Pregame Stuff: Auburn at Florida (Saturday, 8:30 pm)
Friday, February 23, 2018 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
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A nuts and bolts look at the Gators' home game against the No. 10 Tigers.
By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer
FLORIDA vs No. 12 AUBURN
When: Saturday, 8:30 p.m. (EST) Where: Exactech Arena/O'Connell Center, Gainesville, Fla. Records: Florida (17-11, 8-7); Auburn (24-4, 12-3) TV: SEC Network (Dave Neal and Jon Sundvold) Radio: Gator IMG Sports Network (Mick Hubert and Mark Wise)
STAKES (The Setup)
The Gators already have lost five home games this season, equaling the most of any of the previous 21 seasons.
Florida has lost three straight in Southeastern Conference play, as well as six of the last eight, and is teetering on the brink of playing itself out of the NCAA Tournament picture. The Gators have a nice helping of so-called "Quadrant 1" wins that will impress the tournament's selection committee, but don't have enough wins in general -- and too many losses to lower-tier SEC teams, regardless of how competitive the league has shown to be. Auburn, meanwhile, is enjoying a season for the ages, albeit under a gathering cloud of NCAA misconduct. Nonetheless, the Tigers need only to win one of of their final three regular-season games to capture a share of the program's first SEC championship since 1999. Auburn is coming off a 90-71 blowout of rival Alabama, but just four nights earlier was beaten handily, 84-75, on the road at South Carolina, which at the time had lost six straight. That, right there, is the league in a nutshell. ... Auburn leads the all-time series 87-78, but Florida has won the last 10 meetings, including a wild 114-95 road victory when the two last played on Feb. 14, 2017, totaling the most points scored against Tigers in 25 years. In that one, the Gators put seven players in double figures, thanks to a 64-point second half that broken open a boat race that was tied at 50 at halftime. Grad forward Canyon Barry came off the bench to lead all scorers with with 30 points, starting forwards Devin Robinson and Justin Leon combined for 24 points and 14 rebounds, as the Gators shot 58 percent in the second half, including 78 percent from the 3-point line (7 of 9). The game, however, was otherwise noted for the loss of center John Egbunu to a season-ending knee injury that not only impacted last season, but has undermined the current one as well. STARTERS (Probable Lineups)
For the third time in four games, UF faces a player very much in the running for 2018 SEC Player of the Year. Georgia's Yante Maten did the Gators in. So did Tennessee's Grant Williams. ... [Heck, in between, so did Vanderbilt's Jeff Roberson, who is in line for first-team all-league honors, to be sure] ... Now comes junior shooting guard Bryce Brown, who has more than doubled his scoring production of a year ago and now sits as the No. 7 scorer in the SEC at 16.4 points per game. Brown is shooting 41 percent overall, but a robust 39.3 from the 3-point arc with a league-high 90 makes from deep. He's taken nearly twice as many 3s than 2s (229 to 120). What makes Brown so dangerous is that he's not the only Tiger who scares you offensively. A bunch of them can fill it out. Auburn is a scoring machine that is playing with confidence and flair. Brown exudes both.
