(14-11, 6-6 SEC) #40 NET Florida comes to the PMAC this Wednesday for what will be a huge game for them. They have been fighting on the bubble most of the season and have been looking for a signature road win to solidify their resume so a win over us would be huge for them. They beat Vandy at home and destroyed Alabama in Tuscaloosa last week to get themselves squarely back into the tourney mix.

The stats below are from SEC play only:

Florida Starters
C (6'9, 227) SR. Kevarrius Hayes - 23.3 min, 6.6 pts, 5.7 reb, 1.3 stl, 1.5 blk, 20.8 PER
SF (6'5, 225) FR. Keyontae Johnson - 25.2 min, 7.8 pts, 7.2 reb, 1.4 ast, 1.1 stl, 18.4 PER
SG (6'3, 205) FR. Noah Locke - 30.8 min, 12.5 pts, 2.8 reb, 15.3 PER
SG (6'2, 193) SR. KeVaughn Allen - 31.8 min, 14.9 pts, 3.3 reb, 2.0 ast, 1.0 stl, 17.5 PER
PG (6'5, 191) FR. Andrew Nembhard - 32.2 min, 8.6 pts, 2.7 reb, 4.9 ast, 1.3 stl, 12.8 PER

Florida Bench
G (6'6, 195) SR. Jalen Hudson - 19.2 min, 7.0 pts, 2.2 reb, 8.3 PER
F (6'9, 237) SO. Dontay Bassett - 13.8 min, 3.5 pts, 2.1 reb, 0.9 blk, 15.2 PER
G (6'5, 197) SO. Deaundrae Ballard - 10.7 min, 2.7 pts, 1.8 reb, 5.2 PER

G Mike Okauru and C Isaiah Stokes also have appeared fairly regular in conference play but generally are on the floor for very short stints and aren't main rotation guys really.

As a team, UF has really hurt this year due to a few things - Keith Stone got hurt early in conference play and is out for the season. Gorjak Gak is having to miss the entire season. Those are 2 bigs they are missing and it's killed their big man depth this season to this point where they already didn't look great. They've been playing a SF at PF through conference play and are really small/thin up front. Jalen Hudson being a total mystery has also really affected them this year, he was their best returning player and honestly just really stinks this year and can't get it figured out. For a Mike White team, this UF team cant hit the 3, which is a bread and butter for them usually. They are under 33% from 3 in conference play. Where they havent given up much for a Mike White team is defense, being one of the best in the conference. Starting 3 freshmen, they have struggled to score points in conference play a bit, averaging 67 a game, but do play at a fairly slow pace.

Among their starting group Hayes has to hold things together as the lone true big man. He does a solid all around job (offensive boards, shot alter-er) but isn't a big threat offensively. As previously mentioned Johnson has been playing the 4 spot at 6'5 225 because they just dont love their bigs. He's athletic enough he can get away with it though. Johnson plays really hard and fights for offensive glass. You have to respect a long range shot from him but it's not where he likes to play. Locke and Allen are their big time 3 point guys. Both are shooting close to 40% in conference play and both take at least 6 threes a game. A ton of their offense comes off Allen and Locke 3's. Nembhard was actually a 5-star but hasn't really lived up to that billing. He's struggled with his shot and is a solid but not great floor general at PG.

Their bench wouldn't be all that bad if Hudson just figured things out. Again, was a big time player for them last year but this year is a complete mess. Bassett is their only big really off the bench and you cant really say anything special about him other than he can protect the rim some, plays decently overall and likes to live around the basket offensively on that end. Ballard just hasn't been able to really do much despite playing a decent bit in conference play. It's been that 3 point shot he cant get going at a high rate. Going back to Stokes and Okauru, they dont play much, but Stokes gives them a lot of size off the bench which they might need against us, he just hasn't been able to do much there. Okauru is just a pretty bad guard really.

Big game for UF, they will be playing for their tournament resume, so we have to be careful there. I think Waters once again has a nice matchup against some guards that will not be used to guarding someone like him. We have a VERY nice advantage in the front court. I mean flat out 6'11 and 6'10 on 6'9 and 6'5. Reid needs to be licking his chops especially on Johnson. They need to go right at Hayes because if they get him in foul trouble that's when things could go really wrong for UF. They want Hayes to play as much as he physically can this game against KBW and Reid. We should be able to pickup the W here, but another Arkansas could absolutely happen too. We need to watch Locke and Allen from 3, that's what can really keep UF in it offensively.