Pregame Stuff: Florida at Georgia (Saturday, noon)
Friday, January 18, 2019 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
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By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer
FLORIDA at GEORGIA
When: Saturday, noon (EST) Where: Stegeman Coliseum, Athens, Ga. Records: Florida (9-7, 1-3); Georgia (9-7, 1-3) TV: CBS (Brad Nessler and Clark Kellogg) Radio: Gator IMG Sports Network (Mick Hubert and Lee Humphrey)
STAKES (The Setup)
Stegeman Coliseum (capacity 10,523) opened in 1964 and is the second-oldest arena in the Southeastern Conference. It underwent a $6 million renovation before the 2017-18 season.
These are two teams in dire need of a victory, with the loser falling further toward the Southeastern Conference cellar. ... Florida has lost two straight league games, both to ranked teams, falling at home last weekend to No. 3 Tennessee, then again Wednesday night at No. 24 Mississippi State. The Gators were right there for both games, down just two in the final two minutes against the Volunteers and tied with the Bulldogs inside a minute. ... Florida leads the all-time series 113-10, a record that has taken on a seismic shift since the late 1990s when the Gators started a 30-8 run in 1998. Last season was the first since 1997 that Georgia swept the regular-season series (the two are permanent home-and-home opponents), when the Bulldogs won 72-60 at Athens and 72-69 in overtime at Gainesville. In the latter, UGA forward Yante Maten single-handedly erased a six-point UF lead in the final 16 seconds of regulation when he hit a pair of 3-pointers to send the game into overtime. The Bulldogs never trailed in the extra period. Maten finished with 23 points and 10 rebounds in 41 minutes. The Gators were led by forward Egor Koulchov's 19 points and six rebounds. ... UF is 4-2 against UGA under CoachMike White.
The Bulldogs' lineup had a massive hole to fill when forward Yante Maten, one of the best players in program history, graduated, and sophomore Rayshaun Hammonds has done a nice job on that front. As a freshman, the former Georgia Class 7A Player of the Year averaged 6.7 points and 4.9 rebounds. This season, he's doubled his point output (13.4 pg), is up to 6.4 rebounds and has taken mega-steps across the board on his shooting percentages. From the floor: 42.1 percent to 50.0 percent. From the 3-point line: 28.6 percent to 38.5. From the free-throw line: 69.5 percent to nearly 84. Hammonds has reached double-figure scoring in 12 of the last 13 games, including a career-high 31 against Illinois State. If the Gators stick with their small-ball approach he'll likely have a height and reach advantage on whoever is guarding him.
STUFF (Need-to-Know Info)
Senior center/forward Kevarrius Hayes is shooting better than 68 percent from the floor this season, but has combined for just 11 field-goal attempts the last five games.
ABOUT THE GATORS: At 1-3 in SEC play, they're looking to avoid the first 1-4 start since the 1981-82 season. That's 37 years. ... The last two games represented two of the best offensive outings of the season, as far as ball movement and open looks, yet did not translate into victories. The lack of production and consistency in the front court might trigger yet another tweak to the rotation. Look for freshman Keyontae Johnson, who had arguably his best all-around game as a
Keyontae Johnson
collegian at Mississippi State (11 points, 4 rebounds, 3-for-4 from 3 in a career-high 25 minutes) to be rewarded for his play in that one. Whether that means a start remains to be seen, but maybe with a minutes increase along the lines of the last time out. The two guys taking turns at the starting "4" spot of late,Keith Stone (13 starts this season) and Jalen Hudson (three straight) went a combined 2-for-21 from the floor and 1-for-12 from the 3-point line the last two games. UF has to try something while those two work through their issues, but it's a delicate balance with the two upperclassmen as well, given their past productivity. ... Shooting guard KeVaughn Allen is up 15.8 points per game in SEC play, and has put together three straight outings of aggressiveness on the offensive end. That said, Allen can still be even more assertive; that's how much the Gators need