Pregame Stuff: Florida vs Florida Southern, Tuesday (7 pm)

Pregame Stuff: Florida vs Florida Southern, Tuesday (7 pm)

Monday, October 29, 2018 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry

By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer

EXHIBITION
FLORIDA vs FLORIDA SOUTHERN

When: Tuesday, 7 p.m. (EST)
Where: Exactech Arena/O'Connell Center, Gainesville, Fla.
Records: None
TV: None
Radio: None

Exactech Arena/O'Connell Center is the site of Tuesday night's exhibition game and preview to the 2018-19 season.

STAKES (The Setup)

None, really. This is the annual dress rehearsal in advance of the regular season. An opportunity for the players to get into game mode in front of the home crowd, for the coaches to test their rotation ideas, and the fans to see their new team for the first time. ... Florida has won 28 straight exhibition matches, including the last six years against opponents from the Division II Sunshine State Conference. Last year, it was Tampa. Before that: Eckerd, Palm Beach Atlantic, Barry, and FSC, respectively. ... Florida leads the all-time regular-season series against the Moccasins 27-6. Yes, the two used to play quite often (read on). ... The Gators last played the Mocs, who call Lakeland home, in an exhibition heading into the 2013-14 season (which ended in the Final Four), winning 110-88, behind 28 points from forward Casey Prather and a 19-point, eight-rebound effort from center Patric Young.

PROBABLE STARTERS

Florida	Pos.	Ht.	Wt.	Class	Per Game
Keith Stone	F	6-8	253	R-Junior	8.8 pts / 4.3 reb
Kevarrius Hayes	F	6-9	226	Senior	4.8 pts / 5.0 reb
Jalen Hudson	G	6-6	195	R-Senior	15.5 pts / 3.9 reb
KeVaughn Allen	G	6-2	193	Senior	11.1 pts / 2.4 reb
Andrew Nembhard	PG	6-5	191	Freshman	N/A

SUBS	Pos.	Ht.	Wt.	Class	Per Game
Mike Okauru	G	6-3	184	Sophomore	3.8 pts / 1.0 reb
Dontay Bassett	F	6-9	237	R-Sophomore	1.7 pts / 1.6 reb
Deaundrae Ballard	G	6-5	197	Sophomore	3.7 pts / 1.7 reb
Chase Johnson	F	6-9	219	R-Freshman	4.3 pts / 2.0 reb
Isaiah Stokes	F	6-8	275	R-Freshman	N/A
Noah Locke	G	6-3	205	Freshman	N/A
Keyontae Johnson	F	6-5	225	Freshman	N/A

STUFF (Need-to-Know Info)

ABOUT THE GATORS: Coach Mike White is entering his fourth season at UF with a 69-37 record and NCAA berths in each of the last two seasons. The Gators return three starters from the 2017-18 squad that finished 21-13, including 11-7 in the Southeastern Conference, which was good enough for fourth place. Florida advanced to third-round play of the NCAA Tournament as a No. 6 seed, but lost to third-seeded Texas Tech 66-63 in the round of 32 at Dallas. ... The two starters lost, record-setting point guard Chris Chiozza and forward Egor Koulechov, were offensive catalysts and key components on a team that was forced to play small ball due to injuries and lack of productivity in the front court. Once again, UF is unproven up front, with the exception of Kevarrius Hayes, but his strength is energy and help defense, not offense. ... Swingman Jalen Hudson (45.5 percent from the floor, 40.8 from the 3-point line) led the team in scoring last season and made strides on the defensive end. A preseason All-SEC second-teamer, Hudson figures to be better on both ends this season. ... Shooting guard KeVaughn Allen will start his final season as the No. 30 scorer in school history with 1,297 points, but is coming off career lows in scoring average, field-goal and 3-point shooting percentage, rebounds and steals. ... "Stretch-4" forward Keith Stone shot 42.2 percent from the arc last season. ... Point guard Andrew Nembhard, the most decorated signee of White's tenure, is a different kind of point guard than predecessors Chiozza and, before that, Kasey Hill. He's tall, rangy and can get in the lane and do some damage finding cutters and shooters or use his

