Stuffing: Florida at Vanderbilt (Wednesday, 9 pm)

Wednesday, December 30

Nashville, TN

9 PM

Florida Gators

Vanderbilt

Chris Harry's Pregame Stuff presented by Ticketmaster

Stuffing: Florida at Vanderbilt (Wednesday, 9 pm)

Tuesday, December 29, 2020 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry

By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer

FLORIDA at VANDERBILT

When: Wednesday, 9 p.m. (EST)
Where: Memorial Gymnasium, Nashville, Tenn.
Records: Florida (3-1, 0-0); Vanderbilt (4-2, 0-0)
TV: ESPN2 (Beth Mowins and Dalen Cuff)
Radio: Gator IMG Sports Network (Kyle Crooks and Lee Humphrey)

THE BASICS

Birds-eye view of Vanderbilt University, with downtown Nashville on the horizon.

It's the Southeastern Conference opener for both teams, but the similarities with regard to the run-up to the game end there. The Commodores have played six games against mid- or low-major opponents, with their most recent an 87-59 home defeat Sunday of Alcorn State. The Gators, meanwhile, have played just three games, including two against Atlantic Coast Conference teams, with the last being the 83-71 loss at Florida State on Dec. 12. That, of course, was the day star junior forward Keyontae Johnson collapsed early in the game and had to be taken from the arena to a Tallahassee hospital and eventually airlifted back to Gainesville. Johnson remained in UF Health for eight days, while the Gators eventually canceled four scheduled games and sent their players home for the holidays without so much as practicing once. The team went 15 days before its next practice -- just three days ago, with Johnson on the sidelines for what is anticipated to be a lengthy time as a spectator -- and figures to be rusty (at best) relative to execution and conditioning. ... Vanderbilt leads the all-time series 71-68, but Florida has won the last four, including a sweep of the 2020 meetings. UF won 65-59 on the road behind 20 points and seven rebounds by Johnson, then smashed Vandy 84-66 at Gainesville on Feb. 15 on a night that doubled as the "Billy Donovan Court" dedication at Exactech Arena/O'Connell Center. Guard Noah Locke knocked down six of his eight attempts from deep on his way to 19 points, while grad-transfer forward Kerry Blackshear finished with 15 points. ... The Gators are 5-6 against the Commodores under Coach Mike White.

STARTERS (Probable Lineups)

Florida	Pos.	Ht.	Wt.	Class	Per Game
Anthony Duruji	F	6-7	220	R-Junior	1.3 pts / 2.5 reb
Colin Castleton	F	6-11	231	Junior	6.5 pts / 4.5 reb
Scottie Lewis	G	6-5	189	Sophomore	12.8 pts / 5.3 reb
Noah Locke	G	6-3	203	Junior	10.5 pts / 1.8 reb
Tre Mann	G	6-5	190	Sophomore	15.8 pts / 4.5 reb / 4.8 ast

Vanderbilt	Pos.	Ht.	Wt.	Class	Per Game
Dylan Disu	F	6-9	220	Sophomore	11.0 pts / 9.0 reb
DJ Harvey	G	6-6	235	Senior	8.3 pts / 2.8 reb
Tyrin Lawrence	G	6-4	190	Freshman	4.0 pts / 3.0 reb
Scotty Pippin Jr.	G	6-3	170	Sophomore	22.3 pts / 2.3 reb / 4.3 ast
Issac McBride	G	6-1	190	Freshman	3.3 pts / 1.2 reb

ONE TO WATCH

Last time out, sophomore guard **Scotty Pippin Jr**. hung a career-high 30 points on Alcorn State, which was five points better than his previous career-best of 25, which he established only two games earlier. Obviously, the son of the Hall of Famer by the same name is getting better. Last year, Pippin started all but one game for the Commodores on his way to averaging 12.0 point and 3.6 assists and SEC All-Freshman Team honors. Pippin is capable of getting his own shot on drives into the paint, but his numbers suggest he's improved as a shooter, as well. Especially from deep. Last year, Pippin made 39 percent of his overall shots and 36 percent of his 3-point tries. Thus far, he's at 43 percent overall and 12-for-30 from the arc (40 percent). He's a confident kid who the Gators don't want to allow to get too confident.

TEAM BREAKDOWNS

Florida begins life after **Keyontae Johnson** when it opens SEC play Wednesday night.

