Gators take on all zone all the time Merrimack at O-Dome tonight

(Photo by Chris Spears)

The bad news is the Merrimack Warriors (2-3) will probably spend 40 minutes in a 2-3 zone when they take on 10^th-ranked Florida (3-1) at the O-Dome (7 p.m., SEC Network+). For a team shooting a miserable 23.7 percent from the 3-point line, teams that go zone all the time, a zone isn’t exactly what the doctor ordered.

"Merrimack brings a unique challenge playing 40 minutes of zone, and obviously we have not shot the ball well from the perimeter yet, so will be a good challenge for us that way,” Florida coach Todd Golden said Thursday afternoon. “But everybody that is dressed has to be ready."

The Warriors are holding opponents to 31.6 percent on 3-pointers. More important, they’re limiting opponents to 19 attempts from behind the 3-point stripe per game. Merrimack lost its second game of the season to Auburn, 95-57, a game in which the Warriors held Auburn to 6-24 from the 3-point line. On 2-point shots, Auburn went 25-38. Merrimack, meanwhile, launched 32 3-pointers against Auburn, but nailed only eight of them.

The Gators do need the shooting practice, particularly since they travel to San Diego next week to face TCU (3-2) in the first round of the Rady’s Children’s Invitational. Win that one and the Gators will face the winner of Providence (3-2) and 23^rd-ranked Wisconsin (4-0). Those games are rather tough warmups for the following two games – at No. 5 Duke (5-0) at Cameron Indoor Stadium and No. 3 UConn (4-1) in the Jimmy V Classic in Madison Square Garden.

Golden pointed out that it’s still a bit early in the season to be counting the Gators out as a decent 3-point shooting team although Xaivian Lee (6-34) and Boogie Fland (2-17) are struggling mightily.

“This has obviously become the big talking point,” Golden said. “The thing we really enjoy doing is kind of going back and some of our past teams and how we did early in the year. After I think five games last year, Will [Richard] was 4-22 from three to start the season,” Golden said. “And Alijah was something like 22 percent in his first six or seven games with us. So, obviously we want Xaivian [Lee] shooting better from the perimeter but as we’ve discussed, I’m way more concerned with him with things that don’t require talent. He’s doing a really good job defending the best he ever has in his career. He’s doing a great job taking care of the basketball for us and he’s rebounding his position. When the threes start falling, I think you’re going to see us be able to kind of get away from some teams similar to how we did when Urby [Urban Klavzar] started shooting the ball well on Sunday. When we hit threes we can put some pressure on some teams.”

The Gators may not get many looks from the 3-point line tonight, but they likely won’t need them. Merrimack is – shall we say – vertically challenged. The Warriors go with a front line of 6-7 Todd Brogna (6.2 points, 4.4 rebounds) and 6-5 Ernest Shelton (21 points, 3.4 rebounds). The leading rebounder is 6-2 Kevair Kennedy (13.2 points, 5.4 rebounds).

In the loss to Auburn, the Warriors were outrebounded 55-24 and outscored in the paint, 42-14.

The Gators will go with their typical front line of 6-11 Alex Condon (16.5 points, 8.5 rebounds), 6-11 Rueben Chinyelu (9.5 points, 9.0 rebounds) and 6-9 Tommy Haugh (19 points, 8.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists per game), so it’s not like Florida will have to rely on outside shooting. The Gators will be short-handed up front, however, as 7-1 Micah Handlogten will sit this one out due to a shot he took to the head Sunday night in the Gators’ 82-68 win over Miami in Jacksonville Sunday night.

Sitting Handlogten has more to do with precaution than anything else.

“He's doing great. He got banged up pretty good, took an elbow to the chin on Sunday night so he will not play tomorrow night," Golden said. "He’s still in his rehab and just kind of getting back healthy. We’re hopeful he'll be back next week when we get out west to play those games in San Diego.”

This should be an opportunity for Golden to get more work in for his reserves. Against Miami, Urban Klavzar came off the bench to hit 4-7 from the 3-point line, finishing the game with 15 points. Isaiah Brown was an effective part of Florida’s full court pressure unit in the second half against Miami, but he didn’t get many opportunities to touch the ball on the offensive end. Freshmen CJ Ingram and Alex Lloyd probably will get a shot at playing extended minutes. 

Game notes: The game is sold out. The Gators have sold out 11 of their last 13 home games at the O-Dome … Gainesville attorney and Gator booster Jeffrey Meldon will be distributing replicas of Florida’s NCAA championship ring to all fans attending the game … The Gators lead the NCAA in rebounding with 52.75 rebounds per game. The Gators are the No. 2 offensive rebounding team in the country at 19.25 per game. Florida outrebounds opponents by 17 per game … The Gators have moved up to No. 6 in the kenpom.com analytics. The Gators are No. 20 in the nation in offensive efficiency and No. 7 in defensive efficiency.

Anticipated Starting Lineups

No. 9 FLORIDA (3-1): Alex Condon (6-11, 235, JR); Rueben Chinyelu (6-11, 265, JR); Tommy Haugh (6-9, 215, JR); Boogie Fland (6-3, 185, SO); Xaivian Lee (6-4, 185, SR)

Merrimack (2-3): Kevair Kennedy (6-2, 165, FR); Ernest Shelton (6-5, 180, JR); Andres Marrero (6-3, 200, SR); Todd Brogna (6-7, 220, JR); Tye Dorset (6-3, 175, SO)

SEC BASKETBALL

No. 20 Tennessee (5-0) 89, Tennessee State (2-3) 60: Ja’Kobi Gillespie had 17 points four rebounds and five assists for the unbeaten Vols.

Vanderbilt (5-0) 109, Texas Southern (0-5) 74: Tyler Nickel and Tyler Tanner each scored 20 points for Vandy.

Oklahoma (3-2) 95, Oral Roberts (2-4) 71: Mohamed Wague had 20 points and seven rebounds for the Sooners.

Missouri (6-0) 102, South Dakota (3-3) 68: Mark Mitchell scored 22 points and Jevon Porter had 19 points and 12 rebounds for the Tigers.

Kansas State (5-0) 98, Mississippi State (2-2) 77: Mississippi State’s problems were at the defensive end where they gave up 14-30 shooting from the 3-point line by Kansas State.

Friday’s games

Merrimack (2-3) at No. 10 FLORIDA (3-1)

Loyola Maryland (2-4) at No. 12 Kentucky (3-2)

Jackson State (0-4) at No. 21 Arkansas (4-1)

South Carolina (4-0) at Butler (3-1)

Omaha (2-3) at LSU (4-0)

Georgia (5-0) at Xavier (3-2)

Manhattan (3-2) at Texas A&M (3-2)