UF vs Oklahoma State (Saturday, 4 pm)

Florida vs. Oklahoma State

* What: SEC/Big 12 Challenge
* When: Saturday, 4 p.m. ET
* Where: Exactech Arena, Gainesville, Fla.
* Records: Florida (12-8); Oklahoma State (10-9)
* TV: ESPN2 (Roy Philpott and Mark Wise)
* Radio: Gator Sports Network from LEARFIELD (Mick Hubert and Lee Humphrey)

Projected Starters

Florida	Position	Height / Weight	Class	Statistics
Anthony Duruji	F	6-7 / 220	R-Senior	9.8 pts / 4.5 reb
Kowacie Reeves	G	6-6 / 182	Freshman	4.9 pts / 1.3 reb
Phlandrous Fleming Jr.	G	6-5 / 205	Graduate	10.3 pts / 3.6 reb
Brandon McKissic	G	6-3 / 185	Graduate	6.5 pts / 3.3 reb
Tyree Appleby	G	6-1 / 163	R-Senior	10.1 pts / 2.3 reb / 3.8 ast

Opponent	Position	Height / Weight	Class	Statistics
Moussa Cisse	F	6-10 / 225	Sophomore	6.2 pts / 3.5 reb
Isaac Likelele	G	6-5 / 215	Senior	7.4 pts / 5.8 reb / 3.5 ast
Bryce Thompson	G	6-5 / 195	Sophomore	9.8 pts / 2.2 reb
Avery Anderson III	G	6-3 / 170	Junior	11.3 pts / 2.8 pts
Randel Walker	G	6-4 / 170	Sophomore	4.0 pts / 2.3 reb

The Breakdown

Setup / Series / Last Meeting

It's the ninth year for the SEC/Big 12 Challenge, the mid-season brainstorm of ESPN that matches two of the nation's best league in a 10-game, all-day showcase on a January day when the NFL is not playing. The event used to be staged in early December, but the network moved it to late-January -- and the middle of college basketball season -- for maximum exposure. Great idea. In 2022, it just so happens that the two leagues are the two best in the country, so it should make for some highly competitive games. ... Florida has lost two straight, both on the road, after being beaten soundly Monday night at Ole Miss in a rescheduled makeup game, then losing Wednesday night 78-71 at 18th-ranked Tennessee. Oklahoma State also has dropped two in a row, losing Saturday at Texas, then Wednesday night at home to 23rd-ranked Iowa State. ... Both teams sit at 3-5 in their respective league standings. ... UF leads the all-time series 3-0, including an historic 77-65 win in the NCAA Tournament East Region championship game at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, a win that sent the Gators, in the fourth season under Billy Donovan, to the program's second Final Four. The two teams last met on Dec. 19, 2015, with Florida beating OSU 72-70 in the Orange Bowl Classic at Sunrise, Fla. It was the 10th game of Coach Mike White's first season. UF was led by 16 points, nine rebounds and two steals from senior forward Dorian Finney-Smith, whose two free throws with 6.9 seconds gave the Gators a five-point cushion. UF also also got 13 points and six boards from sophomore forward Devin Robinson, as well as sophomore point guard Chris Chiozza's 11 points and four steals. ... Florida is 5-3 in the Challenge, with a 4-2 record under White, including 2-1 at home.

Tale of the Tape

Florida	2021-22 Stats	Oklahoma State
71.3	Scoring	69.4
.430	Field-goal percentage	.429
.297	3-point percentage	.292
63.8	Scoring defense	66.0
.436	Field-goal percentage defense	.399
.307	3-point percentage defense	.333
44th	KenPom.com overall ranking	50th
54th	KenPom.com offensive efficiency	176th
51st	KenPom.com defensive efficiency	12th
207th	KenPom.com adjusted tempo	103rd
45th	NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) ranking	55th
45th	Overall strength of schedule ranking	2nd

Team Snapshots

The Gators

A week ago today, they played the first of four games over eight days, with the first three games coming over five days. Games 2 and 3 were 48 hours (or less) apart and allowed for minimal preparation and recovery. They had to take an NCAA-required day off Thursday, but at least got some rest before jumping into another quick turnaround for an unfamiliar opponent. That's a lot of

ancillary stuff to deal with, and doesn't even take into consideration the loss of 6-foot-11, 285-pound junior center Jason Jitoboh (4.2 ppg, 2.2 rpg) to an eye injury that occurred late in the first half at Tennessee. Jitoboh was playing the best basketball of his career in replacing injured 6-11 forward Colin Castleton the previous four games. Now UF won't have either one of them, but figures to get back reserve forward CJ Felder (4.6 ppg, 2.7 rpg) from a non-COVID illness that sidelined him for all of Monday's loss in Oxford and all but three minutes (he tried to go after Jitoboh's exit, but was just too fatigued) in Knoxville. ... The Gators played one of their best first halves of the season against Tennessee. They shot almost 52 percent from the floor and hit seven of 16 from the 3-point line (.438) two days after clanging four of 29 at Ole Miss. When Castleton plays, the ball goes through him on offense. When Jitoboh plays, the Gators use him extensively for ball screens, at which he excels. In the second half, sans Jitoboh and experimenting with some lineups on the fly, UF made just 35 percent and only three of 17 from deep. Whatever the Gators were doing during that second half is what they'll have to do (a lot better, obviously), but with the 6-7, 231-pound Felder, with his athleticism, strength and length underneath, in the mix. He likely won't be 100 percent, as he dropped some weight while sick, but he'll be an available bigger body. ... Forward Anthony Duruji, normally a "3" or "4," took the most in-game "5" reps of his UF career against the Vols. He finished with 16 points, six rebounds, but also six turnovers before fouling out over a season-high 33 minutes. He was spelled some and played alongside 6-9 backup forward Tuongthach Gatkek, who is long, active and bouncy, but gets shoved around at just 175 pounds. ... Point guard Tyree Appleby had 16 points, seven assists and five turnovers over a team-high 35 minutes. He was really good in the first half running the UF offense and hitting some 3s (he went 4-for-8 for the game), but also had to force some things in the second half as the Gators looked to find some scoring. ... Backup senior guard Myreon Jones (8.5 ppg, 3.2 rpg) had his first double-digit scoring outing in six games, but also went just 1-for-6 from the arc. His struggles there have really impacted what the team set out to do this season (see below). ... Wing Phlandrous Fleming Jr. figures to get a bunch of time at the "4," as the team's best rebounding guard. He had 10 points and five rebounds at UT, but also was 1-for-5 from deep. ... Guard Brandon McKissic had eight points, but should have had the opportunity for three more from the free-throw line late in the second half, as surely some Florida fans likely took note. ... The UF staff would love to play Elijah Kennedy more, but his shooting slump -- just two made field goals over the last 12 games -- eclipses even Jones' struggles. Kennedy is shooting 16.6 percent (on 36 attempts) from 3. He's going to be a nice play, in time. ... UF assistant Erik Pastrana was on the OSU staff the previous two seasons.