ABOUT THE GATORS: Despite playing no games over the last 18 days, they started the day ranked No. 22nd overall in the KenPom.com advanced metrics, but those numbers are based on just over three games with Johnson, the team's best player, in the mix. With UF losing his 16.0 points (on 64.1 percent from the floor, 42.9 from 3 and 78.6 from the free-throw line), 4.5 rebounds, plus all-around athleticism and experience, the team must undergo something of a makeover -- or at least a

reexamination of how it wants to play. Go big, with two post men? Try to stay more conventional at the "4" spot? Playing four guards? Whatever the Gators choose to do against Vandy may not be what they choose to do in their next game. ... The most logical option appears to be more minutes for fourth-year junior Anthony Duruji, but an increased role for the Louisiana Tech transfer will only make sense if Duruji does his part. At La Tech two seasons ago, he averaged 12.2 points and 6.2 rebounds a game. He shot nearly 47 percent from the floor and over his two seasons there nailed 36 percent of his 3-balls. As a Gator thus far, Duruji has made only two of 12 field-goal tries, missed all five of his 3s and three of four free throws. His slow start may have had something to do with going nearly two weeks without practicing due to COVID protocols, but the entire team just went two weeks without practicing. Bottom line (and Duruji knows this): He needs to give them more than what he's done so far, and that means on both ends (he's been a fouling machine on defense). And he'll likely get his chance. ... Another option at the "4" spot is junior-college transfer Osayi Osifo (1.5 ppg, 4.0 rpg), who has played just 24 minutes in two games and now will test his raw game against the SEC. Osifo has a big-time motor and defensively is as versatile as anyone on the team (he can guard all five spots), but obviously a wild card. ... Sophomore forward Omar Payne (4.5 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 2.0 bpg) will have an opportunity, but his game will need to much closer to the basket. Payne flashed some really nice moments last seaosn (9-for-9 from the floor, with 11 rebounds vs. Auburn), but has to be more consistent, especially with his effort and attention to detail as a defensive rebounder. The Gators may take a longer look at both Payne and Colin Castleton, the Michigan transfer who started the season's first four games in the post, on the floor at the same time. ... Guard Tre Mann already has nearly tripled his scoring production from a season ago, and now may be asked to do even more. That's saying something for a guy who's shooting at a high percentage all over the floor (46.8 overall, 46.7 from 3, 85.7 from free-throw line) and has nearly a 2-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio (19/10). ... Shooting guard Noah Locke has made 10 of 21 from distance (.476). No one is surprised. ... Wing Scottie Lewis went for a career-high 19 points in the FSU, and that was one game after talling a career performance with 10 rebounds in a win over Stetson. He also went 4-for-5 from the arc against the Seminoles. ... If Florida wants to test a four-guard lineup that'll mean fourth-year junior Tyree Appleby (7.3 ppg) sharing point duties with Mann. Since scoring 15 in his UF debut in a

comeback win over Army, Appleby has totaled just 14 points the last three games. ... ABOUT THE COMMODORES: It's Year 2 under Jerry Stackhouse, the former North Carolina All-American and 18-year NBA veteran who has guided the team to a 15-23 mark in his short time. Vandy opened the season with a win over Valparaiso, then had four consecutive games wiped out by COVID, including dates against Connecticut and either Southern Cal or Brigham Young in "Bubbleville," plus a road date at Southern Methodist. The Commodores beat Mississippi Valley State, lost to Richmond and beat Radford (all at home), lost by 20 at Davidson, then resumed play after Christmas with the win against Alcorn State. UF will be Vandy's first high-major rest (with Kentucky up next). ... The Commodores check in at No. 135 overall in KenPom (that's last in the SEC), including 155th in offense efficiency and 135th in defense. ... After Pippen, the teams best option is Dylan Disu, who's averaging nearly a double-double in the post. Disu is not a great finisher (45.5 percent), but he also spends a lot of time floating the 3-point line, where he's a stretch threat at 9-for-28 on the season (32 percent). ... While DJ Harvey is listed as a guard, he can do forward things. The Notre Dame transfer had some really nice games for the Fighting Irish two seasons ago and could be an X-factor in this game if left unaccounted for. ... Backup freshman forward Myles Stute (9.5 ppg, 4.0 rpg) missed four games with an injury, but returned against Alcorn to hit four of six from deep.

NUMBERS WORTH NOTING

Sophomore point guard **Tre Mann had** 17 points and career highs of eight rebounds and seven assists in UF's loss at FSU.

* .454 — White's winning percentage versus Vanderbilt, which is much better than the .000 he posted in losing the first against the Commodores. UF has won five of the previous six in the series.

* 3 — Games Mann has scored at least 17 points this season. His season-high over 29 games in 2019-20 was 13 (twice).

* 12 — Fouls by Duruji in just 44 minutes, including five in a mere five minutes against Stetson.

* 58 — Years since a UF basketball team last went at least 18 days without playing a game. It was 1962, when the Gators played on Jan. 15 at Vanderbilt and not again until Feb. 2.

* 1951 — The year UF began playing annually in the Gator Bowl Invitational, a four-team tournament in Jacksonville the last week of December. It was a staple on the Florida schedule in 1981, but the program continued to play over the holidays, be it in various tournaments or regular home or road games.

LAST WORD
Given the lengthy layoff (and, obviously, the circumstances), these next few games may require an element of patience from the coaching staff. Oh, and the fans, too.