Pregame Stuff: Florida vs South Carolina (Sunday, 2:20 pm)
Saturday, March 25, 2017 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
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A nuts and bolts look at the Gators' date with Gamecocks in the Elite Eight.
By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer
NCAA EAST REGION
FLORIDA vs SOUTH CAROLINA
When: Sunday, 2:20 p.m. (ET) Where: Madison Square Garden, New York. Records: Florida 27-8; South Carolina 25-10 TV: CBS (Verne Lundquist, Jim Spanarkel and Allie LaForce) Radio: Gator IMG Sports Network (Mick Hubert and Mark Wise)
STAKES (The Setup)
Chris Chiozza is mobbed by teammates after his Friday night heroics against Wisconsin.
Who would have thought two Southeastern Conference teams would meet with a chance to go to the Final Four? Yet, here they are, Florida and South Carolina, lined up to play for a third time this season with a date in NCAA East final at the greatest sports arena in the world. The fourth-seeded Gators, in case you were asleep (and you may have been), got here with the help of a miracle very late Friday night in the wee hours of Saturday morning when guard Chris Chiozza went the length of the court and floated a 3-point shot at the buzzer of overtime for an 84-83 win that instantly took its place among the all-time moments in UF basketball history -- and NCAA Tournament history. The Gamecocks, built on defense and toughness, earned their spot by punishing No. 3-seed Baylor 70-50 in the early semifinal. ... Florida is in the Elite Eight for the 10th time in in school history, the seventh time in 12 years and the fifth time over the previous seven seasons. South Carolina, which had not been in the NCAA Tournament since 2004, will play in its first regional final in school history. ... UF improved to 42-15 in its 18 NCAA tourneys, including 9-1 in the Sweet 16. ... USC is 5-8 in in its nine all-time tournament appearances and entered the 2017 field with just two all-time NCAA wins. The Gamecocks have surpassed that the last two weekends with wins over 9th-seeded Virginia Tech, second-seeded Duke and the upset of Baylor. ... Florida and South Carolina split their two games during the regular season, with the Gamecocks winning 57-53 on Jan. 18 at Columbia, holding the Gators to 0-for-17 from the 3-point line, and UF returning serve in Gainesville with an 81-66 victory on Feb. 21. In that one, sophomore guard KeVaughn Allen scored 26 points, going 13-for-14 from the free-throw line, to go with seven rebounds and three assists. ... Florida is 44-24 all-time in its series against South Carolina, which dates to 1926. ... The game will mark the first time since the 1986 South Region final, when LSU upset Kentucky, that two SEC teams have met in an NCAA Tournament game. STARTERS (Probable Lineups)
He was one of the best both-ends players in the country this season. Now, senior guard Sindarius Thornwell, the heart of soul of the Gamecocks, is in the national spotlight after leading the USC program to unprecedented heights. After finishing 1/10th of a percentage point behind Kentucky's Malik Monk for the SEC scoring title, Thornwell has averaged 25.7 points, 5.7 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.0 steals in the three NCAA wins over Marquette, Duke and Baylor. In the two games against Florida, his numbers were 21.5 points per game, in great part thanks to 20-for-25 shooting from the free-throw line, a testament to his ranking eighth in the nation with 203 free-throw attempts. His tenacity and productivity -- again, on offense and defense -- makes him the head of the Gamecocks' snake, if you will. Everything goes through and feeds off him. The Gators won't stop or contain him. They just have to make sure he doesn't make the killer plays at the biggest moments.