The Cowboys

This is the fifth season with Coach Mike Boynton at the helm. He came to OSU from Stephen F. Austin, where he was an assistant for Brad Underwood, who bolted Stillwater after just one season to take the head coaching job at Illinois. Boynton was promoted to take over the program and has gone 82-67, including 34-46 in the Big 12, along the way, with one NCAA Tournament

appearance and one NIT. The Cowboys are currently serving a one-year ban from the NCAA for the role of a former assistant coach in the infamous FBI recruiting scandal. Oklahoma State appealed the ban -- no one currently associated with the program was involved in the infractions -- but was denied. ... The Cowboys are having a season much like the Gators. They're near the bottom half of their league statistics on offense, struggling to shoot the ball and trying to make up for it with good defense. Opponents are hitting under 40 percent, but the Cowboys aren't much better -- and they seemingly can't buy one (.292) from the 3-point line. Sound familiar? They're also working mostly out of a four-guard rotation. Sound familiar? ... The Cowboys' pre-league slate included losses against some quality opponents (Oakland, Wichita State, Xavier and Houston), and eight games into conference play they've already faced five teams rated in the KenPom Top 20, including a shocking road upset of No. 1 and defending national champion Baylor on Jan. 15. ... OSU has played the last two games, both losses, minus their best player (again, sound familiar?) in guard Bryce Williams, who suffered an ankle injury in a win Jan. 19 against Texas Christian. Williams was averaging 10.6 points, 2.2 rebounds and making better than 86 percent of his free throws. With 10 days since his last game, the Gators will prepare as if Williams will play, If nothing else, he should be extra-motivated to get out there, given he starred about 90 minutes south at South Sumter (Fla.) High, and figures to have family in the house. ... Guard Avery Anderson III, the team's scoring leader, is shooting 40 percent from the floor, nearly 34 from 3 and leads the team in steals (39) but also turnovers (55). ... Forward Moussa Cisse is OSU's most productive big, with all his work done in the paint. He's at better than 51 percent, has not attempted a 3 and spreads his rebounds fairly evenly (55 defensive, 44 offensive). ... Point guard Isaac Likelele has a steady floor and rates an outstanding defender. He has a near 2-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio (66-37). ... Kalib (6.9 ppg, 2.5 rpg) and Keylan Boone (5.8 ppg, 3.5 rpg) are twin brothers and reserve forwards.

Numbers of Note

Florida defenders **Michael Frazier II** (left) and **Will Yeguete** (right) sandwich Kansas point guard Frank Mason (0) during the Gators' win over the Jayhawks in the inaugural 2013 SEC/Big 12 Challenge at the O'Connell Center.

* .224 — Jones's 3-point shooting percentage since December (based on 17-for-76), as the Gators have gone 6-7.

* .417 — Jones's 3-point shooting percentage during the six games in the month of November (based on 15-for-33), as the Gators went 6-0.

* .625 — Florida's winning percentage in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge, based on their 5-3 record. That ranks second in the league, behind only Tennessee (.714), which is 5-2. The Vols did not participate in the event in 2013.

* .875 — Baylor's winning percentage in the SEC/Big Challenge, based on a 7-1 record. That's the best in either conference. The Bears' lone defeat was an 81-60 blowout by the Gators on Jan. 27, 2018 at the O'Dome. The Bears returned the favor two years later when they came to Gainesville ranked No. 1 in the nation and left with a 72-61 victory.

* 2013 — The first year of the SEC/Big 12 Challenge. Back then (and the following year), the event was staged in the middle of the week in December, with the 19th-ranked Gators beating 13th-ranked Kansas 67-61, using an incredible run of 21 consecutive points in the first half to build a fat 18-point lead before the star-studded Jayhawks, led by Andrew Wiggins and Joel Embiid (the first and third overall picks in the NBA Draft the following summer), mounted a comeback. Wiggins had 26 points and 11 rebounds, but the UF defense was the story in forcing a whopping 24 turnovers. Scottie Wilbekin finished with 18 points, six assists and four steals. Finney-Smith had 16 points, five rebounds and two steals off the bench. [FYI: Kansas returned the favor the following year in Lawrence, erasing an 18-point second-half deficit to hand UF a stinging 71-65 defeat in Donovan's final season.]

Bottom Line

No free agency or waiver wire in college sports, so you have to play with who you got; and the list of front court options for the Gators has dwindled.

Gators Calendar

UF vs Oklahoma State (Saturday, 4 pm)