Pregame Stuff: No. 7 Florida vs No. 17 Gonzaga (Friday, 11 pm)

No. 7 FLORIDA vs No. 17 GONZAGA

When: Friday, 11 p.m. (EST)
Where: Moda Center, Portland, Ore.
Records: Florida 4-0, Gonzaga 4-0
TV: ESPN (Doug Sherman, Dan Dakich and Jeff Goodman)
Radio: Gator IMG Sports Network (Ted Emrich and Mark Wise)

STAKES (The Setup)

Moda Center will be represent a virtual home venue for Gonzaga, which is located about three hours north in Spokane, Wash.

It's on to second-round play of the PK80 Invitational, where Thursday night the Gators moved into the winner's side of the Motion bracket, with a 108-87 blowout of Stanford in opening-round action. The Bulldogs, defending NCAA runner-up, got there by crushing Ohio State 86-59 in Thursday's nightcap in what amounted to a home game for Gonzaga and a fan base that only had to drive three hours from the campus in Spokane, Wash. ... Both of those games were played at the Veteran's Memorial Coliseum (once known as the Rose Garden, and the former home of the NBA Portland Trailblazers), but now the Motion bracket shifts to the sparkling Moda Center, (current home to the Blazers). ... Florida and Gonzaga will play for the fourth time. The Bulldogs lead the series 2-1, a history that includes a win in the 1999 NCAA Tournament's round of 16, but also last year's 77-72 victory in second-round play of the AdvoCare Classic at ESPN's Wide World of Sports in Orlando. In that one, the Gators led by 10 in the first half, but the Bulldogs shot 61 percent after the break, including 5-for-9 from the 3-point line. Point guard Nigel Williams-Goss had a solid night (14 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists) on his way to tournament MVP honors, as Gonzaga defeated Iowa State in the title game. UF got 18 points from forward Devin Robinson, plus 12 points and five rebounds off the bench from Canyon Barry. ... Florida is 2-5 all-time against the West Coast Conference.

STARTERS (Probable Lineups)

FLORIDA	Pos.	Ht.	Wt.	Class	Per Game
Egor Koulechov	F	6-5	205	G-Transfer	21.8 pts / 6.8 reb
Keith Stone	F	6-8	245	R-Sophomore	6.0 pts / 2.3 reb
Jalen Hudson	F	6-6	192	R-Junior	17.8 pts / 3.5 reb
KeVaughn Allen	G	6-2	193	Junior	10.3 pts / 2.3 reb
Chris Chiozza	PG	6-0	180	Senior	10.0 pts / 5.0 reb / 6.0 ast

GONZAGA	Pos.	Ht.	Wt.	Class	Per Game
Johnathan Williams	F	6-9	228	R-Senior	13.5 pts / 6.8 reb
Killian Tillie	F	6-10	215	Sophomore	11.8 pts / 9.3 reb
Corey Kispert	F	6-6	215	Freshman	11.3 pts / 5.0 reb
Silas Melson	G	6-4	215	Senior	10.0 pts / 3.5 reb / 3.0
Josh Perkins	G	6-3	190	R-Junior	15.0 pts / 2.8 reb / 3.8 ast

STANDING OUT (One to Watch)

**Josh Perkins**, the fourth-year junior from Park Hill, Colo., started at the two-guard spot last season because Gonzaga had one of the best point guards in the country in Nigel Goss-Williams. Now, Perkins is on the ball for the Bulldogs and he's terrific. Wrapped in his team-leading average of 15.0 per game is 44-percent shooting from the floor and 51.5 from 3-point range (17 of 33). He's only taken six free throws this season because he doesn't drive to score; he drives to pass. And he has to be accounted for at all times on the perimeter, as UF learned last season when he led the Bulldogs with 18 points and hit six of his nine field-goal attempts, with a pair of 3-balls.

