Florida Gators

LSU at FLORIDA 

When: Wednesday, 9 p.m. (EST)
Where: Exactech Arena/O'Connell Center, Gainesville, Fla.   
Records: Florida (17-10, 9-5); LSU (19-8, 10-4)  
TV: ESPN2 (Tom Hart and Andy Kennedy) 
Radio: Gator IMG Sports Network (Mick Hubert and Bill Koss) 



THE BASICS Florida and LSU face off for the second time this season, in a game that figures to have significant bearing on the Southeastern Conference Tournament seeding, what with the Tigers currently tied with Auburn for second in the league standings (two games behind Kentucky) and the Gators, alone in fourth place (just one game out of second). ... UF acquitted itself admirablly in Saturday night's 65-59 loss at 12th-ranked Kentucky, but were outdone by a six-minute scoreless stretch and 1-for-9 long-distance shooting in the second half. The Gators, who had a three-point lead about four minutes into the period, fell prey to wicked 3-point shooting from UK's Immanuel Quickley's four second-half 3-pointers, but still rallied from an eight-point deficit to make it a one-possession game in the final seconds before the Wildcats hit free throws to seal the outcome. The loss was Florida's first in four games and just the second over the previous seven. LSU won a big one on the road Saturday night at South Carolina, building a 19-point second-half lead and getting out of town with an 86-80 victory that stopped the bleeding of a run of four losses over the previous five SEC games. ... The Tigers lead the all-time series, 65-48, including their home win Jan. 21 when the Gators, down 11 with just over three minutes remaining, erupted for a 20-11 scoring spree that was a split-second shy of a 22-11 run that would have put the game into overtime. Forward Keyontae Johnson's layup as time expired was ruled, upon review, to be on his fingertip when the final horn sounded. Both teams shot over 50 percent in the second half, with LSU making 24 of 31 free throws to UF's nine of 11. ... Florida coach Mike White is 5-3 against LSU, including 2-1 at home. 

PROBABLE STARTERS 

Florida	Pos.	Ht.	Wt.	Class	Per Game
Keyontae Johnson	F	6-5	225	Sophomore	13.9 pts / 7.0 reb
Kerry Blackshear Jr.	F	6-10	232	G-Transfer	13.3 pts / 7.5 reb
Scottie Lewis	G	6-5	187	Freshman	7.8 pts / 4.0 reb
Noah Locke	G	6-2	193	Sophomore	10.4 pts / 2.5 reb
Andrew Nembhard	PG	6-5	191	Sophomore	11.6 pts / 3.1 reb / 5.5 ast

LSU	Pos.	Ht.	Wt.	Class	Per Game
Darius Days	F	6-6	240	Sophomore	12.1 pts / 7.6 reb
Emmitt Williams	F	6-6	230	Sophomore	13.3 pts / 6.8 reb
Trendon Watford	F	6-9	235	Freshman	13.8 pts / 7.0 reb
Skylar Mays	G	6-4	205	Senior	16.4 pts / 5.0 reb
Javonte Smart	G	6-4	205	Sophomore	12.5 pts / 3.3 reb / 4.2 ast

ONE TO WATCH  
TEAM BREAKDOWNS   ABOUT THE GATORS: The loss Saturday at Kentucky was their first crack at what is expected to be four Quadrant-1 opportunities over the final five regular-season games. UF went to Lexington ranked 35th in the NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) metric that will determine the NCAA Tournament field. Despite the defeat, the Gators opened the week at No. 33, which rates fourth-best among SEC teams, but they still have work to do. Beating LSU (No. 29, by NET) not only would be a fifth Q-1 victory, but also enhance UF's standing

