Missouri at Florida
February 4, 2014
Florida will be looking for its 14th consecutive win Tuesday night when it hosts Missouri in Gainesville. The Gators are atop the SEC standings with a perfect 8-0 record in league play.
As of early this morning, most books had Florida (19-2 straight up, 9-7-1 against the spread) installed as a 12-point home favorite.
Billy Donovan's team has been destroying opponents at home, including Saturday's 69-36 beatdown of Texas A&M as a 16-point 'chalk.' Michael Frazier II scored a game-high 21 points and pulled down eight rebounds. Dorian Finney-Smith came off the bench to score 11 points and grab nine boards to go with a pair of blocked shots.
UF freshman center Chris Walker will make his much-anticipated debut against Frank Haith's team. Walker, a McDonald's All-American who led Holmes Co. High School to a state title in Lakeland last year, has served a 12-game suspension for minor nonsense involving the AAU team he played on in high school.
Florida is No. 5 in the RPI Rankings with a 5-2 record against RPI Top-50 opponents. The Gators beat the RPI's top-ranked squad (Kansas) convincingly in Gainesville in mid-December. Their only two losses -- at Wisconsin and at UConn on a buzzer-beater -- came when multiple players were out to injury or suspension.
UF has won its four SEC home games by margins of 33, 26, 22 and 16 points. The Gators own a 6-3-1 spread record at home, easily taking the cash in their last three outings.
Missouri (16-5 SU, 8-9-2 ATS) is in a three-way tie for sixth place in the SEC with a 4-4 record. UF and Kentucky are the only SEC locks for NCAA Tournament invites at this point, but Missouri is in the bubble picture along with LSU, Tennessee and Ole Miss.
Missouri is ranked No.51 in the RPI with a 5-4 record against the Top 100. The Tigers' best win was an 80-71 triumph over UCLA (RPI: 18) at home. Their only shameful loss was an overtime defeat as double-digit home favorites vs. Georgia.
Missouri had a chance to pick up a crucial win Saturday at home vs. Kentucky. But a second-half comeback sparked by Jabari Brown came up a little short in an 84-79 loss as a 1.5-point puppy.
Brown, who leads the SEC in scoring with a 20.1 points-per-game average, dropped 33 points on the Wildcats. Jordan Clarkson added 28 points for the Tigers, who get another shot at a resume-building victory tonight.
UF's Casey Prather, the team's leading scorer with a 16.2 points-per-game average, didn't practice on Sunday due to a sore ankle. He was expected to practice Monday and is listed as 'probable.'
In Missouri's debut season in the SEC, it split a pair of regular-season meetings with UF. The Gators smashed Mizzou by an 83-52 count as 13.5-point home favorites, but the Tigers responded with a 63-60 revenge win as five-point home underdogs.
The 'under' is 12-4-1 overall for Florida this year, 8-1-1 in its home games. The 'under' is 12-6-2 overall for Mizzou, but the 'over' has hit in four of its last six games.
Tip-off at the O-Dome is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. Eastern on ESPN.
**B.E.'s Bonus Nuggets**
-- Iowa State went into Stillwater and won a 98-97 decision over Oklahoma St. in triple overtime last night. The Cyclones covered the spread for the first time in seven outings, hooking up money-line backers with a +260 payout. 'The Mayor' led his team to victory as a seven-point underdog.
-- Oklahoma State star Marcus Smart was mired in an abysmal four-game shooting slump going into last night's backbreaking defeat vs. Iowa St. He had made just 13-of-53 shots from the field (20%) and 3-of-28 (9.7%) from beyond the 3-point line. Smart had a decent performance against the Cyclones, finishing with 20 points on 6-of-14 attempts. He remain ice cold from deep, however, hitting just 1-of-5 to extend his 3-ball slump to 4-for-33. Le'Bryan Nash scored a team-high 26 points for the Cowboys, who have lost four of their last five games. Now Travis Ford's bunch will have to move on without freshman guard Stevie Clark, who was dismissed from the squad on Monday following a Sunday morning arrest. Clark, the High School Player of the Year in Oklahoma after he led his team to a fourth straight state title last season, was also arrested on New Year's Day. With the injury to Michael Cobbins already, Oklahoma St. will have to play without two key players for the rest of the year.
-- Villanova jumped out on Xavier early and spent most of the second half ahead by double digits en route to an 81-58 win as a 10-point home favorite. The 139 combined points fell 'under' the 147-point total, ending an 11-1 run of 'overs' for the Wildcats and a 6-1 'over' spree for the Musketeers.
-- Georgia Tech point guard Trae Golden is now 'probable' Tuesday at Clemson. Golden, who averages 14.0 points and 3.4 assists per game, is nursing an ankle injury.
-- Wake Forest guard Codi Miller-McIntyre is 'questionable' tonight at Duke. Miller-McIntyre averages 14.1 points, 3.8 assists and 3.1 rebounds per game. The Blue Devils were 18-point home favorites early this morning.
