Florida Gators

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The NCAA allows its basketball teams to stage closed-door scrimmages during the preseason, but only recently has the governing body of college athletics allowed the statistical books of those contests be opened. 

Anyone interested in what happened when Florida and South Florida got after it Saturday at Exactech Arena/O'Connell Center?
 

The Gators, who debuted Monday in the Associated Press preseason Top 25 at No. 6, got 17 points and seven rebounds from graduate-transfer forward Kerry Blackshear Jr., who hit six of his seven field-goal tries, plus 12 points off the bench from freshman guard Tre Mann in a 76-58 victory over the Bulls. UF shot 58 percent from the floor, including 13-for-24 from the 3-point line, with six different players connecting from distance. 

All told, UF put four players in double-figures, with sophomore point guard Andrew Nembhard pitching in 11 points (with a trio of 3-balls) and three steals, with sophomore shooting guard Noah Locke tallying 10 points. Sophomore forward Keyontae Johnson had six points and six boards. 

"I thought we looked really, really good," Nembhard said. "I like this group a lot." 

The performance was far from perfect, which is actually OK this time of year, as it gives the coaches plenty to focus on. Like the team's 20 turnovers (Nembhard had four, three other players had three), with some of the errors rooted in miscommunication, if not first-game jitters for a team with five freshmen that played, four of whom logged more than 15 minutes.

The Gators started slow and had some lapses on defense early, but ultimately squared up to limit USF to 43-percent shooting for the game (just 7-for-22 from the 3-point line) and force 21 turnovers. UF scored 43 points after halftime and led by 20 with 37 seconds remaining. 

"It was highly competitive," Florida coach Mike White said. "I really liked the aura in the gym. I think our guys are in a really good place mentally right now and came in with a good approach to working and improving." 

The game was tied at 24 when Blackshear hit the first of his three 3-pointers (he was perfect from the arc) with just over six minutes left in the first period to help Florida open a 33-28 halftime lead. 

UF started the second half with back-to-back 3s from Nembhard and Locke to go up 11, but a run of nine straight points midway through the period opened a cushion the Gators took to 15 when freshman point guard Ques Glover (5 points) found classmate Scottie Lewis (6 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists) for one of his two 3s. Florida went nine of 13 from the arc after halftime. 

Noteworthy: The Gators started Blackshear, Johnson, Lewis, Locke and Nembhard. That unit hit 19 of its 30 shots (63.3 percent), but also accounted for 14 of the 20 turnovers. … Mann hit five of his nine shots and was two of five from deep. … Freshman forward Omar Payne played nearly 16 minutes with two fourth-year bigs, Dontay Bassett (held out Saturday with a knee bruise, but back at practice Monday) and Gorjok Gak (out indefinitely with a dislocated shoulder) sidelined for the game. Payne scored six points and grabbed three rebounds. … Glover played more than 19 minutes. … Lewis hit both his attempts from the arc and played nearly 27 minutes. … Freshman center Jason Jitoboh, having lost nearly 30 pounds since arriving on campus in July, impressed his coaches in nine-plus minutes. He had just three points, went 1-for-5 from the free-throw line, grabbed one rebound and was hit with four fouls, but he's moving so much better than two months ago— and he's still enormous at 6-foot-11 1/2 and around 295 pounds. … Rebounding was basically even (UF 27-26), with a big edge for the Gators in bench points (26-10). The Gators scored 26 points off turnovers, to the Bulls' 15, and were outscored, 20-18, in the paint. … NCAA rules prevent schools from promoting the closed scrimmages in advance and allow only so-called "essential" personnel and support staff to attend. … The 2019-20 Gators will make their public debut Oct. 28 with a preseason game against Division II Lynn University, out of the Sunshine State Conference, at the O'Dome.