Florida vs Stony Brook (Wednesday, 2 pm)

Florida vs. Stony Brook

* When: Wednesday, 2 p.m.
* Where: Exactech Arena/O'Connell Center, Gainesville, Fla.
* Records: Florida (8-3); Stony Brook (7-4)
* TV: SEC Network+ (Kyle Crooks and Patric Young)
* Radio: Gator Sports Network from LEARFIELD (Mick Hubert and Lee Humphrey)

Projected Starters

UF forward **Colin Castleton** (left) and point guard **Tyree Appleby**

Florida	Position	Height / Weight	Class	Statistics
Anthony Duruji	F	6-7 / 220	R-Senior	9.3 ppg / 4.5 rpg
Colin Castleton	F	6-11 / 231	Senior	14.7 ppg / 9.5 rpg
Tyree Appleby	G	6-1 / 163	R-Senior	10.5 ppg / 2.0 rpg / 2.7 apg
Brandon McKissic	G	6-3 / 185	Graduate	7.5 ppg / 3.5 rpg
Myreon Jones	G	6-3 / 175	Senior	9.5 ppg / 3.5 rpg

Opponent	Position	Height / Weight	Class	Statistics
Frankie Policelli	F	6-7 / 215	Sophomore	7.6 ppg / 4.3 rpg
Anthony Roberts	G	6-4 / 200	Junior	14.8 ppg / 4.7 rpg
Tykei Greene	G	6-4 / 2-5	Junior	10.7 ppg / 7.6 rpg
Tyler Stephenson-Moore	G	6-3 / 186	Sophomore	6.8 ppg / 3.6 rpg
Jahil Jenkins	G	6-0 / 160	Senior	14.6 ppg / 1.9 rpg / 2.8 apg

The Breakdown

Setup / Series / Last Meeting

Florida got back on the winning track Saturday by defeating South Florida 66-55 in the Orange Bowl Classic at Sunrise, Fla. Heading into that game, UF had lost three of the previous four. Stony Brook, out of the America East Conference, has won four straight and six of seven, with all but one of their 11 games this season against mid- or low-major opponents. The game will be the last for both teams before breaking for the holidays, with the Gators returning to Gainesville the night of Dec. 26 and diving into Southeastern Conference play three nights later with the league opener at Ole Miss. ... The Gators and Seawolves will meet for the first time. ... Florida is 9-0 all-time against teams from the America East, including 2-0 under Coach Mike White.

Tale of the Tape

Florida	2021-22 Stats	Opponent
72.8	Scoring	72.2
.421	Field-goal percentage	.425
.309	3-point percentage	.352
59.7	Scoring defense	73.0
.422	Field-goal percentage defense	.465
.290	3-point percentage defense	.304
30th	KenPom.com overall ranking	208th
48th	KenPom.com offensive efficiency	179th
28th	KenPom.com defensive efficiency	242nd
141st	KenPom.com adjusted tempo	149th

Team Snapshots

The Gators

They've got some fine-tuning to do before opening the SEC season Dec. 29 on the road against the Rebels. They're still not shooting the ball very well (39.0 percent overall against USF and just 30.8 from the 3-point line), but the Gators played more aligned to their high-effort, defense-minded ways that make the team the best version of itself. ... Guard Myreon Jones' shooting

woes continued in Sunrise, where he was 3-for-13 overall and 1-7 from the 3-point line. He's now just four of his last 27 from deep (that's 14.8 percent), which is stunning for a player who hit 37.6 percent during his three seasons at Penn State (and 40.3 and 39.5, respectively, the last two years). Here's the rub: Jones doesn't take bad ones; and his looks, the UF coaches say, are the same ones he was getting in the Big Ten. The team believes when Jones' hot hand comes, the numbers will even out. ... Throw out the 30-point blowout of North Florida and forward Colin Castleton shot 36.7 percent against Texas Southern, Maryland and USF, after a second straight 3-for-9 outing. The attention (and double teams) Castleton draws in the post isn't going away. Against the Bulls, he fought through the contact and battled on the glass on his way to a fifth double double (12 points, 11 rebounds) this season. ... Point guard Tyree Appleby missed six of his eight shots against USF, including all five 3-pointers, but he also had five assists and just one turnover. He's streaky. Shots will fall for him some nights (sometimes in buckets, like against Maryland), or go the other way. But as long as Appleby is not turning the ball over, the Gators figure to be in good position. ... Guard Brandon McKissic took a physical beating against the Bulls during his 26 minutes on his way to six points, but a season-high five assists. He's built to take beatings, as well as give them out. ... Guard/Forward Phlandrous Fleming Jr. came off the bench in the South Florida game, but still managed double-figure scoring for the seventh time in the last nine games. He also knocked down two of three from deep. He's 5-for-9 from the arc over the previous three games after starting 5-for-23 through the first eight. ... After four straight games without hitting double figures in the scoring column, forward Anthony Duruji (11 points, 9 rebounds) came a rebound shy of a double-double last time out. He also went two of four from distance, putting him at 9-for-20 for the year. That's 45 percent. ...
Backup forward CJ Felder (4.2 ppg, 2.9 rpg) made both his field-goal attempts against the Bulls and is at 58.1 percent for the season. ... After chipping in six points in nine minutes with Castleton in foul trouble against Maryland, reserve junior center Jason Jitoboh had four points in seven minutes in the OBC. He put in five of his seven field-goal tries those two games.

