Gators Bear Down for Big 12 Challenge

Saturday, January 27

Gainesville, FL

12 PM

Florida Gators

Baylor

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KeVaughn Allen probes the South Carolina defense during Wednesday's loss.

Gators Bear Down for Big 12 Challenge

Friday, January 26, 2018 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry

UF and Baylor will square off in the opener of Saturday's 10-game SEC/Big 12 Challenge.

By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — For two years, the SEC/Big 12 Challenge was played on Tuesday and Wednesday nights in early December. That was in 2013 and 2014. Predictably, the cross-sectional buffet of top-shelf, non-league games got lost in the sports news cycle, what with TV talking heads crunching the BCS or College Football Playoff numbers, or breaking down the home stretch of the NFL seasons.

That's when ESPN came up with the magnificent idea of moving the games to late-January — to the weekend between the NFL conference championship games and the Super Bowl, with just the routine sports calendar to challenge — and market its unique brand to the Saturday hoops fan.

So, here we are.

Ten games over nine hours, starting with Saturday's high-noon showdown between No. 20 Florida (14-6) and Baylor (12-7) at Exactech Arena/O'Connell Center. The game, which has been sold out for weeks, will give way later to the likes of No. 14 Texas Tech at South Carolina, No. 12 Oklahoma at Alabama, No. 22 Tennessee at Iowa State, Texas A&M at No. 5 Kansas, and, for the nightcap, Kentucky at No. 7 West Virginia.

[Read senior writer Chris Harry's "Pregame Stuff" setup here]

Former UF forward Dorian Finney-Smith plays to the crowd during the Gators' 88-71 blowout of ninth-ranked West Virginia in the 2016 SEC/Big 12 Challenge at the O'Connell Center.

For what it's worth, UF is 3-1 in the SEC/Big 12 event, which stands as the best record in the league among teams that have participated all four years. Baylor is 4-0 and the only unbeaten team from the two conferences.

In a lot of ways, these games provide a break from the conference grind, while providing a taste of an unfamiliar opponent, similar to what teams might face in the postseason.

"I think it provides ample opportunity for this league to continue to improve our brand, potentially make a statement," said UF coach Mike White, whose teams defeated ninth-ranked WVU at home by 17 in 2016 and last year went to Oklahoma and handed the Sooners their worst home loss in 95 years. "For each program individually, it's the same thing. An opportunity for us to get better, to compete against a really good program, to potentially improve our numbers, and I guess, specifically for us more than anything, to get back on a winning track, potentially."

Last weekend, Florida won for just the ninth time in 62 games at Kentucky. It was a huge victory, fueled by hustle and defense on a night the Gators struggled to make shots. The same cockeyed shooting eyes showed up Wednesday night at home, where UF succumbed to that lack of offense and the in-your-face nature of South Carolina in a crucial Southeastern Conference defeat. It was a severe setback, given the high of the win in Lexington, but that one's over. Florida's next SEC game comes Tuesday night at Georgia, the first of 10 more league games. UF is still very much in the conference fight, alone in second place.

First, though, come the Bears, a very big, very athletic team that is more than capable of sending the Gators into a two-game tailspin.

"We have to pay more attention to the details," junior guard and leading scorer Jalen Hudson said after the USC loss.

Such as the 3-point line.

Baylor is far and away the worst 3-point shooting team in the Big 12. In eight conference games, the Bears have shot 28.7 percent from deep and made just 4.9 from distance per game. But in 12 non-league games, Baylor made 3s that 39.8-percent efficiency and probably is salivating after watching tape of Florida's generosity when it comes to defending the arc.

South Carolina guard Wesley Myers gets off a wide-open 3-point shot on his way to dropping in five long balls and 22 points Wednesday night against the Gators.

UF ranks 317th out of 351 Division I teams at guarding the 3, and Wednesday let South Carolina, one of the SEC's least dangerous deep-ball deep, connect on 11 of 21 attempts, to help erase an 11-point first-half deficit and nine-point holes in the second-half.

So what's the problem out there?

"Oh my goodness. A bunch," White said. "Getting out of a stance. Not fighting through screens with urgency. Dying on screens. Losing sight of ball and man, and at the same time — ball-watching — and before you know it, you have a screen at your body. Over-helping on guys we shouldn't be over-helping on. Jumping at the ball on a [guy] already defended and giving up an open 3."

Got that?

All those issues were addressed the past two days at practice and will be again before SEC play resumes Tuesday.

But first, a big challenge, from a big team from the Big 12.