a 77-63 home defeat of Georgia, UF and Coach Mike White play their first league game on the road. ... The Gators and Volunteers will meet for the 129th time. UT leads the all-time series 72-56, but the Gators have won four straight and eight of the last 11 meetings, including a 66-49 victory on Feb. 28, 2015 at Gainesville that marked the historic 500th career win for UF coach Billy Donovan. Forward Dorian Finney-Smith led the way with a double-double (20 points, 10 rebounds) and hit 4-for-5 from 3-point range. Guard Eli Carter chipped in 11 points and center Jon Horford added 10. ... The Gators are just 17-44 all-time in Knoxville, but were victorious in their last trip there, winning 67-58 in 2014 on the way to going 18-0 in the SEC. Florida also went on to defeat Tennessee 64-58 in the semifinals of the conference tournament at Atlanta a month later.

>>> The Gators started the SEC season with the worst field-goal, 3-point and free-throw shooting percentages among conference teams, based on their non-league results. They were about the same from the floor (.423), much better from deep (.409) and worse from the line (.585) against the Bulldogs, but White got a solid performance from his defense -- UF held Georgia to 35.6 percent from the floor and just 2-for-12 from 3 -- that has been mostly really good this season. ... Freshman shooting guard KeVaughn Allen (10.2 ppg), after reaching double figures in just four of his first nine career outings, is on a four-game tear, averaging 19 points on 53.3-percent shooting from the floor, 35 percent from the 3-point line and 95.4 from the free-throw line over the last four games. Can it continue on the road? ... Since his insertion into the starting lineup five games ago, sophomore point guard Chris Chiozza (6.7 ppg, 3.4 apg) has dished 21 assists and turned the ball over just twice. He leads the SEC in assist-to-turnover ration now at plus 2.5 (44 assists, 11 turnovers). ... Sophomore center John Egbunu (11.0 ppg, 7.0 rpg) is coming off his third double-double (12 points, 12 rebounds) of the season, but Finney-Smith (13.2 ppg, 7.4 rpg), the team's scoring and rebounding leader, has had a couple tough outings back to back. He got off to a slow start in both and was slow to find his rhythm and energy. Sophomore forward Devin Robinson (11.0 ppg, 7.0 rpg) took an elbow to the chest in the Georgia game and was taken to the hospital for examination. He was cleared to return to practice Monday and is expected to play. ... Reserve senior forward Alex Murphy (plantar fascia tear) will miss his third straight game, while sophomore backup center Schyuler Rimmer (back) will miss his fifth straight.

>>> Tennessee dropped its SEC debut Saturday, falling 83-77 at Auburn. ... The Volunteers are in their first season under Coach Rick Barnes, who is now 611-320 over 29 seasons at Texas, Clemson, Providence and George Mason. Barnes has guided teams to a combined 22 NCAA tournaments, including a 2003 Final Four with the Longhorns, with whom he spent the previous 17 seasons. ... UT has played a fairly tough schedule, with its losses all against Georgia Tech, George Washington, Nebraska, Butler, Gonzaga and Auburn -- all either on the road or at neutral sites. The Vols are 7-0 at home, though all seven victories have come against mid- to low-major programs. ... Tennessee is a middle-of-the-pack scoring team (79.3 ppg, 7th in the SEC), but a lower-tier defensive one (75.5, 11th). The Vols also rank last in the league in opponents' rebounds per game (40.6). ... UT is led by senior guard Kevin Punter (22.8 ppg, 3.9 rpg), who has taken his scoring to another level after averaging 10.3 points a game as a JuCo transfer last season. Punter had 31 at Auburn, while 6-5, 240-pound freshman forward Admiral Schofield (6.4 ppg, 3.2 rpg) had 22 more. ... All told, the Vols have four players in average in double figures, with 6-4 senior forward Armani Moore (13.9 ppg, 8.9 rpg), one of the top rebounders in the SEC.

SOME NUMBERS OF NOTE

* .300 -- Finney-Smith's shooting percentage the last two games combined, based on 6-for-20.

* .621 -- UF's free-throw percentage for the season (14th in the SEC). Texas A&M (.637) and Auburn (.633) are 12th and 13th, respectively.

* 1 -- The next SEC win will be No. 600 all-time for the Gators. Florida is 599-623 in its conference history, for a winning percentage of .490.

* 25.0 -- Allen's average the last two games in scoring a combined 50 points against Florida State and Georgia. In doing so, Allen became one of just three players nationally to average at least 25 against a pair of major conference opponents. The other two: LSU's Ben Simmons and Texas' Isaiah Taylor.

* 69 -- Combined free throws taken by UF (42) and Georgia (27) in the last game, the most in a Florida game since Dec. 10, 2000 when Florida and Florida A&M shot 71.

WATCH FOR IT

After just three field-goal attempts in the loss against Florida State, Egbunu was more of a factor in the halfcourt offense in the win over Georgia. UF is not a great interior passing team, but Egbunu needs touches, needs opportunities in the post -- and he'll be the biggest guy (by far) on the floor in Knoxville. The Gators will want to take advantage of that. If UF can shoot 3s the way it did against the Bulldogs, the 6-11, 255-pounder becomes all the more dangerous.

Gators Calendar

Pregame Shootaround - UF at Tennessee (Wednesday, 7 pm)

Players Mentioned

KeVaughn Allen

Eli Carter

Chris Chiozza

John Egbunu

Dorian Finney-Smith

Jon Horford

Alex Murphy

Devin Robinson

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Pregame Shootaround - UF at Tennessee (Wednesday, 7 pm)

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Players Mentioned

KeVaughn Allen

Eli Carter

Chris Chiozza

John Egbunu

Dorian Finney-Smith

Jon Horford

Alex Murphy

Devin Robinson

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