Pregame Stuff: Florida at Ole Miss (Saturday, 1 pm EST)
Friday, January 12, 2018 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
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A nuts and bolts look at the Gators' road trip to Oxford.
By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer
FLORIDA at MISSISSIPPI
When: Saturday, 1 p.m. (EST) Where: The Pavilion at Ole Miss, Oxford, Miss. Records: Florida (12-4, 4-0), Mississippi (9-7, 2-2) TV: CBS (Kevin Harlan and Bill Raftery) Radio: Gator IMG Sports Network (Mick Hubert and Bill Koss)
STAKES (The Setup)
The sparkling Pavilion at Ole Miss (capacity 9,500) was built for $96.5 million and opened Jan. 7, 2016.
Florida has won a season-best six straight, including its first four Southeastern Conference games, and sits alone atop the league standings with a half-game advantage on Auburn. The Gators defeated Mississippi State 71-54 at home Wednesday night and now get the other half of the Magnolia State, but on the always-difficult SEC road, where they won a pair last week at Texas A&M and Missouri. ... Ole Miss is coming off an 85-70 loss at Auburn, a game the Rebels led by 10 at halftime, only to be dominated for the second 20 minutes. They're one of seven teams jumbled in the middle of the SEC standings with either a 2-1, 2-2 or 1-2 record. ... UF leads the all-time series 65-45. The Gators are just 23-29 at Oxford, but with wins in four of the last five trips. ... UF is 1-0 at Mississippi under Coach Mike White, the Ole Miss alum and former point guard, who took his first Florida team there two years ago and won 80-71. ... The two programs' most recent meeting came last Jan. 3, with the Gators winning 70-63 in the first SEC game played at the renovated Exactech Arena/O'Connell Center. Florida got 20 points off the bench from grad-transfer forward Canyon Barry, while senior point guard Kasey Hill became the first UF player since Nick Calathes in 2009 to tally at least five points, rebounds, assists and steals in the same game. ... The Gators are 3-0 against the Rebels under White.
Deandre Burnett was a superstar shooting guard at Miami Carol City High School, where his 37 points per game ranked as the third-highest average in the country. After playing a year of prep school, he signed with the University of Miami, but sat out the entire 2013-14 season with a broken wrist and received a medical redshirt. Burnett was a backup for the Hurricanes the following year as a second-year freshman, averaging 7.0 points and 2.0 rebounds, opting to transfer after the season to Ole Miss. He sat out '15-16 and last season debuted for the Rebels as their leading scorer at 16.5 points per game, which ranked eighth in the SEC. He hit double figures 26 times, scored at least 20 points another 10 times, including a career-high 41 against Oral Roberts. Burnett can get it going inside (41.4 percent overall) and outside (38.9 percent from the arc), and if he gets fouled is a career 86.3-percent shooter at the line. He had to sit out Tuesday night's game at Auburn with flu-like symptoms, and the Rebels sorely missed his offense. On a team that plays a lineup of basically five guard-like players, Burnett is the head of the snake.