STUFF (Need-to-Know Info)
KeVaughn AllenABOUT THE GATORS: They're now 48-23 in two seasons under Coach Mike White. Of more immediate concern, they're 3-0 in the NCAA Tournament with White on the sideline. Not bad for a coach who went 11 seasons as an assistant (four at Jacksonville State, seven at Ole Miss), plus four seasons as a head coach at Louisiana Tech, without ever making the tournament. ... UF has gotten here mostly with defense, allowing tourney opponents to shoot just 40.4 percent from the floor and forcing an average of 14.6 turnovers per game and converting them into a combined 50 points. The Gators' defense let the Badgers shoot 52.2 percent, but UW's 16 turnovers were five more than the average for a team that prides itself in taking care of the ball. ... While Chiozza was the story of the game -- and entire Sweet 16 round, by the way -- the Gators were delighted to see shooting guard KeVaughn Allen awaken from his funk. After going 3-for-21, including 1-for-13 from the 3-point line, in two regional games at Orlando, Allen poured in a career-high 35 points against the Badgers, setting a UF single-game NCAA record. Allen started the game ice cold, but hit eight of his last 12 field-goal attempts and four 3-pointers. In the loss at South Carolina two months ago, Allen scored one point and took only three shots against the Gamecocks' savagely aggressive defense. ... Other than Allen, no other UF player scored in double figures against UW, though six tallied at least seven. Among those was reserve forward Canyon Barry (11.8 ppg), who had four points and that LeBron-esque chase-down blocked shot in the final 30 seconds that, in essense, saved the game. ... The starting forward tandem of Justin Leon and Devin Robinsoncombined for 14 points and 13 rebounds, with center Kevarrius Hayes going for seven points and eight rebounds, but also went just 4-for-9 from the free-throw line and turned the ball over three times. ... Chiozza (let's not forget him) went for eight points, four rebounds, five assists and a steal in 30 minutes. He also went 1-for-2 from the 3-point arc. It was a big "1." ... ABOUT THE GAMECOCKS: Basically, there's nothing the Gators don't know about them -- and vice versa. South Carolina, now with a school-record 25 wins in the fifth season under Coach Frank Martin (95-73), thrives on its in-your-face defense, evidenced by the hyena act unleashed Friday on Baylor, which was held to 30.4 percent, just 3-for-13 from deep and turned the ball over 16 times. The Gamecocks rank No. 2 in the nation in defensive efficiency, according to KenPom's advance metrics, and have held opponents to just 64.8 points, 39.8-percent shooting and 29.9 percent from the 3-point line, each of those digits ranking first in their league. ... USC wasn't known for breaking the scoreboard during the regular season -- the Gamecocks managed just 53 points in its SEC Tournament quarterfinal loss to Alabama -- but in three NCAA games it's put up 93, 88 and 70. The difference? Guys like P.J. Dozier (12 points, 6 rebounds vs Baylor), Duane Notice (17 points, 4 rebounds vs Duke) and backup guard Rakym Felder (5.8 ppg, plus 15 off the bench vs Duke) have been more consistent, hit opportune shots and fed off their defense for transition opportunites. Also, power forward Chris Silver, who fouled out of 10 games during the season (including four straight during SEC play), has managed to stay in the game, which makes them a much more complete team and prevents opponents from putting extra attention to Thornwell. ... USC ranks fifth nationally in turnovers forced per game (17.3), so the Gators need to stress ball security and thus avoid the Gamecocks any easy transition baskets.
STATS (Some Numbers of Note)
* .311 — Allen's shooting percentage in the NCAA Tournament, based on 14-for-45, including 5-for-25 (20 percent) from the 3-point line. Canyon Barry* 7 — Years since the last time the Gators hit a true buzzer-beater to win a game. That was Chandler Parsons when he chucked in a 3-pointer to defeat South Carolina 58-56 at the O'Connell Center in 2010.
* 7.0 — NCAA Tournament scoring average from Barry, UF's second-leading scorer. He's 4-for-12 from the floor and 1-for-5 from deep, but 12-for-13 from the free-throw line. Even with the usual productivity Allen and Barry, the Gators continue to win.
* 7.3 — Leon's rebounding average in the tournament, nearly double his 3.7 average during the regular season.
* 1973 — The last time the Gamecocks won an NCAA Tournament game before this season, beating Texas Tech 78-70. They were one-and-done in '74, '89, '97 and '98 as SEC co-champion and a No. 2- and 3-seed respectively, and '04. Their 20-point margin against Baylor was the largest for the Gamecocks in NCAA play.