Saturday, January 30
Morgantown, W.Va.
2:00 p.m.
West Virginia University
vs
Florida
Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks
United Bank Playbook – Florida Preview
January 29, 2021 02:17 PM | Men's Basketball
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The WVU Coliseum will welcome a limited number of fans for the first time this year when 11th-ranked West Virginia takes on surging Florida in a SEC/Big 12 Challenge game Saturday afternoon.
It's an intriguing matchup of two top 30 teams in the latest NCAA NET Rankings with West Virginia checking in at No. 20 and Florida at No. 27.
The Gators have won three straight over Tennessee, Georgia and Vanderbilt and now show a 9-4 record heading into Saturday's tilt.
A COVID-19 reduced crowd of 1,000 is expected, and they should see an entertaining, up-and-down game.
"I think everybody is excited about (having fans again)," West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said Friday morning. "We'd been really disappointed if all of this hadn't happened, and we only had 1,000 fans there, but now that we haven't had hardly any and to have 1,000 I think that's a step in the right direction."
Huggins' basketball team has certainly taken a step in the right direction following a 72-70 loss to fourth-ranked Texas that preceded a two-week pause because of COVID-19 protocols.
The Mountaineers (11-4) returned to the court last Saturday at Kansas State and defeated the Wildcats 69-47. Two days later, West Virginia overcame a 12-point second half deficit to clip 10th-ranked Texas Tech at the buzzer.
Guard Deuce McBride's short jump shot with six seconds left gave the Mountaineers an 88-87 victory. McBride's 24 points led a balanced Mountaineer attack that saw six different players reach double figures.
McBride is averaging a team-best 15.9 points per game and handing out a squad-leading 63 assists.
Junior forward Derek Culver shows averages of 13.1 points and 10.2 rebounds per game while guard Taz Sherman is contributing 12.1 points per contest.
Since the pause, Huggins has gone to a three-guard lineup with McBride, Sherman and Jordan McCabe in the backcourt and Culver and freshman Jalen Bridges starting up front.
Juniors Emmitt Matthews Jr. and Sean McNeil, both in the starting lineup for the team's first 13 games, have come off the bench in the last two games.
Huggins is likely going to need all 11 available players to counter a fast and athletic Gator team that is averaging 77.9 points per game while shooting an impressive 47.9% from the floor. Florida has finally gotten its bearings after preseason SEC Player of the Year Keyontae Johnson was sidelined for the season because of heart inflammation.
The Gators have won four of their last five and have five different players averaging double figures, led by 6-foot-5 guard Tre Mann's 14.7 points per game.
Colin Castleton, a 6-foot-11 forward, is averaging 12.8 points and 5.4 rebounds per contest, while 6-foot-3 guard Noah Locke (10.7 ppg.) and 6-foot-1 guard Tyree Appleby (10.5 ppg.) are also averaging double figures.
Appleby is a Cleveland State transfer with exceptional speed.
"They're a transition team," Huggins said. "We've got to get back and gang-guard them."
Omar Payne, a 6-foot-10, 230-pound sophomore forward, also starts for the Gators and is averaging 4.1 points and 3.8 rebounds per game.
Scottie Lewis, a 6-foot-5 sophomore guard, is scoring at a 10.9-points-per-game clip coming off the bench and tallied 10 in Florida's most recent victory against Vanderbilt.
"They are very balanced and it's just not five guys; they've got guys coming off the bench," Huggins said. "They're ultra-athletic. This is the most athletic team we'll play all year … and maybe that we've played in quite a few years.
"They've got guys who were state-champion high jumpers and broad jumpers; they've got a 6-7 guy who won the 100 in Washington, D.C., and everybody knows they've got athletes in D.C. They play with their teeth on the rim," Huggins added.
The veteran coach said the best way to slow down an athletic, transition team is by putting the basketball through the cylinder.
"The more you score the less likely they will be able to transition you," he said.
Like West Virginia, the Gators can go 11 deep.
Saturday's game will be West Virginia's eighth in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge and its fifth at the WVU Coliseum. Last year, the Mountaineers defeated Missouri 74-51 in Morgantown and knocked off Texas A&M here in 2017.
WVU's other two SEC/Big 12 Challenge games at the Coliseum against Kentucky in 2018 and against LSU in 2015 were losses.
West Virginia and Florida met in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge in Gainesville, Florida, in 2016 with the Gators coming away with an 88-71 victory.
The two teams last met in 2018 in the Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Florida also won that meeting 66-56.
Overall, Florida owns a 6-3 record in series play that dates back to 1963. West Virginia defeated the Gators that season and also collected wins against them in 1970 and 2002.
Saturday's game will be West Virginia's final nonconference game of the regular season. Standout former WVU guard Darris Nichols is a member of the Florida coaching staff.