STUFF (Need-to-Know Info)
Egor KoulechovABOUT THE GATORS: White says any emotional jolt he'll get from returning to the place where he played for four seasons in the '90s likely was tapped out in that first trip back two years ago. ... UF is coming off one of its best all-around defensive performances of the season in holding Mississippi State to just 54 points, the fewest by a Florida opponent this season. ... The Gators lead the SEC in turnover margin (plus-5.1), steals per game (7.6) and 3-pointers per game (9.6), rank second in free-throw percentage (.767) and assist-to-turnover ratio (plus-1.4), and sit third in scoring offense (82.2 per game) and 3-point field-goal percentage (.393). They rank dead-last in the league in field-goal percentage defense (.440) and 3-point percentage defense (.377), but those numbers have actually improved of late. ... Swingman Jalen Hudson leads the team in scoring at 16.6 points per game, and has done so coming off the bench four of the previous six games. Hudson got the start Wednesday against MSU when point guard Chris Chiozzatook a temporary seatafter missing two days of practice with strep throat. Hudson is shooting 48.1 percent overall and 42.3 percent from 3, with a team-best 41 makes from deep. ... Chiozza has scored in double figures for eight consecutive games without it impacting his duties as floor general. He's second in the league in assists and has averaged 5.6 dimes during his eight-game scoring run. Chiozza sat out practice Thursday and will go light Friday, but will play Saturday. ... Forward Egor Koulechov is Florida's leading scorer in SEC play at 19.8 points per game, 50-percent shooting from the floor, 65 percent from 3-point range and 88.9 percent at the free-throw line. Unreal numbers, to date. ... Center Kevarrius Hayes and power forwardKeith Stone also have flourished in league competition. Hayes is averaging 7.6 points, 6.0 points and better than three blocked shots per game versus the SEC. Stone is at 11.8 points, 6.3 boards and shooting 46.7 from deep. ... Freshman guard Deaundrae Ballard(6.3 ppg, 2.3 rpg) stayed home from
The Ole Miss mascot is now a "Landshark"
Wednesday's game due to an illness and his status for the trip will be determined Friday. ... ABOUT THE REBELS: This is the 12th season under Andy Kennedy, the "dean" of coaches in the SEC, and the Rebels have a combined 241-147 mark, two NCAA Tournament appearances and six National Invitational Tournaments on his watch. Ole Miss last reached the NCAAs in 2015. ... The Rebels are averaging 78.6 in their 16 games (and shooting 43.8 percent), but only 67.0 points in the four league contests (and shooting just 35.8 percent). ... Mississippi has not beaten a team in the Ratings Percentage Index Top 50 (No. 58 South Carolina is the best win), but does have seven Top 100 losses, including at Middle Tennessee, Utah on a neutral floor, plus South Dakota State, Virginia Tech and Illinois, all at home. The Rebels' RPI as of Friday morning was 88th. ... Ole Miss lists two starting forwards, but they're best combo is basically five guards that get the ball and go, with little regard for the defensive end. The Rebels rank next-to-last in scoring defense (75.1 ppg) and 3-point percentage defense (.358). They're hamstrung by size, which shows up on the glass -- last in defensive rebounding (38.9 pg) and rebounding margin (minus-1.0) -- so anything that resembles a track meet is the goal. ... Guard Terence Davis has taken 103 shots from the beyond the 3-point line, which is more than any Florida player. He's made 34 for a percentage of 33.0. ... None of the Rebels top four scorers shoot 42 percent from the floor, but backup sophomore guard Breein Tyree is 9-for-19 from deep in four SEC games. ... In SEC play play, Ole Miss has been out-rebounded by nearly five per game (43.2 to 38.5).
STATS (Some Numbers of Note)
Rebels point guard Mike White* 8 — Times the Gators have started 5-0 in SEC play. Florida did so four times under Coach Billy Donovan (2003, 2007, 2013 and 2014), with White having a chance to become just the second coach in program history to twice win his first five league games in a season.
* 33 — Florida's place in the RPI, a huge jump from a month ago when the Gators were floating around in the 90s during their December swoon. It's especially noticeable given that both Texas A&M and Missouri, the best wins on the schedule to date, have exited the RPI Top 25.
* 380 — Assists for White as a player from 1995-99 at Mississippi, which ranks sixth on the school's all-time list. For his career, White also scored 597 points (5.1 per game), shot 36 percent from 3, and (admittedly) annually led the Rebels in fouls.
* 2015 — Year of the lone loss for UF at Oxford over the previous five visits, dating to 2010. Rebels guard Jarvis Summer sank two free throws with 3.5 seconds left to put Ole Miss ahead 72-71. On the game's final possession, Hill went the length of the floor, but failed to get a shot off in time in what turned out to be Florida's final game in the old Smith Coliseum (a.k.a. "Tad Pad) and the final trip to Oxford for Donovan. Michael Frazier II had 27 points for the Gators, hitting 6-for-8 from the 3-point line.
STATEMENT (Random thought)
For now, it's all about the energy and activity of Hayes (on both ends) and to continue getting a little something extra from Stone. The play on the perimeter, more often than not, will take care of itself.
Florida Track & Field | Claire Stegall Takes 1st in the Women's 1000m, #18 Time in NCAA History 😤Florida Track & Field | Claire Stegall Takes 1st in the Women's 1000m, #18 Time in NCAA History 😤
