Stuffing: Florida vs Ole Miss (Tuesday, 7 pm)

Tuesday, January 12

Gainesville, FL

7 PM

Florida Gators

Ole Miss

Chris Harry's Pregame Stuff presented by Ticketmaster

Stuffing: Florida vs Ole Miss (Tuesday, 7 pm)

Tuesday, January 12, 2021 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry

By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer

FLORIDA vs OLE MISS

When: Tuesday, 7 p.m. (EST)
Where: Exactech Arena/O'Connell Center, Gainesville, Fla.
Records: Florida (5-3, 2-2); Ole Miss (6-4, 1-2)
TV: SEC Network (Tom Hart and John Sundvold)
Radio: Gator IMG Sports Network (Mick Hubert and Lee Humphrey)

THE BASICS

The one-sided nature of Florida's 18-point home loss Saturday against Kentucky put some shell-shocked faces on the Gators.

Despite being awfully early in the Southeastern Conference season, this looms as a big game for the Gators if for no reason than to stop the bleeding of an ugly two-game losing streak in which the team has been outscored by a combine 33 points against the lone unbeaten teams in league play. Last week's action began with an 86-71 loss at Alabama and ended when Kentucky came Saturday to Exactech Arena/O'Connell Center and used an early second-half flurry to run the Gators out of the O'Dome 76-58 in a game the home team trailed by as many as 25 points. Ole Miss is coming off Saturday's 75-61 loss at LSU. ... Florida leads the all-time series 67-47, including a split of a home-and-home matchup last season. The Gators won 71-55 on Jan. 14 at Gainesville, with the Rebels returning the favor three weeks later with a 68-51 beating at Oxford. In that one, Mississippi forced Florida into a miserable shooting night (33.3 percent), including just 5-for-23 from the 3-point line, with senior guard and SEC scoring leader Breein Tyree pacing the Rebels with 23 points, followed by 14 points and nine rebounds from forward KJ Buffen. UF got 16 points from sophomore forward Keyontae Johnson and 11 points and six boards from grad-transfer forward Kerry Blackshear Jr., but after those two the rest of the Gators combined to make just 10 of 36 field-goal attempts. ... Florida is 5-2 against Ole Miss under Coach Mike White, who started at point guard for the Rebels for four seasons during the 1990s. White is 4-0 against his alma mater when playing at home.

STARTERS (Probable Lineups)

Florida	Pos.	Ht.	Wt.	Class	Per Game
Anthony Duruji	F	6-7	220	R-Junior	6.9 pts / 3.9 reb
Colin Castleton	F	6-11	231	Junior	11.1 pts / 5.0 reb
Scottie Lewis	G	6-5	189	Sophomore	11.0 pts / 4.4 reb
Tyree Appleby	G	6-1	170	R-Junior	9.0 pts / 2.6 ast
Tre Mann	G	6-5	190	Sophomore	13.6 pts / 5.6 reb / 4.1 ast

Ole Miss	Pos.	Ht.	Wt.	Class	Per Game
Romello White	F	6-8	235	G-Transfer	11.6 pts / 6.4 reb
KJ Buffen	F	6-7	230	Junior	10.1 pts / 4.4 reb
Luis Rodriguez	G	6-6	210	Sophomore	9.0 pts / 7.4 reb
Devontae Shuler	G	6-2	185	Senior	12.6 pts / 4.1 ast
Matthew Murrell	G	6-4	200	Freshman	4.9 pts / 1.9 reb

ONE TO WATCH

Rebels guard **Devontae Shuler** was a four-star recruit from Irmo, S.C., who became a standout player at Mouth of Wilson (Va.) Oak Hill Academy, one of the premier basketball prep factories in the country. He was a top-100 prospect there, but without any one- or two-and-done expectations. He was just going to be a good college basketball player, and that's exactly what Shuler, with 82 starts in 107 games and 1,033 career points, has become. His senior year, however, has started kind of rough, probably due to all the offensive responsibility he is shouldering. With each year his scoring and assist production has improved, and after averaging 11.7 points per game as a junior, Shuler is at a career-best 12.6 points per game, though his 3-point percentage has dipped some (from 35.5 last season to 32.8) probably because of the volume shooting the Rebels need out of him; and he's been uncharacteristically bad (awful, actually) in SEC play thus far in going just 1-for-16 (that's 6.3 percent) through three games. Shuler has matured as a passer (team-high 4.1 assists per game) and is shooting 85.2 percent from the free-throw line. Three times he's scored at least 20 points, most recently when he went 6-for-12 from the arc on is way to 20 points in the loss to Wichita State, but he's averaging just 5.7 points in the Rebels' three league games, having made just five of 34 field-goal attempts (17.3 percent).

TEAM BREAKDOWNS

Sophomore point guard **Tre Mann** (center) was a focal point of a long and active Kentucky defense.