height to finish at the rim. ... Mike Okauru had just 21 assists in 34 games last season, but will be asked to run the point, as well. ... Forward Dontay Bassett's role increased in the second half of the '17-18 season, including 24 minutes in UF's upset of eventual SEC co-champ Auburn. Meanwhile, guard Deaundrae Ballard's role decreased over the course of the campaign. After averaging 14.2 minutes through 16 games, he hit double-figure minutes just four times the rest of the season. Ballard, more of a slasher/scorer than shooting, hit 38 percent from the floor and only 15 from the arc, but worked on his shot during the offseason . ... Forward Chase Johnson, a terrific athlete who can really run the floor, played just four games last season before a series of concussions shut him down for the year. He made six of 12 field-goals and five of six free throws in 33 minutes. Classmate Isaiah Stokes came to UF last year on the mend from a knee injury suffered as a a senior in high school. He was not cleared for full-contact basketball activities until July. He'll make his Florida debut in this one. Both Johnson and Stokes received medical red-shirts last season for '17-18. ... Along with Nembhard, guard Noah Locke (excellent shooter) and forward Keyontae Johnson (best athlete on the team) also will make their O'Dome debuts, with each member of the three-man freshman class figuring prominently in the '18-19 rotation. ... Center Gorjok Gak, the 6-foot-11 junior still rehabbing from offseason knee surgery, will

not play. ... ABOUT THE MOCCASINS: They're coached by Mike Donnolly, who is 42-48 after four seasons at FSC. The team went 21-11 last year and 13-7 in SSC play, while advancing to the second round of the Division ll NCAA Tournament. The year before, the Mocs reached the D-II Elite Eight. ... Jonathan Lawson, a 6-2 guard, was a first-team All-SSC selection last season after averaging 22.2 points a game and shooting 41 percent from the 3-point line. ... Brett Hanson, another 6-2 guard, was good for 18.0 points per game last season and was the Mocs' leader in minutes played at 36.2. ... FSC's tallest player is 6-7 forward Jack Rauch (8.8 ppg, 6.3 rpg), so UF should enjoy a size advantage down low. ... Their starting five is comprised of three seniors and two juniors, so this is a battle-tested bunch.

STATS (Some Numbers of Note)

Senior guard KeVaughn Allen tops the Gators with the most career starts at 99.

* 1 — Weeks until the regular-season opener, set for Nov. 6 at Florida State. The Seminoles have beaten the Gators four straight (the longest such string for FSU in the series history) and return the core of a squad that reached the NCAA West Region final, falling one win shy of the Final Four.

* 10 — UF players who started at least one game last season. Eight of those 10 are back this season.

* 33 — All-time meetings (believe it or not) between Florida and Florida Southern, dating to the first in 1923, won by the Gators 25-15. UF and FSC last met in the regular season on Dec. 18, 1982, with the Gators winning 72-62 on a neutral floor in Orlando.

* 67.2 — Percentage of scoring from last season that is back this season for the Gators, as in 1,733 of the 2,577 points.

* 2001 — The last year Florida lost an exhibition game. After playing three regular-season games (including wins over Temple and Florida State) to start the '01-02 regular season, the Gators were beaten by the EA Sports All-Stars 100-96 behind 34 points from former Gonzaga standout Richie Frahm and 19 more from former UF star Kenyan Weaks. Two weeks later, Florida defeated 24th-ranked Michigan State.

STATEMENT (Random thought)

In last year's exhibition game, University of Tampa power forward Duke Shelton actually banged on the Gators for a double-double (22 points, 11 rebounds), which in hindsight represented something of an omen, given Florida's season-long struggles both scoring and defending the post. White, in fact, shook the Spartan big man's hand in the post-game line and told Shelton the Gators might have just gotten him drafted. So, yes, there is stuff to be gleaned from in these games.