Preview: Savannah State at (7) Florida
Savannah State (3-2, 0-0 MEAC) versus #7 Florida Gators (3-0, 0-0 SEC)
Stephen C. O'Connell Center, Gainesville, FL
Broadcast Information
TV: Sun Sports; Larry Vettel (play-by-play) and Bill Koss (analyst)
Radio: WRUF/Gator IMG Sports Network; Mick Hubert (play-by-play) and Mark Wise (analyst)
Streaming: ESPN3.com
Head Coaches:
Savannah State: Horace Broadnax (89-115, 8th season at Savannah State; 131-213 overall, 12th season)
University of Florida: Billy Donovan (389-158, 17th season at Florida; 424-178 overall, 19th season)
Probable Starters:
Savannah State Tigers
#1 Preston Blackman (6’0”, 170 lbs SR) Season stats: 10.2 ppg, 3.0 rpg
#11 Stephen Wilson (6’1”, 160 lbs JR) Season stats: 6.6 ppg, 2.4 apg
#5 Cedric Smith (6’3”, 190 lbs SR) Season stats: 5.6 ppg, 5.0 rpg
#22 Rashad Hassan (6’7”, 215 lbs SR) Season stats: 16.0 ppg, 4.8 rpg
#44 Jyles Smith (6’8”, 200 lbs JR) Season stats: 2.4 ppg, 7.2 rpg
Florida Gators
#1 Kenny Boynton (6'2", 190 lbs SR) Season stats: 17.3 ppg, 5.3 rpg
#3 Mike Rosario (6'3", 183 lbs RS-SR) Season stats: 12.7 ppg, 3.0 apg
#15 Will Yeguete (6'7", 240 lbs JR) Season stats: 7.7 ppg, 9.3 rpg
#33 Erik Murphy (6'10", 238 lbs SR) Season stats: 15.0 ppg, 4.3 rpg
#4 Patric Young (6'9", 249 lbs JR) Season stats: 9.7 ppg, 7.0 rpg
Injury News:
Casey Prather has been cleared to return to practice, but I haven’t read whether Coach Donovan will play him tonight. Prather hasn’t played in any games this season due to a concussion sustained in practice on November 5th.
Last Game for Both Schools:
Savannah State: Lost 53-50 on the road against UCF on Sunday
Florida: Won 66-45 versus Middle Tennessee State on Sunday
What I’m Wondering:
1. Kenny Boynton needs five three-point makes to pass Brett Nelson for third on the all-time list. Will it happen tonight? I really want to convince myself that it’ll happen, but I’m feel that Boynton may have to wait until Friday versus UCF to pass Nelson.
2. Patric Young was in foul trouble for most of Sunday’s game, only playing 24 minutes. While he scored nine points, he was 5/11 from the free-throw line. He sat for most of the first half with two fouls. Once again, it’s hot-and-cold with Patric: against Alabama State, 12 points and 12 rebounds; against Wisconsin, eight points and seven rebounds; against Middle Tennessee, nine points and two rebounds. I know that it’s a work in progress with him striving to “bring it” every night, and he’s working hard at that aspect. So the question is: which Patric Young will show up tonight?
3. The Gators shot 17 of 29 (58.6%) from the line on Sunday. I’m really hoping that was a fluke because, while we’re not as good of a shooting team as last year’s team, we’re better than the majority of the teams that we’ll play. I give them a pass for the MTSU game, but let’s hope that it doesn’t carry over to tonight’s game.
4. Savannah State has had three-point losses to both Middle Tennessee State and UCF in their last two games. They’re the favorites to win the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference after finishing 21-12 a season ago, which was their first year in the conference. I don’t quite think that they’re up to MTSU or UCF’s talent level, but the Gators cannot afford to be looking ahead to Thanksgiving too early, or they may find themselves with one loss instead of zero. Get off to a quick start and we shouldn’t have too much trouble with the Tigers.
5. I’m interested to see how much playing time Braxton Ogbueze gets tonight. In the last two games, he’s played six minutes and three minutes, respectively. Donovan has said that he has confidence in Ogbueze, and in all of the freshmen for that matter. But the reason why Billy D has been reluctant to insert him for extended amounts of time is the fact that if there are already two freshmen on the court and Braxton checks in, that leaves a lot of youth and inexperience on the floor. On a nightly basis, at least for the foreseeable future, I see Donovan only playing him in spurts (maybe when Scottie or Kenny need breaks). Before the season, I would’ve said that Ogbueze was going to be the first guard off the bench. But with the way that the starting lineup seems to be “gelling,” Scottie coming off the bench for the time-being, the effectiveness of Boynton at the point guard position, and the solid contributions of Michael Frazier, Ogbueze seems to have lost a spot or two in the rotation. I’m really looking for him to see lots of time tonight and show us all why he was the #50 recruit in the country last year.
6. Will Mike Rosario continue his good play? I think he’s gotten himself into a groove not only offensively, but on defense as well.
7. Dillon Graham seems to be the 10th man, and is behind DeVon Walker and Frazier on the depth chart. Although Graham’s played 27 minutes so far, most of those came in the blowout win over Alabama State. I think that with Dillon’s shooting and basketball I.Q., he needs to play maybe 3-4 minutes when he’s in so that he can get into a groove. I’ve found it a little perplexing that he’s only taken two shots in those 27 minutes. That has to change. I wouldn’t worry too much at this point, but I’m looking for him to get plenty of time tonight.
Records to be Broken in the Near Future:
· Boynton (1,641 points) needs 38 points to pass Stacey Poole for 5th on the Gators’ all-time scoring list
· Boynton (270 threes) needs five three-pointers to pass Brett Nelson for 3rd on the all-time list (Lee Humphrey leads with 288)
· Boynton (1,334 field goal attempts) needs 12 attempts to pass Erving Walker for 5th on the all-time list
· Boynton (108 games started) will most likely tie Ronnie Williams for 7th on the all-time list
· Boynton (34-straight games with a three-pointer) needs six more games with a three-point field goal to pass Humphrey for the all-time lead
· Patric Young (77 dunks) needs two more to work his way into the top-10 all-time (*dunks are unofficial stats)
Final Score Prediction: Florida 82 – Savannah State 64
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