Stephen C. O'Connell Center (capacity: 11,548), Gainesville, FL 2:00 p.m.
Broadcast Information
TV: ESPN; Mark Jones (play-by-play) and Jimmy Dykes (analyst)
Radio: WRUF/Gator IMG Sports Network; Mick Hubert (play-by-play) and Mark Wise (analyst)
Streaming: ESPN3.com
Head Coaches
Missouri: Frank Haith (43-8, 2nd season at Missouri; 172-109 overall, 9th season)
University of Florida: Billy Donovan (399-160, 17th season at Florida; 434-180 overall, 19th season)
Probable Starters
Florida Gators
#5 Scottie Wilbekin (6'2", 176 lbs JR) Season stats: 7.9 ppg, 4.5 apg, 2.8 rpg, 1.8 steals per game
#1 Kenny Boynton (6'2", 190 lbs SR) Season stats: 13.2 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 2.9 apg
#3 Mike Rosario (6'3", 183 lbs RS-SR) Season stats: 12.8 ppg, 2.3 apg
#33 Erik Murphy (6'10", 238 lbs SR) Season stats: 12.3 ppg, 4.7 rpg
#4 Patric Young (6'9", 249 lbs JR) Season stats: 11.5 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 1.9 blocks per game
Bench
#15 Will Yeguete (6'7", 240 lbs JR) Season stats: 6.2 ppg, 6.3 rpg
#20 Michael Frazier (6'4", 200 lbs FR) Season stats: 5.3 ppg, 3.1 rpg
#25 DeVon Walker (6'6", 191 lbs FR) Season stats: 1.0 ppg, 1.0 rpg (10/12 ft)
#12 Dillon Graham (6'4", 179 lbs FR) Season stats: 0.3 ppg, 0.3 rpg
#11 Braxton Ogbueze (6'0", 182 lbs FR) Season stats: 0.9 ppg, 0.9 rpg
Missouri Tigers
#1 Phil Pressey (5'11", 175 lbs JR) Season stats: 12.9 ppg, 7.3 apg, 3.3 rpg
#32 Jabari Brown (6'5", 205 lbs RS-SO) Season stats: 13.9 ppg, 4.4 rpg
#3 Tony Criswell (6'9", 240 lbs JR) Season stats: 6.3 ppgm 4.8 rpg
#35 Stefan Jankovic (6'11", 230 lbs FR) Season stats: 4.0 ppg, 1.9 rpg
#42 Alex Oriakhi (6'9", 255 lbs SR) Season stats: 10.4 ppg, 8.6 rpg
Bench
#33 Earnest Ross (6'5", 222 lbs RS-JR) Season stats: 10.3 ppg, 5.3 rpg
#5 Keion Bell (6'4", 200 lbs RS-SR) Season stats: 8.6 ppg, 4.3 rpg
#14 Negus Webster-Chan (6'7", 200 lbs FR) Season stats: 3.8 ppg, 3.3 rpg
#44 Ryan Rosburg (6'10", 250 lbs FR) Season stats: 1.5 ppg, 1.4 rpg
Injury News and Team Notes
- Junior forward Casey Prather (high ankle sprain) is out of today's game. After suffering the injury on Saturday against LSU, the coaching staff said he would be out 10-14 days. It's possible he might return for Wednesday's game at Georgia.
- Senior forward Erik Murphy (cracked rib) continues to deal with the pain associated with the injury. However, it seems like he hasn't lost a beat.
- Junior forward Will Yeguete (knee tendonitis) was visibly hobbled in Thursday's game at Texas A&M. This is going to be an ongoing issue, but Yeguete will continue to play through it and compete at a high level.
- Watch the matchup between Alex Oriakhi and Patric Young. Both are imposing post players.
- Coach Donovan is going for his 400th win at Florida. Only legendary coaches Adolph Rupp (Kentucky) and Dale Brown (LSU) have won over 400 games at one SEC school. Rupp has 876 and Brown has 448.
- This is the only time this season that the Gators will play a Thursday/Saturday set of games. A lot of it is due to ESPN's TV contract with the SEC.
- According to Kevin Brockway, "Florida went 4-0 in Thursday-Saturday turnarounds in SEC play last season and is 14-1 in Thursday-Saturday games since the 2009-10 season."
- With today's game being declared a sellout, it will be Florida's first full house of the season. It should be quite an atmosphere and should show the O'Dome at its full potential.
Missouri: Defeated Georgia (home) on Wednesday, 79-62
Florida: Defeated Texas A&M (away) on Thursday, 68-47
Gators All-Time Versus Missouri
This will be the first ever meeting between the two schools. However, Florida has faced Frank Haith-coached teams (Miami Hurricanes) in previous seasons, most recently in the 2009 NIT.
Last Meeting Between Schools
This is the first meeting between the two programs.
What I'm Wondering
1. I'm excited to see the battle in the post between 6'9", 249 lb-Patric Young and 6'9", 255 lb-Alex Oriakhi. Young's offense has been on display in the past few games (18 points on Thursday) and he's demanding the ball in the post more often. Simply put: Who will win the matchup between the two?
2. As long as Prather's unavailable, Florida will continue to have a seven-man rotation, unless there's foul trouble or another injury. I'm waiting for Donovan to call on one of the seldom-used freshmen (Walker, Graham, or Ogbueze). Will one of these freshmen play a role in today's game?
3. Missouri's leading scorer Laurence Bowers (16.8 ppg) is doubtful for today's game with a knee sprain that he suffered in their first SEC game against Alabama. Missouri hasn't been the same team since that injury, losing to Ole Miss to snap their undefeated streak. Who will step up for the Tigers, besides Pressey and Brown?
Records to be Broken in the Near Future
•Boynton (1,787 points) recently passed Udonis Haslem for 3rd on the all-time scoring list (Ronnie Williams leads with 2,090 points)
•Boynton (296 threes) is now the all-time leader in three-pointers made in school history
•Boynton (120 games started) is just 9 starts away from passing Andrew DeClerq (128 starts) for the all-time record in school history
Final score prediction: Florida 74 - Missouri 66
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