Southeastern Louisiana-Florida Preview

The Men’s Basketball team is back home this Wednesday night for their only home game in the month of December, taking on the Southeastern Louisiana Lions. This will be the first time these two programs have faced each other but the fifth time Florida has faced a member from the Southland Conference. The Gators are 4-0 against Southland including a win over Sam Houston State in the 2003 NCAA tournament.

UF has allowed just two of its eight opponents to score 65 points in a game (UCF and Arizona) while SLU has only been able to score 65 points just once. The Gators defense is third in the nation in scoring defense, allowing teams around 50 points a game. Florida’s opponents have shot around 36 percent from the floor which is second best in the SEC and 14^th in the country.

The Gators are averaging 72 points a game, shooting 47 percent from the field, 37 percent from the three point line, 13 assists and 12 turnovers a game. Senior guard Kenny Boynton leads in scoring with 13 points a game followed by senior forward Erik Murphy with 12. Junior center Patric Young and junior forward Will Yeguete lead the team in rebounds per game with 7. Despite missing two games due to suspension, junior guard Scottie Wilbekin averages 4 assists a game.

What Florida will be facing is an SLU team that is averaging 58 points per game, shooting 37 percent from the floor, 26 percent from the three point line, 9 assists and 14 turnovers a game. Senior guard Brandon Fortenberry averages 11 points per game while senior forward Roosevelt Johnson leads the team with 6 rebounds a game. Both junior forward Antonnio Benton and sophomore guard Onochie Ochie are shooting over 50 percent from the floor. Junior guard Dre Evans is shooting a team best 34 percent from 3-point range.

Kenny Boynton needs just five points to become the fifth Gator to reach the 1,700 point plateau. Tipoff is set for 7 o’clock.