Pregame Stuff: Missouri at Florida (Saturday, 4 pm)
Friday, February 22, 2019 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
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By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer
FLORIDA vs MISSOURI
When: Saturday, 4 p.m. (ET) Where: Exactech Arena/O'Connell Center, Gainesville, Fla. Records: Florida (15-11, 7-6), Missouri (12-13, 3-10) TV: ESPNU (Beth Mowins and Jon Sundvold) Radio: Gator IMG Sports Network (Mick Hubert and Lee Humphrey)
STAKES (The Setup)
UF 2018-19 freshmen (from left) Keyontae Johnson, Andrew Nembhard and Noah Locke pose in the throwback uniforms the Gators will wear Saturday as the program celebrates the 25th anniversary of the 1993-94 team that went to the first Final Four in school history.
Florida is playing its best basketball of the season, what with three straight victories, including two on the road against opponents (Alabama and No. 13 LSU) that gave the Gators a couple precious "Quadrant 1" victories in the NET metric system that will be used to gather the 68-team NCAA Tournament field. Missouri does not present such a challenge. Not even close. The Tigers, actually, have lost four of the previous five, and sits in 12th place in the 14-team Southeastern Conference, but the Gators need be weary of any element of complacency. ... It'll be "90s Day" at the O'Dome, with the 1993-94 team -- the first in program history to reach a Final Four -- being honored at halftime and the current team wearing retro uniforms similar to that season 25 years ago. ... Florida leads the all-time series 6-2, including a win Jan. 6, 2018, at Columbia, Mo., where senior point guard Chris Chiozzastole a pass with less than four seconds left and went the length of the floor for a layup with .01 on the clock to give the Gators a 77-75 road win. UF got 16 points off the bench from guard Jalen Hudson that day, another 15 points and eight rebounds from forward Egor Koulechov and 13 points and six assists from Chiozza. ... Florida is unbeaten at home against the Tigers, who joined the SEC (along with Texas A&M) when the league expanded for the 2012-13 season. ... The Gators are 3-0 vs. the Tigers under Coach Mike White.
Jordan Geist probably has a special place in his heart for Florida -- and not a good one. It was Geist who threw the pass last season that Chiozza turned into the basketball version of a pick-6 in one of the Gators' most dramatic victories in years. Geist is an Indiana kid (from Fort Wayne) and led his high school team to the Class 4A state championship there. The 6-foot-2, 180-pounder is a steady and heady player, who leads the Tigers in scoring at 14.1 points per game, plus 4.7 rebounds and 3.2 assists. Geist is shooting nearly 43 percent from the floor and 36.5 from the 3-point line (with a team-high 54 makes on the season). Though he may not overwhelm with athleticism (especially facing a team like LSU), he is a crafty player who uses spin moves and extra pivots to outsmart defenders and get his shot off. He went for 25 points and 11 rebounds in the Tigers' hard-fought loss to LSU, so he's more than capable of making things difficult for the Gators if they don't come to the arena with their collective minds right.
STUFF (Need-to-Know Info)
Florida's players celebrate as the final buzzer sounds Wednesday night against No. 13 LSU at Baton Rouge.
ABOUT THE GATORS: The win at LSU marked the first time this season the senior trio of guardKeVaughn Allen, swingman Jalen Hudson and center Kevarrius Hayes all reached double-figure scoring in the same game. Allen, of course, was sensational in scoring all 21 of his points after halftime, including 12 in overtime, with back-breaking back-to-back 3-pointers inside the final two-plus minutes of the extra period. Hudson came off the bench to score 15, equaling his season high, with a dozen
KeVaughn Allen (5) and Kevarrius Hayes vs LSU
of those coming in the first half. Hayes, though in a smidgeon of foul trouble, went 4-for-4 from the floor on his way to 10 points, seven rebounds and two blocked shots. ... So what's more impressive? What the three seniors did on the road or what the three freshmen did? The triumvirate of point guard Andrew Nembhard, Noah Locke and Keyontae Johnsonwere superb, as well. Nembhard, while facing arguably the SEC's most explosive point guard in Tremont Waters, scored eight points, dished eight assists, had three steals and just two turnovers over a career-high 42 minutes. Locke, after two games where he combined for two points while dealing with chronic hip/groin pain that flared up last week, poured in 15 points, including a trio of 3s and two game-icing free throws with 8.6 seconds left. Johnson had seven points and six rebounds against the most ferocious rebounding team in the league. He not only hit a driving, finger-roll bank shot for UF's last field goal of regulation, but had the drive and kick-out pass to Locke for a 3-ball that gave the Gators a lead in overtime they never gave back. ... After going four straight games without a 3-point field goal, Hudson (7.1 ppg) has gone 4-for-11 over the past two games from distance. He also has double-figure scoring in three of the previous four (and four of the previous six). Over the last two weeks, Hudson is averaging 11.3 points a game. ... Locke has 70 made 3s this season, which rates as the third most by a freshman in UF history. He needs only five to pass Anthony Roberson (2002-03) as the program's most prolific 3-point shooting freshman. ... ABOUT THE TIGERS: They're in the second season under Cuonzo Martin, who has a mark of 32-26 at Mizzou, including a berth in the 2018 NCAA Tournament. As a No. 8 seed,
