Pregame Shootaround: UF at Ohio State (Sunday, noon)

Sunday, March 20

Columbus, OH

12:00 PM

Florida Gators

Ohio State

Tickets

The game will air on ESPN.

Pregame Shootaround: UF at Ohio State (Sunday, noon)

Saturday, March 19, 2016 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry

By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer

FLORIDA at OHIO STATE
NIT (2ND ROUND)

When: Sunday, noon (ET)
Where: Value City Arena, Columbus, Ohio.
Records: Florida (20-14), Ohio State (21-13)
TV: ESPN (with Dave Lamont and Dan Kakich)
Radio: Radio: Gator IMG Sports Network (with Mick Hubert and Mark Wise). Check for availability here.

STAKES, STARS AND STATS

>>> Background: Florida, in the NIT for the first time since 2009, advanced via Tuesday night's 97-68 blasting of North Florida at Jacksonville. The Gators are the top seed in their bracket quadrant and would be playing at home were it not for the renovations underway to the O'Connell Center. Instead, they'll face No. 3 seed Ohio State, which advanced by defeating in-state foe Akron 72-63 Tuesday. ... This is UF's 10th trip to the NIT, with its record improving to 12-11 with the win at UNF, having improved its road mark to 3-2. ... The Florida-Ohio State winner will take on the winner of the other quadrant semifinal -- George Washington (24-10) at Monmouth (28-7) -- for a trip to Madison Square Garden for the tournament semifinals. ... The Gators trail their all-time series with the Buckeyes 4-8, including three straight losses. The two last met on Nov. 15, 2011 at Columbus, with OSU winning 81-74 behind 21 points and six rebounds from William Buford and 16 points and six boards from Jared Sullinger, a first-round pick of the Boston Celtics in the ensuing NBA draft. UF got 17 points from another future first-rounder, guard Bradley Beal, plus 14 points and 12 rebounds from Patric Young. ... Of course, the history between the two teams also includes two meetings during the 2006-07 season when Florida, the defending national champion under Coach Billy Donovan, crushed the top-ranked Buckeyes 86-60 two days before Christmas, then completed the sweep three months later in NCAA title game with an 84-75 victory in the NCAA title game to make Florida one of just two programs over the last 40 years with back-to-back national championships.

>>> About the Gators: They played the best half of the season in the first 20 minutes at UNF, scoring 57 points on 54-percent shooting, including 12-for-18 from the 3-point line (66.6 percent). Granted, UF was getting looks they had not seen in a while -- big difference between Southeastern Conference athletes and those from a low-major like the Atlantic Sun Conference with one of the worst defenses in the nation -- but the Gators hit open ones from deep. They also executed the defensive game plan to perfection in the opening period, barely giving the Ospreys room to breath from the 3-point line, where they had made an NCAA-best 402 shots for the season. UNF, which averaged nearly 13 makes from deep per game and 41.1 percent, went just 9-for-25 (36 percent). ... One of the big advantages UF had at UNF was the low-post presence of 6-11, 255-pounder center John Egbunu (11.5 ppg, 6.5 rpg), the team's No. 2 scorer and rebounder, but the sophomore underwent season-ending surgery Thursday to repair the torn ligament in his thumb. His spot in the starting lineup will go to 6-9 freshman Kevarrius Hayes (2.1 ppg, 2.5), which looms as a substantial dropoff, but also is a big opportunity for Hayes. ... Look for the Gators perhaps to move 6-8 forward Dorian Finney-Smith (14.9 ppg, 8.2) inside for some possessions, but they will need to lean some on 6-10 sophomore Schuyler Rimmer (1.6 ppg, 1.3 rpg) for some minutes as well. UF could use a lift from sophomore forward Devin Robinson (9.3 ppg, 5.6 rpg) on the glass, what with his 6-9 length and rebounding potential. Robinson has had four double-digit rebounding games this season, but only one over the last 27 games. Robinson, though, has been one of the team's most consistent offensive players during the home stretch, with seven double-figure scoring games over the previous eight. ... Junior guard Kasey Hill (8.8 ppg) is coming off one of his finest all-around games of the season, finishing with 14 points and five steals at UNF, to pile on a terrific two-game performance at the SEC Tournament. He is on a three-game tear where he's averaged 16.6 points per game and shot nearly 53 percent from the floor.

>>> About the Buckeyes: OSU finished seventh in the Big Ten with an 11-7 record, but went 1-8 against teams above it in the standings. The Buckeyes' average margin of defeat in those games was 18.5 points, but the lone win was a good one, an upset of No. 8 Iowa in their regular-season home finale. Worth noting: OSU also beat SEC regular-season co-champion and league tournament champion Kentucky 74-67 in the CBS Sports Classic in New York on Dec. 21. ... Ohio State went 15-5 at home, but three of those losses were to heavyweights Virginia, Michigan State and Maryland. ... Like the Gators, the Buckeyes are minus one of their leading scorers and rebounders in forward Jae'Sean Tate (11.7 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 52 percent FG), who underwent season-ending shoulder surgery in late-February. Tate helped OSU become the No. 1 shot-blocking team in the country (5.3 pg). ... Junior forward Marc Loving (13.8 ppg, 5.3 rpg) leads the squad in scoring, shooting 41 percent from the floor and nearly 33 percent from the 3-point line. Forward Keita Bate-Diop (11.8 ppg, 6.4 rpg) missed the Akron game with an illness, but he's expected back for this one. ... At 6-5, Ja Quan Lyle (8.3 ppg, 4.3 apg) is a big point guard and will have a considerable size advantage on whoever matches up against him for the Gators. ... OSU is in its 12th season under Coach Thad Matta, who is 320-107 in that time.

SOME NUMBERS OF NOTE

* .571 -- Shooting percentage from the 3-point line by freshman guard KeVaughn Allen (11.4 ppg) at North Florida. Allen went into that game having converted less than 22 percent from deep over the previous seven games. He finished 4-for-7 against the Ospreys, but hit four of his first five to help set the game's tone. Allen has 389 points for the season and is trying to become just the sixth UF freshman in the past 20 years to score 400 points (and the first since Bradley Beal in 2011-12).

* .722 -- Egbunu's field-goal percentage over the previous three games while wearing a brace to protect the torn ligaments in his thumb (versus .581 without the brace). He was also 60 percent from the free-throw braced versus 52.7 without it.

* 3 -- Losses by the Buckeyes against teams ranked 150 or lower in the Ratings Percentage Index (Texas-Arlington, Louisiana Tech and Memphis). The Gators had just one loss to an opponent below the RPI 100 line (Tennessee).

* 20.3 -- Ohio State's average margin of defeat in three cracks at Big Ten Tournament champion Michigan State, with losses of 19 points, 15 and 27. Florida lost at Michigan State 58-52 on Dec. 12. What does that mean? Nothing. It's just interesting.

* 2001 -- The last time the Gators hit at least 16 treys in a game (like they did at North Florida). Seven different players hit 16 3s for UF on Nov. 28, 2001 in a 131-72 win over New Hampshire.

WATCH FOR IT

Hayes has played limited minutes this season, but is prone to getting in foul trouble. If that trend continues, using Finney-Smith at the "5" and Robinson at the "4" and playing three guards may be the way the Gators have to go. Yes, they'll surrender size, but with Egbunu out options are limited.