STUFF (Need-to-Know Info)
Jalen HudsonABOUT THE GATORS: Despite the loss at Tennessee, the UF coaches and players were encouraged by the overall effort, defense and second-half execution of the offense. Unfortunately, the first-half effort was an 18-point disaster. Fortunately, the Florida defense kept things close -- UF had its chances after erasing a 10-point lead and three times closed within one -- but the inability to hit open shots was the Gators' undoing. ... Since destroying Baylor in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge, they're shooting just 40.2 percent from the floor as a team. Over the last 10 games, the Gators have reached 70 points just three times. Over the previous nine SEC games, the Gators are shooting 29.1 percent from the 3-point line. ... Point guard Chris Chiozza had his best all-around game in weeks against the Volunteers, accounting for 14 of the team's 21 field goals by scoring 11 points and dishing nine assists. Chiozza, though, missed both his free-throw attempts in the game, including the front end of a one-and-one, and has now missed his last four from the line, dating back three games. ... Shooting guard KeVaughn Allen registered his first scoreless game since the fourth SEC game of his freshman season; a run of 84 games. Allen took just three shots in 29 minutes, did not get to the free-throw line and grabbed two rebounds. He's totaled just 37 points over the last five games. ... Against Tennessee, forwards Egor Koulechov and Keith Stone, plus Allen, plus backup guards Mike Okauru and Deaundrae Ballard combined to go 4-for-28 from the floor. That's 20 percent. Throw in swingman and leading scorer Jalen Hudson(14.8 ppg), who was just 4-for-11, the Gators' perimeter players (sans Chiozza, who went 5-for-10) were just 10 of 41 (.243). ... Center Kevarrius Hayes had nine points, eight rebounds and at 4-for-5 from the floor gave UF an inside presence against the Vols. Auburn is not a big team, so Hayes should have some opportunities in the post. It'll be up to him to finish them. ... ABOUT THE TIGERS: Auburn is 68-55 in four seasons under Coach Bruce Pearl (530-223 in 23 seasons), who came out of the studio at ESPN (and NCAA jail) to resurrect a program that was in horrible shape. He's done that, to be sure, but at what cost? The Tigers are under the scrutiny of both
Auburn forward Mustapha Heron
the NCAA and the FBI, with the confluence of both investigations suggesting this won't end well for the program. In the interim, however, Auburn is threatening to run away with the league, spurred on by an exciting, high-scoring brand of basketball, with its lone losses coming on a neutral floor to Temple back in November, plus league foes Alabama, Texas A&M (only home loss of the season) and South Carolina. ... The Tigers lead the SEC in scoring (84.9 ppg), scoring margin (plus-12.4), free-throw percentage (.781), steals (7.6 pg), 3-pointers per game (9.9) and blocked shots (5.8), and rate second in turnover margin (plus-3.2). What do they do poorly? Not much. Auburn does not rank in the bottom two of any statistical category. ... Their season was supposed to go off a cliff when two-thirds of the front court, 6-10 center and first-round draft prospect Austin Wiley and forward Daniel Purifoy, were suspended just before the opener after their names were tied to the high-profile FBI investigation into college basketball recruiting. The Tigers, however, have played better without Wiley and Purifoy. Case in point: With them, Auburn lost to Division II Barry University in an exhibition game. ... Guard Mustapha Heron, who ranks eighth in the SEC in scoring just behind Brown, did not play Wednesday against Alabama due to a stomach virus. The Tigers still won by 19. Heron will be back for this game. He's not a great 3-point shooter (.317), but that doesn't deter him from taking them. At 103, he's one of three Tigers with over 100 attempts from deep. He makes shots from everywhere else, though. Try 45 percent overall and 80.8 from the free-throw line. ... Point guard Jared Harper is the one who makes the Tigers go. He's just 5-10, but like his diminutive UF counterpart, his speed kills. So do his jumper (which he'll launch from anywhere), at nearly 40 percent from the 3-point line. When fouled, he makes those too (.826). ... Forward Desean Murray is just 6-3, but he leads the team in rebounding at 7.0 per game. ... Forward and top-flight sophomore sub Anfernee McLemore (7.4 ppg, 5.3 rpg) suffered a season-ending leg injury last week, leaving his nearly 20 minutes per game to be shared by junior Horace Spencer (4.3 ppg, 4.7 rpg) and freshman Chuma Okeke (7.9 ppg, 5.3 rpg).
STATS (Some Numbers of Note)
Florida's recent run of sub-.60-percent from the free-throw line won't cut it down the stretch, especially against a high-scoring bunch like Auburn.
* .592 — Free-throw percentage for the Gators during their current three-game losing streak. Those three losses came by a combined 11 points, and the three opponents converted at 80.3 percent.
* 17 — Assists needed by Chiozza to pass Erving Walker as Florida's all-time leader, a fairly amazing achievement given that Chiozza has started less than half of his 133 career games. Chiozza is at 531 career assists. Walker (2008-12) tallied 547.
* 78 —Offensive rebounds on the season for Murray, the Auburn small forward. That's 10 more than any Florida player has grabbed and is a loud indicator of how much effort Murray, at jut 6-3, plays with. That effort spills over to his teammates.
* 114 — Points UF scored against Auburn last season, which stand as a record for the most by a Florida team in an SEC game in its 84 years in the league. The previous record was set Feb. 3, 1975 in a 107-104 double-overtime win at Mississippi State.
* 2009 — The last year that Auburn defeated Florida. That one was a 61-58 win in the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament in Tampa.
STATEMENT (Random thought)
If the Gators play as hard on defense as they did Wednesday at Tennessee, they'll have a chance. If the Gators shoot the way the have of late, they won't.
