Florida Gators

No. 22 FLORIDA vs SOUTH CAROLINA 

When: Wednesday, 6:30 p.m. (EST)
Where: Exactech Arena/O'Connell Center, Gainesville, Fla.   
Records: Florida (10-4, 6-3); South Carolina (4-6, 2-4)   
TV: SEC Network (Mike Morgan and Debbie Antonelli) 
Radio: Gator IMG Sports Network (Mick Hubert and Lee Humphrey) 



THE BASICS 
 
One team is hot, the other is not. Florida has won four straight and is coming off Saturday's 85-80 road upset of No. 11 West Virginia in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge, one of the best resume victories of Coach Mike White's six seasons. The last two weeks have vaulted UF into the Associated Press Top 25 rankings for the first time since the first week of December 2019. South Carolina, which underwent a one-week pause in early January due to COVID (its second of the season), has lost four of five since resuming Southeastern Conference play. The Gamecocks were not part of the SEC/Big 12 Challenge, but remained in conference play and lost 93-81 at Vanderbilt, which entered the game winless in league play. ... UF leads the all-time series 46-27, with a 23-15 road mark that includes an 81-68 win at Columbia, S.C., on Jan. 7, 2020. In that one, sophomore point guard Andrew Nembhard had his first career double-double of 21 points and 10 assists, while sophomore forward Keyontae Johnson posed 19 points and eight rebounds for a Gators squad that shot 47 percent overall and held the Gamecocks to just 38 percent. ... Florida is 3-5 against USC during White's tenure, a mark that includes a 77-70 loss in 2017 NCAA Tournament East Region final at Madison Square Garden.

Florida	Pos.	Ht.	Wt.	Class	Per Game
Omar Payne	F	6-10	230	Sophomore	4.1 pts / 3.7 reb
Colin Castleton	F	6-11	231	Junior	13.4 pts / 5.5 reb
Tyree Appleby	G	6-5	189	R-Junior	10.6 pts / 3.0 reb
Noah Locke	G	6-3	203	Junior	11.3 pts / 2.6 reb
Tre Mann	G	6-5	190	Sophomore	14.3 pts / 5.1 reb / 3.9 ast

South Carolina	Pos.	Ht.	Wt.	Class	Per Game
Wilden Leveque	F	6-11	230	Sophomore	5.3 pts / 5.2 reb
Justin Minaya	F	6-6	215	Junior	9.1 pts / 7.5 reb
Jermaine Couisnard	G	6-4	211	Sophomore	12.1 pts / 2.9 reb / 3.9 ast
A.J. Lawson	G	6-6	178	Junior	17.2 pts / 3.5 reb
Seventh Woods	G	6-2	189	Senior	4.3 pts / 1.6 reb

ONE TO WATCH  
 

TEAM BREAKDOWNS  
 
ABOUT THE GATORS: They're one victory from equaling the program's longest winning streak since stringing together five straight from Feb. 13-27, 2019. ... Florida's postseason resume has soared the last two weeks, with the big triumphs over No. 6 Tennessee and at WVU, and now the Gators are tied with LSU for second place in the Southeastern

Conference standings. If they're able to navigate the Gamecocks, the Gators will have a chance to break that tie with the Tigers Saturday at Baton Rouge. They actually could break it Wednesday, with LSU headed to 10th-ranked Alabama. ... KenPom.com's advance metrics ranks UF 23rd overall, including 17th in offensive efficiency, 49th on defense and 99th in pace. The Gators are scoring 78.4 points per game and lead the SEC in field-goal and 3-pointer shooting percentage at 47.9 and 38.3, respectively. On defense, opponents score 71.0 points per game, shoot 42.2 percent overall and 33.9 from deep. ... Forward Colin Castleton was named SEC Player of the Week for the second time this season after averaging 17.0 points, hitting 12 of his 17 shots and 10 of 11 free throws, plus 6.0 rebounds and 3.0 blocks. Castleton has tallied double-figure scoring in five straight games, grabbed at least seven rebounds in three of them and blocked at least five shots in three of them. He's doing it at both ends. ... Shooting guard Noah Locke nailed four 3-pointers against West Virginia on his way to a season-best 19 points. He's up to 42.0 percent from the arc on the season. ... Guard Tre Mann got in foul trouble and went scoreless in the first half, as the Gators fell behind by five against the Mountaineers. He hit three 3s after the break and is now at 42.4 percent. ... Guard Tyree Appleby's numbers continue to inch north, as he and Mann share primary ball-handling duties. Appleby, with six assists at WVU, is up to 46 percent and 36 from deep. He leads the team in free-throw shooting at 81.8 percent. ... Forward Omar Payne has started four straight games. He was better at West Virginia (4 points, 3 rebounds) than three nights earlier against Vandy (0 points, 3 rebounds), but foul trouble continues to be an issue for the lengthy rim protector. The Florida coaches are still in debate over the Castleton-Payne combo on the floor at the same time. It'll likely be match-up driven. ... Sophomore guard Scottie Lewis (10.5 ppg, 4.0 rpg) had another terrific game off the bench in his second one back after missing four due to health and safety protocols. He had seven points, including a huge go-ahead 3-pointer late in the second half, to go with four rebounds and some outstanding defense in frustrating WVU star and scoring leader Miles McBride over 24 minutes. ... Backup forward Osayi Osifo (2.2 ppg, 2.7 rpg) was perfect from the floor for a fourth straight game in scoring two points and grabbing four rebounds.  He's 9-for-9 over those four games with 18 rebounds in just 12.7 minutes per game.

