Tuesday, March 5, 2019 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
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By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer
FLORIDA vs No. 10 LSU
When: Wednesday, 7 p.m. (EST) Where: Exactech Arena/O'Connell Center, Gainesville, Fla. Records: Florida (17-12, 9-7); LSU (24-5, 14-2) TV: ESPN2 (Karl Ravech and Andy Kennedy) Radio: Gator IMG Sports Network (Mick Hubert and Lee Humphrey)
STAKES (The Setup)
Florida's 2019 senior class -- KeVaughn Allen (5), Kevarrius Hayes (13) and Jalen Hudson (3) -- will play its final game together Wednesday night at the O'Dome.
Florida can (and needs to) atone for a dismal display Saturday night night, when it laid a fat egg at home against a Georgia team with just one Southeastern Conference victory. A Gators' win at Exactech Arena/O'Connell Center on the "Senior Night" for KeVaughn Allen, Kevarrius Hayes andJalen Hudson would be almost certainly the trump card they need to punch a ticket to a third straight NCAA Tournament at-large berth, as it would give UF a sweep of one of the nation's best teams. LSU is tied with Tennessee atop the Southeastern Conference standings, meaning the 10th-ranked Tigers are coming to town to play for a stake of the league's 2019 regular-season championship, which will go a long way toward locking up a high NCAA seed. ... The Tigers have won 18 of their previous 20, a run that includes an 8-0 mark on the road in SEC play and buzzer-beating win at then-No. 7 Kentucky that has LSU on the precipice of its first league title in 10 years. ... The Tigers lead the all-time series, 63-47, but the Gators have won three straight and hold a 29-20 record at the O'Dome. ... The two, of course, last met just two weeks ago, Feb. 20 at Baton Rouge, where Allen scored all 21 of his points in the second half and overtime to lead UF to a 82-77 upset. The Gators also got 15 points each from Hudson and guardNoah Locke, made 11 shots from the 3-point line and converted some big late free throws to help close a crucial road triumph. ... UF is 3-1 against LSU under Coach Mike White.
Naz Reid, the 6-foot-10, 250-pound freshman manchild from Asbury Park, N.J., beasted on Florida in the first meeting, on his way to 16 points and a game-high 15 rebounds over 35 minutes. Reid is not only massive, but he is active and relentless when it comes to chasing rebounds and 50-50 balls. The 2018 McDonald's All-American is shooting 47.2 percent from the floor (close to 75 percent at the free-throw line, as well) and with his 3-point touch at nearly 35 percent is more than capable of drawing his man away from the basket. If he's out on the wing and misses a shot, he's coming, so the Gators better be ready to hit and box. UF did a nice collective job on LSU's wave of rebounders in the first meeting (the Tigers won the battle of the boards, 38-36), but still got 18 offensive rebounds and scored 19 second-chance points. Reid was a big part of that, with six boards on the offensive end.
STUFF (Need-to-Know Info)
KeVaughn Allen, despite taking 10 shots, played with an element of uncertainty and lack of aggression on his way to just six points and 1-for-10 shooting in the home loss Saturday against Georgia.
ABOUT THE GATORS: After showing encouraging strides as far as offensive flow and even some inside-capability during their five game winning streak, the Gators took 10 steps backward in losing 61-55 at home to a Georgia team with an horrific record. They looked abysmal on offense against arguably the worst defensive team in the SEC. Florida shot just 37.5 percent, including 5-for-21 from the 3-point line (23.8 percent), and went nine minutes in the second half without a field goal. UF,
Noah Locke
though, stuck around by attacking the basket and getting to the free-throw line, but ultimately it was the Gators' defense that let them down in the end, as the Bulldogs hit their last five field-goal attempts of the game, all in the last five minutes, and all in one- or two-possession circumstances. Anything remotely similar to the effort put forth against Georgia will not end well Wednesday. ... UF still leads the SEC in scoring defense (63.1 ppg) and 3-point defense (.316), and is second in turnover margin (plus-3.6). ... GuardKeVaughn Allen scored only six points last game. Allen has had some frustrating, scoreless games during his career, but the Georgia outing was one of his most forgettable. Allen was 1-for-10 overall and struggled with one of his least inspired efforts on the defensive end. ... Backup swingman and fifth-year senior Jalen Hudson led UF last time out with 13 points, but he was 5-for-13 from the