Pregame Stuff: Florida vs Miami (Sunday, 4:30 pm)

Sunday, November 27

Orlando, FL

4:30 PM

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Miami

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Pregame Stuff: Florida vs Miami (Sunday, 4:30 pm)

Sunday, November 27, 2016 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry

A nuts and bolts look at the Gators date with the Hurricanes in the third-place game at the AdvoCare Invitational at Disney.

By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer

FLORIDA vs MIAMI

When: Sunday, 4:30 p.m. (ET)
Where: HP Fieldhouse, Lake Buena Vista, Fla.
Records: Florida 5-1, Miami 4-1
TV: ESPN2 (with Mike Morgan and Brad Daugherty)
Radio: Gator IMG Sports Network (Mick Hubert and Mark Wise)

STAKES (The Setup)

Florida and Miami will play for third place in the AdvoCare Invitational Tournament, an eight-team field that began Thanksgiving Day. The Gators defeated Seton Hall 81-76 in first-round play, then lost to No. 11 Gonzaga 77-72 in the semifinals to fall into the loser's bracket. The Hurricanes got here by beating Stanford 67-53, then losing 73-56 to No. 21 Iowa State. ... UF holds a 45-24 edge in the series, but UM has won each of the last two seasons, including a 66-55 victory at Coral Gables on Dec. 8, 2015. In that one, forward Sheldon McClellan scored 24 points and guard Angel Rodriguez went for 17. The Canes had a 21-3 advantage from the 3-point line, thanks to the Gators' 1-for-12 shooting from distance.

STARTERS (Probable Lineups)

Florida	Pos.	Ht.	Wt.	Class	Per Game
Devin Robinson	F	6-8	200	Junior	12.3 pts / 5.7 reb
Justin Leon	F	6-8	206	Senior	7.2 pts / 4.5 reb
John Egbunu	C	6-11	255	R-Junior	9.8 pts / 8.5 reb
KeVaughn Allen	G	6-2	183	Sophomore	14.2 pts / 2.7 reb
Kasey Hill	PG	6-1	175	Senior	6.7 pts / 4.0 asts

Miami	Pos.	Ht.	Wt.	Class	Per Game
Kamari Murphy	F	6-8	220	R-Senior	7.4 pts / 8.8 reb
Ebuka Izunda	C	6-10	231	Sophomore	4.5 pts / 3.8 reb
Ja'Quan Newton	PG	6-2	187	Junior	17.6 pts / 3.4 asts
Anthony Lawrence	G	6-7	210	Sophomore	8.4 pts / 3.8 reb
Davon Reed	G	6-6	220	Senior	11.2 pts / 4.2 reb

STANDING OUT (One to Watch)

Ja'Quan Newton plays point guard for the Hurricanes, but make no mistake; the guy is hunting for a shot -- his own. If he gets in the paint, he's shooting. Newton is a hard-line driver to either side, looking to shoot going left and go all the way to rim when attacking right. He is deft at drawing contact and using his body to create space and get his shot off. Not 3-point shooter, though. Newton, who will have a size advantage on both UF point guards, has only attempted four shots from deep, but he's 31-for-57 on 2-point shots, good for 54.3 percent. He's also savvy in drawing fouls and converts at the free-throw line at 72 percent (23 of 32). As far as involving his teammates in the offense, Newton has just 17 assists over the Canes' five games. He's a shot-first guy.

STUFF (Miscellaneous Info)

The Gators had a chance at a signature win Friday night, but were undermined by horrid 3-point shooting. UF went just 2-for-19 from the arc, good enough (or bad enough) for 10.5 percent, compared to 7-for-16 (43.8 percent) by the Bulldogs. Florida was shredded in the second half by Gonzaga's 60.7-percent shooting, and yet defensively the Gators were in pretty good position most of the time. The Bulldogs, unlike the Gators, just made shots. ... Forward Devin Robinson is coming off a season-high 18 points and has hit double figures in five of UF's six games. He's also shooting 89.5 percent from the free-throw line (17 of 19). ... Shooting guard KeVaughn Allen's averaged 9.5 points on 25-percent shooting the first two games, but has averaged 16.5 points over the last four games and gone 25-for-54 from the floor (46.3 percent). ... Center John Egbunu should be at something of an advantage in the paint. He'll be the most athletic and skilled of the post players in this game, but the UF guards need to do a good job of getting Egbunu the ball when he gets position. ... ABOUT THE HURRICANES: They're coached by Jim Larranaga, who is now 122-58 in his six seasons since coming to UM from George Mason. ... Miami is not the veteran bunch that waxed the Gators a season ago -- the Canes only have 10 players on scholarship -- but its a talented group with wins over Western Carolina, at North Florida and home against Penn before coming into this tournament. ... The Canes aren't deadly outside shooters, but certainly capable of getting off. Guard Davon Reed will shoot mostly 3s, from where he's 30 percent, but forward Anthony Lawrence Jr. is the more dangerous scorer on the wing (45 percent from floor, 38.5 from arc). Lawrence is the son of former UM star Anthony Lawrence, who played there during the early '90s. ... A guy to watch is reserve guard D.J. Vasiljevic, who is a 3-point shooting specialist off the bench (11-for-25), with as quick a trigger as the Gators will see this season. ... Miami has outscored its five opponents by an average of 76.6 to 57.4. The Canes are shooting 46 percent from the floor and 31 from the 3-point line, while surrendering just 35 and 30 percent, respectively. ... Freshman 6-11 forward Dewan Huell doesn't start, but he was a 2016 McDonald's All-American out of Miami Norland, which he was rated by some scouting services as the No. 1 Florida prospect in his class after leading his team to three consecutive state championships.

STATS (Some Numbers of Note)

* .772 — Florida from the free-throw line this season. Yes, a small, early season sample size, but a considerable improvement -- 12.5 percent from the 64.7 percent -- of a season ago when the Gators were third-worst from the line in the Southeastern Conference.

* 1.000 — Allen from the free-throw line this season. He's a perfect 15-for-15.

* 1 — Times during the 69-game Florida/Miami series that the game has been played at neutral site (this will be the second). The Gators defeated the Hurricanes 94-93 in double-overtime of the 2002 Orange Bowl Classic at Sunrise, Fla., behind 33 points from Matt Walsh and two free throws from Justin Hamilton with six seconds left in the second extra period. The game marked the first meeting between the two programs since 1990.

* 4 — Blocked shots for Egbunu against the enormous Bulldogs Friday. That's two consecutive games UF's center has swatted away four shots. Egbunu has 13 blocks in six games.

* 28 — Years since the Gators and Hurricanes played one another for a third straight season. That last occured in 1988, when UF and UM faced off five times from 1985, when the Canes resurrected their men's basketball program after 17 dormant years, to 1988.

STATEMENT (RANDOM THOUGHT)

Still smarting from last night's football game? Hopefully, these Gators can salvage your Thanksgiving weekend. Hopefully, they'll be some offense in this one, too.