relative to SEC Tournament seeding. There's also the matter of protecting the home floor, what with the next two games on the road (Saturday at Tennessee; next week at Georgia) and just one home game remaining (March 7 vs. Kentucky). ... Florida is scoring 72.3 points per game, shooting 45.1 percent overall and 34.2 from the 3-point line. Defensively, the Gators 66.6 points, 41.5 percent from the floor and 31.9 from distance. In SEC play, Florida is now second in overall shooting percentage (behind Mississippi State) at 46.1 percent, but still tops from long distance at 37.2. ... KenPom.com rates Florida at No. 33 overall, with the No. 34 offense and No. 64 defense. ... At Kentucky, the starting perimeter trio of Andrew Nembhard, Noah Locke and Scottie Lewis was held to a combined six points on 2-for-14 shooting, including 0-for-7 from the 3-point line, over 76 minutes. Crunched inside those numbers was an uncharacteristic 0-for-5 long-range night from Locke, who came into the game leading the SEC in 3-point shooting at nearly 53 percent and with a streak of 24 consecutive games with at least one made 3. Worth noting: Locke dropped four 3s on LSU in the first meeting. The Tigers defense is susceptible around the arc. Nembhard had six assists against UK, but also turned the ball over four times. Lewis had two fouls in just 3:22 of the first half and never really got a feel for the game, but had his moments on defense, especially late in the game when the Gators forced three turnovers over the final 1:31 to make it a one-possession game. The fact these three key players had a tough night and the game still went down to the wire could be viewed as an encouraging sign as well as a big missed opportunity on the road. ... One of the reasons the Gators stuck around at Lexington was the play of freshman backup guard Tre Mann, who equaled his career high with 13 points and banged three of his four shots from deep. Mann is averaging 9.0 points, shooting 50 percent from the floor and is 5-for-11 from 3 over the last three games. ... Forward Keyontae Johnson had 19 points and nine rebounds at UK, falling one rebound shy of a third straight double-double. He's averaging 13.9 points and 7.7 rebounds in SEC play. ... Forward Kerry Blackshear Jr. had 18 points against the Wildcats, his most in 12 games, and mixed it up inside for six rebounds. He also had five turnovers. ... Backup forward Omar Payne had a tough seven minutes, failing to record a point, rebound, block, assist or even a foul in his first visit to Rupp. His fellow reserve, guard Ques Glover, had a 3 to end the first half (and send the Gators to the locker room in a tie game), and did not seem intimidated by the environment. ... ABOUT THE TIGERS: It's Year 3 under Coach Will Wade and his tenure certainly has had its ups, downs and uncertainties. The Tigers are 65-28 under Wade, including 22-13 in SEC play. That record does not include five games last March, including three in the NCAA Tournament, when assistant Tony Beneford 

went 3-2 as interim head coach while Wade served a suspension amid an investigation into possible NCAA rules violations involving point guard Javonte Smart. Wade eventually was cleared after an internal inquiry, but the NCAA may not be done with the Tigers. In the meantime, Wade and his program can claim an impressive 44-13 record the last two seasons, including 25-6 in SEC play, plus the school's only league crown of the last 10 years. … LSU is averaging 80.8 points on 47.2-percent shooting and 31.9 from the 3-point line. Defensively, the Tigers give up 73.2 per game, nearly 42-percent shooting and are generous from deep at 34.9 (that number goes to 37.9 in SEC play). … KenPom puts LSU at No. 35 overall, but with an offense that is a blistering third nationally, versus the 179th defense. … Guard Skylar Mays is well on his way to a second straight All-SEC selection. He's one of the most efficient offensive players in the league (49.3 percent overall, 35.8 from 3, 85.4 from the free-throw line) and ranks third in the conference in steals with 51. Mays had 18 points, seven assists and four steals in the first meeting. ... Smart tagged the Gators for 13 points, six rebounds and seven assists in the win at Baton Rouge and now ranks second on the team in SEC scoring at 14.7 points per game game on nearly 46 percent overall and 37 from deep. ... Power forward Emmitt Williams might be a tad undersized, but he makes up for it in want-to on the glass. He may not get every offensive rebound (Williams is actually tied for second on his team in that category), but he's chasing them all. He led the Tigers with 19 points last time against the Gators and got to the free-throw line nine times. … Forward Darius Days has a lot in common with Williams, as far as prowess on the glass (fourth in the SEC at 7.7 per game), what with 42 percent of his boards coming on the offensive end. He's also shooting 47.4 percent from the floor. He had 10 points and eight rebounds in the first meeting, but was 0-for-5 from deep (though he is capable out there, at 32 percent in SEC play). ... Backup guard Charles Manning III was injured and did not play last time against the Gators, but since returning five games ago he's converted on 57 percent of his field goals and gone 6-for-11 from the 3-point line, including 3-for-3 in a home loss two games ago against Kentucky. 


NUMBERS WORTH NOTING   * 5 — Starters averaging in double-figure scoring for LSU, the only team UF has faced this season that can make such a claim.

* 5.5 — Turnovers averaged by Blackshear the last two games, based on five against Kentucky and six against Arkansas. His previous turnover high in the season's first 25 games was three (five times). Blackshear's assist-to-turnover total now stands at 45-49, leaving Nembhard as the lone Gator with a plus count (Locke is even at 20-20).

* 11 — Point differential of the last four Florida-LSU games, two of which went overtime. The combined score of the last four games through 160 minutes of regulation play was Florida 294, LSU 293. 

* 27 — Points scored by fifth-year senior guard Jalen Hudson (versus just three by the rest of his teammates) during an electrifying 15-minute stretch of last season's 79-78 overtime loss to the Tigers at Exactech Arena/O'Connell Center. Hudson, on his "Senior Night," finished with a season-high 33 points on 11-for-21 shooting, 4-for-9 from the 3-point arc and seven of eight from the free-throw line.  

* 2018 — The last year UF defeated LSU at the O'Dome, by a virtue of a 73-64 victory on Feb. 7. Hudson led the Gators in that one with 18 points and nine rebounds, with third-year sophomore forward Keith Stone adding 15 points.  


LAST WORD
The Gators have played their best basketball of the season the last couple weeks, which in late-February is always good timing. Now they need to press on the gas even more and not just close out games strong, but close out the regulation strong.