ESPN2 (Karl Ravech and Jimmy Dykes) will have national television coverage while the Mountaineer Sports Network from Learfield IMG College will provide radio coverage on affiliates throughout West Virginia and online via WVUsports.com and the popular mobile app WVU Gameday.
Saturday's game will tip off at 2 p.m.
It's an intriguing matchup of two top 30 teams in the latest NCAA NET Rankings with West Virginia checking in at No. 20 and Florida at No. 27.
The Gators have won three straight over Tennessee, Georgia and Vanderbilt and now show a 9-4 record heading into Saturday's tilt.
A COVID-19 reduced crowd of 1,000 is expected, and they should see an entertaining, up-and-down game.
"I think everybody is excited about (having fans again)," West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said Friday morning. "We'd been really disappointed if all of this hadn't happened, and we only had 1,000 fans there, but now that we haven't had hardly any and to have 1,000 I think that's a step in the right direction."
Huggins' basketball team has certainly taken a step in the right direction following a 72-70 loss to fourth-ranked Texas that preceded a two-week pause because of COVID-19 protocols.
The Mountaineers (11-4) returned to the court last Saturday at Kansas State and defeated the Wildcats 69-47. Two days later, West Virginia overcame a 12-point second half deficit to clip 10th-ranked Texas Tech at the buzzer.
Guard Deuce McBride's short jump shot with six seconds left gave the Mountaineers an 88-87 victory. McBride's 24 points led a balanced Mountaineer attack that saw six different players reach double figures.
McBride is averaging a team-best 15.9 points per game and handing out a squad-leading 63 assists.
Junior forward Derek Culver shows averages of 13.1 points and 10.2 rebounds per game while guard Taz Sherman is contributing 12.1 points per contest.
Since the pause, Huggins has gone to a three-guard lineup with McBride, Sherman and Jordan McCabe in the backcourt and Culver and freshman Jalen Bridges starting up front.
Juniors Emmitt Matthews Jr. and Sean McNeil, both in the starting lineup for the team's first 13 games, have come off the bench in the last two games.
Huggins is likely going to need all 11 available players to counter a fast and athletic Gator team that is averaging 77.9 points per game while shooting an impressive 47.9% from the floor. Florida has finally gotten its bearings after preseason SEC Player of the Year Keyontae Johnson was sidelined for the season because of heart inflammation.
The Gators have won four of their last five and have five different players averaging double figures, led by 6-foot-5 guard Tre Mann's 14.7 points per game.
Colin Castleton, a 6-foot-11 forward, is averaging 12.8 points and 5.4 rebounds per contest, while 6-foot-3 guard Noah Locke (10.7 ppg.) and 6-foot-1 guard Tyree Appleby (10.5 ppg.) are also averaging double figures.
Appleby is a Cleveland State transfer with exceptional speed.
"They're a transition team," Huggins said. "We've got to get back and gang-guard them."
Omar Payne, a 6-foot-10, 230-pound sophomore forward, also starts for the Gators and is averaging 4.1 points and 3.8 rebounds per game.
Scottie Lewis, a 6-foot-5 sophomore guard, is scoring at a 10.9-points-per-game clip coming off the bench and tallied 10 in Florida's most recent victory against Vanderbilt.
"They are very balanced and it's just not five guys; they've got guys coming off the bench," Huggins said. "They're ultra-athletic. This is the most athletic team we'll play all year … and maybe that we've played in quite a few years. "They've got guys who were state-champion high jumpers and broad jumpers; they've got a 6-7 guy who won the 100 in Washington, D.C., and everybody knows they've got athletes in D.C. They play with their teeth on the rim," Huggins added.
The veteran coach said the best way to slow down an athletic, transition team is by putting the basketball through the cylinder.
"The more you score the less likely they will be able to transition you," he said.
Like West Virginia, the Gators can go 11 deep.
Saturday's game will be West Virginia's eighth in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge and its fifth at the WVU Coliseum. Last year, the Mountaineers defeated Missouri 74-51 in Morgantown and knocked off Texas A&M here in 2017.
WVU's other two SEC/Big 12 Challenge games at the Coliseum against Kentucky in 2018 and against LSU in 2015 were losses.
West Virginia and Florida met in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge in Gainesville, Florida, in 2016 with the Gators coming away with an 88-71 victory.
The two teams last met in 2018 in the Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Florida also won that meeting 66-56.
Overall, Florida owns a 6-3 record in series play that dates back to 1963. West Virginia defeated the Gators that season and also collected wins against them in 1970 and 2002.
Saturday's game will be West Virginia's final nonconference game of the regular season. Standout former WVU guard Darris Nichols is a member of the Florida coaching staff.
ESPN2 (Karl Ravech and Jimmy Dykes) will have national television coverage while the Mountaineer Sports Network from Learfield IMG College will provide radio coverage on affiliates throughout West Virginia and online via WVUsports.com and the popular mobile app WVU Gameday.
Saturday's game will tip off at 2 p.m.
Players Mentioned
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