Jeremiah Tilmon
the Tigers lost to Florida State in second-round action of the West Region. ... Just like last year, Missouri lost its best player to injury before the season started. Just like last year, his name was Porter. This time, it was 6-foot-10 sophomore forward Jontay Porter, the younger brother of 2018 Denver Nuggets NBA lottery pick Michael Porter, the No. 1-ranked freshman in the country who made his collegiate debut in the SEC Tournament and played the one NCAA game. The 6-foot-11, 240-pound Jontay, an SEC All-Freshman team selection last season, blew out his knee during preseason practice in an equally stunning blow to the program. ... The Tigers are the lowest-scoring team in the league (67.6 ppg), ranking just ahead of the Gators (68.9). Unlike Florida, though, Missouri doesn't counter poor offense with great defense. The Tigers are allowing 68.8 points a game, including nearly 75 a game against SEC competition. ... Mizzou's biggest wins this season came against UCF in overtime and Xavier, while also beating Texas A&M, Vanderbilt and Arkansas in league play. Seven of the Tigers' 10 conference losses have come by double figures, but they did give No. 5 Kentucky a game Tuesday night before falling 76-68 at home. ... Forward Jeremiah Tilmon is shooting 56 percent overall, but has only one 3-point attempt on the season. He'll stay inside, which will allow UF's best low-post defender, Hayes, to stay where he's most efficient, as well. ... Backup forward Mark Smith (11.4 ppg, 5.2 rpg), a transfer from Illinois, hits nearly 44 percent of his shots and is second to Geist on the team with 49 long-ball makes at 45 percent. He had a tough night against UK, though, going 0-for-7 from the floor, 0-for-5 from distance for his first scoreless game this season. ... Forward Kevin Puryear, with 121 career games, needs eight points to reach the 1,200-point milestone for his career.
STATS (Some Numbers of Note)
Dan Cross (12), Brian Thompson (3), Dametri Hill (35) and the rest of he '93-94 Florida team had a lot to celebrate on its way to a then-school record 29 wins.
* .770 — Florida's free-throw percentage in SEC play, which ranks third in the league behind Tennessee (.812) and LSU (.780). Social media was aghast early in the season about UF's struggles at the line, but the grumbling has mostly been muted. If there is a free-throw issue to complain about it's the amount of free throws the Gators have attempted. Their 204 in conference play ranks last in the league (Missouri is next-lowest at 208) and no team is within 30 after that. It speaks to UF's issues inside and on the block.
* 4 — Fouls called on redshirt freshman power forward Isaiah Stokes in just five minutes at LSU. Stokes is incredibly gifted with the ball in the post and is to be commended for his weight loss and conditioning efforts (especially over the last month). He actually was better in ball-screen defense than he's been all season in those limited possessions against the Tigers. But if he's going to spell Hayes and Dontay Bassett, the fouling has to be curtailed. He has 32 fouls in 133 minutes this season. That's the same number of fouls Allen has in 781 minutes.
* 12 — Allen's points in overtime at LSU, the most by a UF player in OT since Nick Calathes dropped 13 on Kentucky in an 81-78 home victory in 2008. Chiozza had 14, but in a double-overtime defeat of Gonzaga in the PK80 Invitational at Portland, Ore., during Thanksgiving weekend of 2017.
* 29 — Wins during the 1993-94 season, then a school record, by the Gators in 1993-94.
* 2013 — The year the Florida and Missouri met for the first time. Ever. The Gators, ranked No. 10, obliterated the No. 17 Tigers 83-52 at the O'Dome behind 15 points from forward Erik Murphy, 14 from guard Kenny Boynton and 11 points and six rebounds from Will Yeguete. UF led 40-23 at halftime after holding Mizzou to just 8-for-24 from the floor, while making 17 of 29 of their own shots (nearly 59 percent). Tigers star guard Phil Pressey was destroyed by a stellar defensive effort from Scottie Wilbekin, who held Pressey to 1-for-7 from the floor and forced a career-worst 10 turnovers.
STATEMENT (Random thought)
For the Gators, this one is all about themselves and staying the course without getting caught up in the looming possibilities.
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