him. ... Center/forward Kevarrius Hayes has not attempted more than three shots in any of the previous five games; in two of those games, he attempted one. It's difficult to get defenses to honor the post with that kind of imbalance or lack of a scoring threat on the block. ... With 12 points at Starkville, guard Noah Locke ran his string of consecutive double-figure scoring games to seven. In addition to being one of just two Gators averaging at least 10 points, he's at 14.2 points per game during his seven-game run, and 13.7 in SEC play. ... Point guardAndrew Nembhard had a career-worst six turnovers last time out and went just 1-for-8 from the 3-point line. Fatigue certainly may have been a factor. Without a true backup point guard, Nembhard played an exhausting 37 minutes. ... Look for more minutes from sophomore guardDeaundrae Ballard (7.4 ppg, 48.3 percent from the floor), who may do some undisciplined things on the court (at both ends), but does bring energy and scoring pop. ... Backup center/forwardDontay Bassett's career averages show 2.4 points and 2.1 rebounds, but he's at 6.0 and 4.0, respectively, the last five games. ... ABOUT THE BULLDOGS: They're in the first season under Coach Tom Crean, who went
Tom Crean
356-231 in stops at Marquette (which he took to a Final Four, alongside Dwayne Wade) and Indiana before sitting out last season and landing at Georgia. The Bulldogs' best win to date came against Georgia Tech (a middling Atlantic Coast Conference team) and their lone victory in the SEC came against winless Vanderbilt. UGA has had some close losses (to Temple and Arizona State) and some downright ugly ones (by 24 against Georgia State, by 46 against Tennessee, and 20 at home against Kentucky). As has been pointed out in this space several times, however, don't bother making any judgments based on comparative scores and/or opponents when assessing how the Gators will fare against anyone. ... Georgia averages 74.5 points per game, shoots 45.1 percent from the floor and 31 from distance. In the KenPom.com advance metrics, however, the Bulldogs rate last in the SEC in offensive efficiency, 3-point efficiency and offensive rebounding, as well as next-to-last in overall defensive efficiency. ... Forward Nicolas Claxton is the son of former UGA standout Charles Claxton, a 7-footer who roamed the league's paint back in the '90s. Claxton might be the most improved player in the SEC this season, with six double-doubles already. He had 13 points and 13 rebounds in the win over Tech. Claxton is not shooting it well from the floor, especially for a guy his size (.429), but he gets to the line a bunch. His 91 attempts are nearly twice as many as UF's team-high 49 by Allen. ... Forward Derek Ogbeide beat up on the Gators inside last season, especially in the win at Gainesville. ... Guard Tyree Crump is the Bulldogs' most prolific 3-point shooter, with 84 attempts (that's 25 more than his next closest teammate) at 38 percent. ... Guard William "Turtle" Jackson II has only reached double figures twice this season and his scoring average has been nearly cut in half from a year ago when he averaged 8.4 points per game. He had a career-high 16 points, though, against the Gators in Athens last year.
STATS (Some Numbers of Note)
Jalen Hudson (3) on the attack last March in the NCAA Tournament against Texas Tech.
* minus-4.4 — Georgia's turnover margin this season.
* plus-4.4 — Florida's turnover margin this season. The Gators, with their scoring woes, can use all the live-ball transition opportunities they can get.
* 23 — Points scored by Hudson last March 17 in UF's 69-66 loss to Texas Tech in the NCAA Tournament at Dallas. That was the last time a UF player reached 20 points in a game (Hudson has tallied 23 the last four games combined), as the Gators remain the only team among 353 Division-I programs without a 20-point scorer in a game this season.
* 223 — Games played in the Florida-Georgia series, making the Gators and Bulldogs each other's most-played opponent.
* 1924 — First year UF and UGA played. The Bulldogs won 45-24 at Athens.
STATEMENT (Random thought)
If you're White and his coaches, you have to stay some facsimile of a course with both Hudson and Stone. The two were too important and had too many solid outings last year to just file them away.