floor, meaning the Gators' top perimeter scorers/drivers (Allen and Hudson) were a combined 6-for-23. ... Guard Noah Locke, battling his hip/groin issue, has now gone three straight games, and five of the previous six, without reaching double figures. In those six games, Locke is seven of 35 from the arc (20 percent). ... Point guard Andrew Nembhard is averaging 5.2 assists per game, which ranks sixth in the SEC, but Nembhard has reached five assists only once in the last six games. That said, the Gators won five of those games, with Nembhard taking on a greater offensive load. He had only eight points against Georgia. ... The onus will be on front court lynch pinsKevarrius Hayes and Keyontae Johnson to body up and jump around the bigger and incredibly agile LSU forwards. Both Hayes and Johnson were really good in Baton Rouge. Johnson leads the Gators in rebounds in SEC play with 109, which is 23 more than Hayes' 86. Should either of those two get in foul trouble, the backup duo of Dontay Bassettand Isaiah Stokes will be summoned. Bassett is comfortable in his reserve role and does his job. Stokes, so gifted on offense, had two fouls, two turnovers and a couple poor defensive possessions in five minutes against Georgia. ... ABOUT THE TIGERS: They're in Season 2 under Coach Will Wade, with a 42-20 overall mark since he came from Virginia Commonwealth.LSU ranks second in the league in scoring at 81.8 points per game and shoots 46.1 percent from the floor as a team (fifth), although just 31.7 from the arc (that's 13th among SEC teams). Defensively, the Tigers rate 10th in the league in shooting percentage allowed (.435), but they are absolute warriors on the glass: first in offensive rebounds (13.3) and offensive rebound percentage (.368), plus second in overall rebounding (38.5) and rebound margin (plus-4.5). ... Guard Tremont Waters played sparingly in the Tigers' last outing, a win at Alabama, after missing the two previous games with a undisclosed illness. Waters has not played well in either of his two games against UF (6-for-27 overall, 3-17 from distance, 10 turnovers in two games), so the electrifying waterbug of a playmaker just may be be due. ... UF is almost always overmatched by size, but LSU will be a significant challenge with the duo of Reid and Kavell Bigby-Williams roaming the paint. Bigby-Williams is a fifth-year grad transfer from Oregon (where he played on the Ducks' 2017 Final Four team) after some off-court issues. He has not attempted a 3 this season, but at nearly 64.4 percent inside the arc he hasn't had to, either. ... Guard Skylar Mayes has been a solid, reliable player on both ends for three seasons and against Bama eclipsed 1,000 for his career. ... LSU's two freshman off the bench are capable of doing severe damage. One of them, 6-6, 225-pound forward Emmitt Williams (7.0 ppg, 5.3 ppg), by way of Fort Myers, Bradenton IMG Academy and Orlando Oak Ridge High, goes 6-6, 225 pounds and is the reigning McDonald's All-America game dunk champion. He's shooting 60.7 percent from the floor and has almost as many offensive rebounds (72) as defensive (76). His classmate, sturdy 6-4, 200-pound guard Javonte Smart (11.4 ppg, 3.3 rpg) has been an off-the-bench bolt of lightning of late, averaging 21.6 points over the last three games, including a career-high 29 in the Feb. 23 upset of SEC co-leader Tennessee. Smart, named Monday as SEC Freshman of the Week, is a tough guard because he's a hard driver, but also a streaky 3-pointer shooter (.316). He had just four points in 30 minutes vs. Florida, so he's another guy who may have a personal ax to grind. ... Guard Marlon Taylor is an elite, freakish athlete on the perimeter, plus a long defender.
STATS (Some Numbers of Note)
Freshman point guard Andrew Nembhard, like the rest of his teammates, struggled to score against Georgia.
* .454 — Nembhard's field-goal percentage in SEC play, the highest among UF's perimeter players and the only Gator at 39 percent or above.
* 0 — UF players with at least 70 offensive rebounds this season.
* 3 — LSU players with at least 70 offensive rebounds this season: Bigby-Williams (77), Williams (72) and Reid (70).
* 12 — Years since the Gators last had back-to-back games against Associated Press top-10 opponents. It was during the 2007 NCAA Tournament, when Florida defeated No. 10 Oregon, No. 7 UCLA and No. 1 Ohio State on the way to a second straight national championship.
* 1975 — The last year the Gators had back-to-back games against SEC opponents ranked in the top 10. Florida defeated No. 4 Kentucky on Feb. 24, then lost at No. 8 Alabama on March 1.
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