No. 21 Florida vs Southern Illinois (Friday, 7 pm)
Thursday, November 21, 2024 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
No. 21 Florida vs. Southern Illinois
* When: Friday, 7 p.m. (ET)
* Where: Exactech Arena/O'Connell Center / Gainesville, Fla.
* Records: Florida (5-0) / Southern Illinois (2-2)
* TV: SEC Network (Mike Morgan and Mark Wise)
* Radio: Gator Sports Network from LEARFIELD / Stations list
(with Sean Kelley, Lee Humphrey and Steve Egan)
* Ticket info
Projected Starters
| Florida | Position | Height / Weight | Class | Statistics |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alex Condon | F | 6-11 / 230 | Sophomore | 12.2 pts / 7.0 reb / 2.0 blk |
| Rueben Chinyelu | C | 6-10 / 255 | Sophomore | 5.6 pts / 5.6 reb |
| Will Richard | G | 6-4 / 206 | Senior | 15.0 pts / 5.4 reb |
| Alijah Martin | G | 6-2 / 195 | Graduate | 13.6 pts / 6.2 reb |
| Walter Clayton Jr. | G | 6-2 / 195 | Senior | 18.4 pts / 3.4 reb / 4.0 ast |
| Southern Illinois | Position | Height / Weight | Class | Statistics |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Antwaun Massey | F | 6-8 / 200 | Junior | 5.5 pts / 2.8 reb |
| Jarrett Hensley | F | 6-8 / 215 | Senior | 6.8 pts / 6.0 reb |
| Ali Dibba | G | 6-5 / 205 | Senior | 13.8 pts / 4.8 reb |
| Elijah Elliott | G | 6-1/175 | Senor | 16.5 pts / 2.3 reb |
| Kennard Davis Jr. | G | 6-6 / 215 | Sophomore | 14.8 pts / 3.0 reb / 4.0 ast |
The Breakdown
SETUP: Florida and Southern Illinois face off at the O'Dome. The Gators, ranked 21st in this week's Associated Press Top 25 poll, are coming off a lackluster 84-60 home victory against Florida A&M, while the Salukis, out of the Missouri Valley Conference, have been off a week, with their last game a 69-44 home defeat of North Dakota State.
SERIES: The two programs have never played.
ETC: For the Gators, this will be their last home game until Dec. 21 and start a run of five consecutive games against high-major opponents, with with next week's looming date against Wake Forest in the ESPN Events Invitational at Kissimmee, Florida.
Tale of the Tape
| Florida | Statistics | Southern Illinois |
|---|---|---|
| 87.2 | Scoring | 78.3 |
| .486 | Field-goal percentage | .488 |
| .289 | 3-point percentage | .347 |
| 67.8 | Scoring defense | 70.8 |
| .396 | Field-goal percentage defense | .400 |
| .327 | 3-point percentage defense | .330 |
| 21st | KenPom.com overall ranking | 130th |
| 9th | KenPom.com offensive efficiency | 176th |
| 48th | KenPom.com defensive efficiency | 111th |
| 72nd | KenPom.com adjusted tempo | 80th |
| N/A | NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) ranking | N/A |
| 233rd | Overall strength of schedule ranking | 147th |
The Gators
They did a number on FAMU over the final five minutes of the first half, using a 19-2 blitz to open a 24-point lead. When the final horn sounded, however, the margin still stood at 24, thanks to poor second-half shooting (34.3 percent), too much fouling (the Rattlers went 16 of 19 from the line in the second half) and sub-standard player all around, in the eyes of the UF players and coaches. The Gators got another solid, across-the-board game from guards Walter Clayton Jr., Will Richard and Alijah Martin, who combined for 51 points and accounted for three of the team's four players in double-figure scoring. Richard had 20 points and seven rebounds. Clayton added 17 points (all but three in the first half) and five assists. Martin had 14 points, nine rebounds, four assists and zero turnovers over 32 minutes.