ABOUT THE GATORS: After starting the SEC schedule with back-to-back games of inspired play and effort in the wake of the emotional loss of star Keyontae Johnson, the Gators went the other direction last week. So, now where will they go? UF will enter the game ranked 40th overall in KemPom.com metrics (the Gators were 22nd a week ago), as well as 33rd in offense, 52nd in defense and 108th in tempo. Of perhaps greater numerical concern, KenPom rates the Gators 12th in defensive efficiency in SEC play (out of 14). That is an alarming number, and one White and his staff likely never would have thought possible with this group. ... The Gators have to get some offensive production from guard Scottie Lewis, who scored four points (two in each game) and went 2-for-10 from the floor with no assists and four turnovers in the losses last week. Lewis is at his best when the UF defense is at its best, so there might be a correlation. Look for an active game from the Gators' most active player. ... Point guard Tre Mann, the team's leading scorer, got roughed up by Kentucky double teams. Mann, the most creative scorer on the roster, did not react well to the UK blitzes. He did hit a couple 3s, but he was 0-for-4 from inside the arc (not very aggressive in attacking the paint, either) and finished with just seven points, or half his average going in. He also had three assists and three turnovers. ... Forward Colin Castleton, after a big SEC debut when he was tabbed the league's co-player of the week, had a tougher go of it against Alabama and Kentucky. He averaged 22.0 points in wins over Vanderbilt and LSU, but 9.5 in the losses to the Crimson Tide and Wildcats. He did make nine of 19 shots, though. ... Tyree Appleby, the transfer from Cleveland State, made his first UF start against Kentucky, replacing Noah Locke in the UF lineup, and finished with 10 points, but just one assist and three turnovers. He's at 21 assists, 24 turnovers on the season. Appleby has to clean that up and knows it. ... Anthony Duruji is coming off another solid game since replacing Johnson in the starting lineup. The Louisiana Tech transfer is second in scoring in SEC play at 12.5 points and 5.3 rebounds per game. He's shooting 46.3 percent from the floor and nearly 43 percent from the arc. ... Locke, in his first non-start since Dec. 17, 2019 at Connecticut (a run of 34 games), scored five points in 23 minutes and went 1-for-4 from the 3-point line. He had two assists, which was one shy of equaling his total of three through the first seven games. ... ABOUT THE REBELS: They're 41-34 in the third season under Coach Kermit Davis, a mark that includes a 17-22 record in SEC play and one NCAA Tournament berth back in his debut 2018-19 season. The Rebels opened with four wins over low-majors (Jackson State, UNC Wilmington, Central Arkansas and Middle Tennessee), then lost on the road at Dayton and defeated Tennessee-Martin at home to wrap non-league play. Ole Miss opened SEC play by getting pounded by 18 at Alabama and had its home game against South Carolina postponed due to Covid. The Rebels replaced that one with a home date against Wichita State (a loss), then beat Auburn at home and lost at LSU. ... As far as KenPom, Mississippi checks in at No. 53 overall, 108th in offense, an eye-opening 14th on defense (remember that), and 190th in tempo. ... If Florida's last two games are any indication, forward Romello White, a grad-transfer from Arizona State, is just the kind of player that will give the Gators problems. He's big, bulky and physical, having started 92 of 95 games for the Sun Devils and leaving as the program's No. 2 all-time leader in field-goal percentage (.605) to go with 22 double-doubles. He led ASU in offensive rebounds all three of his seasons and currently leads the Rebels at 68.2-percent shooting on the season. Better find him and get a body on him. ... Forward KJ Buffen hurt the Gators last season by coming off the bench and going 6-for-8 from the floor with four assists in his team's win at Oxford. Buffen can be a difference-maker, but struggles to stay out of foul trouble (21.7 minutes per game). ... Reserve forward Sy Khadim, who goes 6-10 and 238 pounds, was injured and could not play in UF's win last season, but started and scored six points and grabbed four rebounds in the rematch. ... Backup guard Luis Rodriguez does work inside (45.2 percent shooting) and outside (34.5 from arc), with nearly half of his rebounds (22 of 52) coming on the offensive end. ... Backup guard Jarkel Joiner (8.8 ppg) is a transfer from Cal State-Bakersfield.

NUMBERS WORTH NOTING

UF freshman guard **Samson Ruzhentzev** scored eight points, hitting both his 3-point attempts, in late-game clean-up duty against Kentucky.

* .423 — Percentage of assists on baskets made by the Gators during SEC play, based on 47 dimes and 111 buckets. That ranks last in the league.

* .680 — Florida's free-throw percentage in SEC play, a significant dip from the 75.0 percent the Gators shot in their four non-conference games.

* .835 — UF opponents' combined free-throw percentage in SEC play, which also puts the Gators at the bottom of that statistic (though through no fault of their own, other than perhaps fouling too much). But a 17.5 percent difference? Do the math.

* .909 — Winning percentage in SEC play of the last three UF opponents, based on LSU, Alabama and Kentucky's combined 10-1 record. The lone loss for the three? Florida's win over LSU on Jan. 2.

* 1.000 — Freshman Samson Ruzhetzev's 3-point shooting percentage in SEC play, based on his 3-for-3 display last week after two DNPs to start the league season. Ruzhetzev is 4-for-9 from deep on the season, but has had a tough time getting on the floor because of his defense and ball security. He does play hard, though, and may have earned a closer look with his eight minutes (and 8 points) of hustle and shooting against Kentucky.

LAST WORD

Florida needs a win and, frankly, needs to play much better than it has the last two games, especially on the defensive end.