The Seawolves

They're in the third season under Geno Ford, who guided the Seawolves to a 20-win campaign in '19-20, then went 9-14 overall last season, including 7-9 in America East play. They do, however, have four or five starters back from that team, as well as a fifth former starter who took an interesting path (back) to the school on Long Island. ... SBU's four-game winning streak has

come with with 6-5, 205-pound forward Elijah Olaniyi sidelined the last eight games with a leg injury. His status against UF is undetermined. Olaniji played three seasons at Stony Brook, then transferred to Miami, where he averaged 10.1 points and 5.0 rebounds for the Hurricanes during '20-21, then decided to return to the Seawolves for his COVID-extra season. He was at 9.0 points and 3.3 boards at the time of the injury. ... In stringing together those four consecutive wins, Stony Brook has hit a combined 41 3s, despite going just 5-for-26 in the 64-63 win Saturday against Saint Peter's. In that same stretch, opponents have made just 25.7 percent of their 3s. ... With Olaniyi out, the Seawolves have played a mostly four-guard rotation that should put them at a significant size (and athleticism) disadvantage, assuming the Gators bring the energy and fight they talk about it. ... Guard Anthony Roberts, a transfer from St. Bonaventure, is the most productive offensive player. He's at 40.4 percent from the floor and nearly 35 from 3, but he gets to the foul line and converts (32-for-38 on the season). Roberts also leads the team with 31 assists. ... Backcourt mate Jahil Jenkins, transfer from Fairleigh Dickenson, shows near similar live shooting percentages (40.0 and 38.2) and trails by just three on his assists totals. He's hit double figures in eight straight games. ... Forward Tykei Greene, who transferred from Manhattan, has been the lone frontcourt starter of late and has more than held his own rebounding on both ends. He has 49 defensive boards and 35 offensive. Greene can also step out and shoot, so look for the Seawolves to put him in situations where either Castleton or Duruji have to leave the post and find Greene on the perimeter. ... Guard Frankie Policelli, a transfer from Dayton, has attempted a team-high 50 3s at 38.0 percent. ... Tyler Stephenson-Moore leads the team at 54.5 percent field-goal percentage. It was Stephenson-Moore's block on the game's final shot attempt that preserved the win over Saint Peter's and kept SBU's winning streak alive.

Numbers of Note

Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame nominee Pat Benatar, as in "Hit Me With Your Best Shot", had a cup of coffee at Stony Brook, attending the university for one year before pursuing a different career path. OK, so this has nothing to do with basketball, but it's a fun fact.

* minus-29 — Final scoring margin of Stony Brook's only other game against a power conference opponent this season. The Seawolves were beaten 88-59 at third-ranked Kansas on Nov. 18 in their second game of '21-22.

* 2 — Times UF has held an opponent to just two makes from the 3-point line in a game. The Gators did it Saturday against USF (2-for-11) and earlier this month against Troy (2-for-16).

* 11th — Where the Gators rank nationally (out of 358 Division I programs) in experience, according to KenPom., what with the top seven players in the rotation all transfers. Ironically, the player that played the least at his previous location, Castleton (Michigan), is UF's leading scorer and rebounder.

* 1972 — The year rock star Pat Benatar spent at Stony Brook before branching off to her music career.

* 2016 — The last year Florida exited its pre-SEC schedule with at least nine wins, something the Gators have a chance to do Wednesday.

Bottom Line

The best (and, frankly, only) way for the Gators to enjoy their Christmas holidays is to break with a victory. Some really good UF teams in the past have done so otherwise.

Gators Calendar

Florida vs Stony Brook (Wednesday, 2 pm)