Fourth-ranked Gators return home to clash with Gamecocks

South Carolina Gamecocks (12-7, 2-4 SEC) at #4 Florida Gators (16-2, 6-0 SEC)
Stephen C. O'Connell Center (capacity: 11,548), Gainesville, FL 8:00 p.m.

Broadcast Information

TV: SEC Network; Dave Neal (play-by-play) and Barry Booker (analyst)
Radio: WRUF/Gator IMG Sports Network; Mick Hubert (play-by-play) and Mark Wise (analyst)
Streaming: ESPN3.com

Head Coaches

South Carolina: Frank Martin (12-7, 1st season at Mississippi State, 129-61 overall, 6th season)
University of Florida: Billy Donovan (402-160, 17th season at Florida; 437-180 overall, 19th season)

Probable Starters

South Carolina Gamecocks

#5 Eric Smith (5'11", 205 lbs JR) Season stats: 6.1 ppg, 3.5 apg
#23 Bruce Ellington (5'9", 197 lbs JR) Season stats: 10.3 ppg, 3.2 rpg
#24 Michael Carrera (6'5", 212 lbs FR) Season stats: 9.6 ppg, 6.9 rpg
#30 Lakeem Jackson (6'5", 235 lbs SR) Season stats: 9.7 ppg, 7.1 rpg
#14 Laimonas Chatkevicius (6'11", 255 lbs FR) Season stats: 3.9 ppg, 2.7 rpg

Bench

#1 Benton Williams (5'11", 175 lbs JR) Season stats: 11.6 ppg, 1.8 rpg (31 three-pointers, shoots 43% from deep)
#2 Brian Richardson (6'4", 175 lbs JR) Season stats: 8.5 ppg, 2.8 rpg
#25 Mindaugas Kacinas (6'7", 210 lbs FR)  Season stats: 6.4 ppg, 4.7 rpg
#33 RJ Slawson (6'8", 220 lbs JR) Season stats: 5.2 ppg, 3.9 rpg
#32 Damien Leonard (6'4", 190 lbs SO) Season stats: 3.8 ppg, 2.2 rpg

Florida Gators

#5 Scottie Wilbekin (6'2", 176 lbs JR) Season stats: 9.1 ppg, 5.1 apg, 2.8 rpg, 1.8 steals per game
#1 Kenny Boynton (6'2", 190 lbs SR) Season stats: 13.6 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 2.8 apg
#3 Mike Rosario (6'3", 183 lbs RS-SR) Season stats: 11.8 ppg, 2.4 rpg
#33 Erik Murphy (6'10", 238 lbs SR) Season stats: 12.8 ppg, 4.7 rpg
#4 Patric Young (6'9", 249 lbs JR) Season stats: 11.2 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 1.8 blocks per game

Bench

#15 Will Yeguete (6'7", 240 lbs JR) Season stats: 6.5 ppg, 6.7 rpg
#20 Michael Frazier (6'4", 200 lbs FR) Season stats: 5.2 ppg, 3.1 rpg
#25 DeVon Walker (6'6", 191 lbs FR) Season stats: 0.9 ppg, 0.9 rpg

Injury News and Team Notes

• 7:54 (update): Junior forward Casey Prather (high ankle sprain) will be active for tonight's game.  Coach Donovan said he went through a workout and liked what he saw from Prather.  Donovan doesn't know how much he'll play, but it's definitely good news that Casey's back ahead of schedule.
• Junior guard Scottie Wilbekin was named SEC Player of the Week.
• This is Florida's highest ranking since March 2007 when they were ranked third, after the Gators won the SEC Championship.  They went on to win the second of back-to-back NCAA championships that year.
• UF received one AP vote for the #1 ranking (Michigan, Kansas, and Indiana are #1-3, repectively). 
• This is the longest winning streak (8 games) since the Gators began the 2009-10 season 8-0.
• The Gators have a 26.5 point winning margin in their first six SEC games (6-0).
• Florida's overall winning margin for this season is 22.5 points.
• Florida hit a season-high 14 3-pointers in Saturday's win at Mississippi State.
• The Gators handed the Bulldogs their second-worst home loss in 35 seasons.
• UF has held 10 opponents under 50 points this season.
• The Gators are ranked third in the nation in scoring defense, giving up only 51.2 points per game.
• Senior guard Kenny Boynton is shooting 22/50 (44%) over his last seven games from 3-point range.  I'd say he's out of his slump!
• Interestingly, the Gators gave up a season-high 71 points to Nebraska-Kearney in their lone exhibition game on November 1.
• Junior transfer Damontre Harris played his first two seasons at South Carolina, but transferred to UF after Darrin Horn was fired.  He is sitting out this season (along with Dorian Finney-Smith, a Virginia Tech transfer) due to transfer regulations.
• First year South Carolina head coach, Frank Martin grew up in Miami and was a Florida basketball fan growing up.  He coached former Gator Udonis Haslem and Los Angeles Laker guard Steve Blake at Miami Senior High School, so he has a pretty good relationship with Florida coach Billy Donovan.
• South Carolina is 1-3 on the road this season.
• Florida is 8-0 at home this season.

Last Game for Both Schools

South Carolina: Defeated Arkansas (home) on Saturday, 75-54.
Florida: Defeated Mississippi State (away) on Saturday, 82-47.

Florida All-Time Versus South Carolina

Florida leads the all-time series, 39-22.  The Gators are 23-11 against the Gamecocks under Donovan.  The Gators are 18-7 all-time at home versus South Carolina, and are 12-4 under Donovan.  Florida has won five out of the last six games in Gainesville between the two teams.

Last Meeting Between Schools

Florida defeated South Carolina 74-66 at home on February 2, 2012

What I'm Wondering

1.  The Gators committed 14 turnovers versus Mississippi State, a particularly high number against an inferior team.  The Gamecocks have a strong (literally) backcourt with Eric Smith (205 lbs) and football/basketball player Bruce Ellington (197 lbs).  With the Gator guards be able to protect the ball against South Carolina's muscle-men?

2.  How will the Gators defend the 3-point line?

Records to be Broken in the Near Future

• Kenny Boynton (1,833 points) is third on the all-time scoring list (Ronnie Williams leads with 2,090 points).
• Boynton (304 threes) is the all-time leader in three-pointers made in school history.
• Boynton (123 games started) is just 6 starts away from passing Andrew DeClerq (128 starts) for the all-time record in school history.
• Boynton (4,071 minutes played) is 30 minutes away from passing Eugene McDowell for second on the all-time list.
• Patric Young (102 dunks) is tied for sixth on the all-time list. 

Final score prediction: Florida 72 - South Carolina 62