STUFF (Need-to-Know Info)

ABOUT THE GATORS: They did a wire-to-wire number on Stanford, thanks to a ridiculous offensive first half when 13 of their 18 shots fell from the 3-point line. That's 72.2 percent. ... UF won despite a one-game suspension handed down to starting center Kevarrius Hayes (6.3 ppg, 5.7 rpg) for violating team rules. Hayes has been reinstated for this game, but is not expected to be in the starting lineup. ... Forward Egor Koulechov, who started at the power forward spot due to the Hayes suspension, maintained his torrid shooting start by going 5-for-5 from deep. He's now at 49 percent overall for the season and 56 from the 3-point line (14 of 25). ... Jalen Hudson, playing the small forward spot, also was red hot Thursday. He went for 17 points against the Cardinal, all of them coming in the first half. Hudson made four of seven from the arc. Throw in his outing in the win over New Hampshire four nights earlier, when he erupted for 22 in the second half, and Hudson poured in 39 points over a 33-minute span. ... Point guard Chris Chiozza played a near-flawless game, with 14 points, a career-high 11 assists (against just two turnovers) and four steals. ... As a team, the Gators are hitting 51.3 percent of their shots and 48.8 from distance. ... Junior shooting guard KeVaughn Allen had another un-KeVaughn kind of offensive game (just four shot attempts, 9 points), but also had four rebounds, four assists, three assists and just one turnover. ... Freshmen Deaudrae Ballard (10.3 ppg) and Mike Okauru (7.8 ppg) came off the bench against the Cardinal and hit double-figure scoring. Okauru actually

leads the team in field-goal percentage (.667). ... ABOUT THE BULLDOGS: Now in their 18th season under Coach Mark Few. In that time, Gonzaga has gone 507-113 (.818), with 18 straight NCAA berths, seven Sweet 16s, two Elite Eights and last year's run to the Final Four. ... These "Zags" are different than last year, mainly because 7-1, 300-pound center Prezmek Karnowski is gone. They play faster and push the ball more, evidenced by their team average of 94 points per game. Gonzaga beat Texas Southern by 31, Howard by 37 and Utah State by 13 before heading to Portland. Defensively, the Bulldogs held the Buckeyes to 34.5 percent from the floor. ... Including Perkins (above), the Bulldogs have two starters back from last season, plus a cast of quality backups. The other starter is power forward Johnathan Williams, who began his career at Missouri. The long and lanky lefty destroyed the Gators at Disney last season in going 8-for-9. He's at nearly 53 percent for the season and will be a tough cover for whoever gets him on the block. ... French forward Tillie Killian, another international find by Few, is at over 61-percent shooting for the young season. ... Rookie Corey Kispert is a suburban Seattle product who is scoring at 56-percent clip and 44 from 3.

STATS (Some Numbers of Note)

* .389 — Allen's field-goal percentage through the first four games, which ranks last on the team. In fairness to him, Allen is undergoing something of a role alteration, given the need to play the point guard spot.

* .682 — Florida's field-goal percentage from the 3-point line against Stanford, which set a school record for a game the Gators had at least 20 attempts.

* 2 — Combined losses by Gonzaga the last two seasons (against Brigham Young in West Coast Conference play last season, then North Carolina in the 2017 national-championship game).

* 6 — Games in UF history when the Gators have hit at least 11 3-point shots in a half. Half of those games have come in White's three seasons.

* 9 — Florida players shooting at least 50 percent from the floor, a number that includes two walk-ons, but does not include Koulechov (.492) or Allen (.394).

STATEMENT (Random thought)

At No. 17, Gonzaga is a vastly under-ranked. The Bulldogs are a top-10 team with one of the best coaches in the country. They'll be a tough out in this tournament.

Gators Calendar

Pregame Stuff: No. 7 Florida vs No. 17 Gonzaga (Friday, 11 pm)

Players Mentioned

KeVaughn Allen

Chris Chiozza

Kevarrius Hayes

Jalen Hudson

Egor Koulechov

Mike Okauru

Keith Stone

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Pregame Stuff: No. 7 Florida vs No. 17 Gonzaga (Friday, 11 pm)

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Players Mentioned

KeVaughn Allen

Chris Chiozza

Kevarrius Hayes

Jalen Hudson

Egor Koulechov

Mike Okauru

Keith Stone

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