Forward Alex Condon went into the FAMU game shooting 77.8 percent from the 2-point area, but went just 3-for-14 against the Rattlers and only 25 percent from 2. He also was just 2-for-6 from the free-throw line, where he's now 58.3 percent on his team-high 36 attempts. What he lacked in offensive efficiency, however, Condon made up for in fight, grabbing nine rebounds and blocking three shots.
The Gators were playing without two of their top reserves in forward Sam Alexis (10.0 ppg, 56. rpg) and guard Denzel Aberdeen (7.3 ppg, 40 percent from 3). Sophomore backup Thomas Haugh got the bulk of Alexis's minutes and went for 12 points, seven rebounds and three steals. Aberdeen's minutes went to recently cleared Urban Klavzar, the Slovenian sophomore combo guard, whose normally reliable outside jump shot was off (just 1 of 7, including 0-for-4 from deep), but he had three assists and did not turn the ball over in his O'Dome debut. ... Center Rueben Chinyelu only attempted one field goal in his season-high 23 minutes, but also cleared a season-high nine rebounds. ... Freshman wing Isaiah Brown earned himself some trust from the staff in playing the most meaningful minutes of his young career. Brown scored nine points in nine minutes, hitting both his field-goal tries, both were 3s, during the game-changing run at the end of the first half.
The Salukis
Junior college transfer guard Elijah Elliott is a penetrating scorer who is at 55.3 percent from the floor and 68.4 from the 2-point area. He averaged 22.0 points and combined to nail eight of 16 from 3 in the losses to Charleston and OSU. ... Point guard Kennard Davis was a role-playing freshman last season, but now runs the Salukis's offense. He had 16 points and three 3s against Oklahoma State and against Division II Missouri S&T tallied 23 points and eight assists. ... Guard Ali Dibba, from Stockholm, Sweden, has been a double-digit scorer at all three of his stops: Chicago State (1 season), Abilene Christian (2) and now in his first year at Southern Illinois, where he's at 52.4 percent from the floor. ... SIU is a guard-heavy squad, with no big averaging more than 6.8 points and very little presence in the paint. No Saluki has grabbed more than seven offensive rebounds and only one has blocked as many as three shots. Numbers of Note
* .882 — Clayton's career free-throw percentage at UF, which now ranks No. 1 in program history (minimum 140 attempts) after passing KeVaughn Allen (2015-19), who shot .878.
* 52 — The number worn by Walt Frazier during his career at SIU, when he guided the Salukis to a couple NCAA Division II tournaments and in their first season in Division I took Madison Square Garden by storm by leading the Salukis to the 1967 NIT championship with an upset of Marquette. The Garden, of course, became quite familiar with "Clyde the Glide" during his 10 seasons with the New York Knicks when he starred for the only two championships teams (1970, '73) in franchise history.
* 274 — Where UF ranks nationally (out of 364) in 3-point shooting, based on its 28.9 percent. Obviously, that needs to improve.
* 819 — Points scored at UF by Richard, in his third year since arriving by way of Belmont. With his 20 against FAMU, Richard became the fourth Gator to reach the 800-point milestone as a transfer, joining Dorian Finney-Smith (1,220), Colin Castleton (1,165) and Jalen Hudson (861).
* 2003-04 — The one season Matt Painter served as head coach at Southern Illinois. Painter was an assistant on Bruce Weber's staff when Weber left the Salukis for Illinois in '03. Painter was promoted, guided SIU to a 25-5 record, a No. 15 ranking, an NCAA Tourament berth, was named 2003 Missouri Valley Coach of the Year, then bolted for Purdue, his alma mater, where he's been the last 20 seasons.
Bottom Line
With a step up in competition (both Friday night and espectially starting next week), UF better take a step up in execution. 'Tis the season when mid-majors can sneak up on the big guys.Email Chris Harry at chrish@gators.ufl.edu
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