ABOUT THE GAMECOCKS: It's their ninth season under Frank Martin, who's amassed a 151-122 overall record (68-78 in SEC play), with one NCAA Tournament appearance, which, of course, ended in the Final Four at the Gators' expense. Martin's teams have a reputation for being physical and playing rugged on the defensive end, but the Gamecocks have yet to give up fewer than 81 points in any of their conference losses, including a whopping 109 in a home drubbing against

Auburn. ... KenPom ranks South Carolina 82nd overall, including 79th in offense, 87th in defense and 15th in tempo, the latter stat being somewhat out of character for the Gamecocks, but possibly favorable to the Gators, assuming they can get some stops and set up the press. ... USC averages 75.4 points, shoots 43.2 percent and 33.8 from the 3-point line. The Gamecocks give up 76.5 points, 45 percent overall and 33 from deep. ... They split a pair of early games against Liberty (loss) and Tulsa (win) on a neutral floor, then fell at 10th-ranked Houston on Dec. 5 before a COVID outbreak kept the Gamecocks off the floor for nearly month. They returned for a warm-up win against Florida A&M before jumping into league play by beating Texas A&M, then lost three SEC games in a row before defeating Georgia handily, 83-54. They followed that one, however, with the ugly loss at Vandy, despite USC shooting 50 percent from the floor and hitting 10 treys. That was because the Commodores shot 49 percent, dropped 13 3s and went 22-for-27 from the line to the Gamecocks' 9-for-14. Keep that latter stat in mind., USC is making just 63.7 percent of its free throws, which is last in the SEC. ... After Lawson, the Gamecocks who warrant the most attention are a pair of forwards in Justin Minaya and backup wing Keyshawn Bryant (15.4 ppg, 5.4 rpg). Minaya will float in and out of the paint, capable of scoring inside (47.9 percent overall) and taking his defender to the arc (34.1 percent). He also will crash the glass, with nearly as many offensive rebounds (32) as defensive (42). Bryant is a supreme athlete who ranks second on the team in scoring (don't be surprised if he gets the start) and is shooting nearly 54 percent overall. ... Guard Jermaine Couisnard scores in double figures, but is not shooting at a very high percentage (30 percent overall, 31 from 3). Couisnard missed last season's UF game and a week later bombed a 3-pointer at the buzzer to beat Kentucky. ... Anyone remember the name Seventh Woods? He was considered a sixth-grade prodigy who was getting grade-school offers from Division-I programs. He signed with North Carolina, rarely played as a Tar Heel (though he won a national-championship ring in 2017) and is 1-for-13 on the season from the 3-point line. Woods, however, is a solid on-ball defender who leads the team in steals.  


NUMBERS WORTH NOTING  
 
* .804 — Florida's combined free-throw percentage the last two games, based on 37-for-46 from the line.  

* 7 — Players in UF program history to be named SEC Player of the Week multiple times in a season. Castleton joined Jalen Hudson (three times in 2017-18), Scottie Wilbekin and Michael Frazier II (twice each during 2013-14), Joakim Noah (twice in 2005-06), Dan Cross (twice in 1993-94) and Vernon Maxwell (twice in 1985-86).  

* 14.4 — Offensive rebounds per game by South Carolina. That ranks first in the SEC. 

* 15.4 — Percentage of UF opponents' shots that have been blocked. That's the sixth-best in the country.  

* 2015 — The last year the Gators won a second consecutive game against the Gamecocks. It was Jan. 7, in the league opener, and UF beat USC 72-68, clinched by two free throws by guard Eli Carter with 6.4 seconds left in what was the SEC opener for both teams. The Gators opened league play with three wins that year, but went 5-10 the rest of the way it what turned out to be Coach Billy Donovan's final season.  


LAST WORD

The fact the Gamecocks lost a bad one Saturday at Vandy means the UF coaches have placed extra emphasis on the need to be ready for the best and most tenacious effort that Martin's players have to offer. Given the feel-good outcome against West Virginia (and new-found top-25 ranking), this is a vintage test on whether Florida can handle a little prosperity.