-- After losing at Texas on Saturday, Kansas is on the road again tonight at Baylor. The Bears were slumping mightily until snapping out of it Saturday and winning at Oklahoma St. as 11-point underdogs. If Scott Drew's team can knock off KU tonight, it will have bolstered its resume by miles in a matter of only 72 hours.
February 4, 2014
Florida will be looking for its 14th consecutive win Tuesday night when it hosts Missouri in Gainesville. The Gators are atop the SEC standings with a perfect 8-0 record in league play.
As of early this morning, most books had Florida (19-2 straight up, 9-7-1 against the spread) installed as a 12-point home favorite.
Billy Donovan's team has been destroying opponents at home, including Saturday's 69-36 beatdown of Texas A&M as a 16-point 'chalk.' Michael Frazier II scored a game-high 21 points and pulled down eight rebounds. Dorian Finney-Smith came off the bench to score 11 points and grab nine boards to go with a pair of blocked shots.
UF freshman center Chris Walker will make his much-anticipated debut against Frank Haith's team. Walker, a McDonald's All-American who led Holmes Co. High School to a state title in Lakeland last year, has served a 12-game suspension for minor nonsense involving the AAU team he played on in high school.
Florida is No. 5 in the RPI Rankings with a 5-2 record against RPI Top-50 opponents. The Gators beat the RPI's top-ranked squad (Kansas) convincingly in Gainesville in mid-December. Their only two losses -- at Wisconsin and at UConn on a buzzer-beater -- came when multiple players were out to injury or suspension.
UF has won its four SEC home games by margins of 33, 26, 22 and 16 points. The Gators own a 6-3-1 spread record at home, easily taking the cash in their last three outings.
Missouri (16-5 SU, 8-9-2 ATS) is in a three-way tie for sixth place in the SEC with a 4-4 record. UF and Kentucky are the only SEC locks for NCAA Tournament invites at this point, but Missouri is in the bubble picture along with LSU, Tennessee and Ole Miss.
Missouri is ranked No.51 in the RPI with a 5-4 record against the Top 100. The Tigers' best win was an 80-71 triumph over UCLA (RPI: 18) at home. Their only shameful loss was an overtime defeat as double-digit home favorites vs. Georgia.
Missouri had a chance to pick up a crucial win Saturday at home vs. Kentucky. But a second-half comeback sparked by Jabari Brown came up a little short in an 84-79 loss as a 1.5-point puppy.
Brown, who leads the SEC in scoring with a 20.1 points-per-game average, dropped 33 points on the Wildcats. Jordan Clarkson added 28 points for the Tigers, who get another shot at a resume-building victory tonight.
UF's Casey Prather, the team's leading scorer with a 16.2 points-per-game average, didn't practice on Sunday due to a sore ankle. He was expected to practice Monday and is listed as 'probable.'
In Missouri's debut season in the SEC, it split a pair of regular-season meetings with UF. The Gators smashed Mizzou by an 83-52 count as 13.5-point home favorites, but the Tigers responded with a 63-60 revenge win as five-point home underdogs.
The 'under' is 12-4-1 overall for Florida this year, 8-1-1 in its home games. The 'under' is 12-6-2 overall for Mizzou, but the 'over' has hit in four of its last six games.
Tip-off at the O-Dome is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. Eastern on ESPN.
**B.E.'s Bonus Nuggets**
-- Iowa State went into Stillwater and won a 98-97 decision over Oklahoma St. in triple overtime last night. The Cyclones covered the spread for the first time in seven outings, hooking up money-line backers with a +260 payout. 'The Mayor' led his team to victory as a seven-point underdog.
-- Oklahoma State star Marcus Smart was mired in an abysmal four-game shooting slump going into last night's backbreaking defeat vs. Iowa St. He had made just 13-of-53 shots from the field (20%) and 3-of-28 (9.7%) from beyond the 3-point line. Smart had a decent performance against the Cyclones, finishing with 20 points on 6-of-14 attempts. He remain ice cold from deep, however, hitting just 1-of-5 to extend his 3-ball slump to 4-for-33. Le'Bryan Nash scored a team-high 26 points for the Cowboys, who have lost four of their last five games. Now Travis Ford's bunch will have to move on without freshman guard Stevie Clark, who was dismissed from the squad on Monday following a Sunday morning arrest. Clark, the High School Player of the Year in Oklahoma after he led his team to a fourth straight state title last season, was also arrested on New Year's Day. With the injury to Michael Cobbins already, Oklahoma St. will have to play without two key players for the rest of the year.
-- Villanova jumped out on Xavier early and spent most of the second half ahead by double digits en route to an 81-58 win as a 10-point home favorite. The 139 combined points fell 'under' the 147-point total, ending an 11-1 run of 'overs' for the Wildcats and a 6-1 'over' spree for the Musketeers.
-- Georgia Tech point guard Trae Golden is now 'probable' Tuesday at Clemson. Golden, who averages 14.0 points and 3.4 assists per game, is nursing an ankle injury.
-- Wake Forest guard Codi Miller-McIntyre is 'questionable' tonight at Duke. Miller-McIntyre averages 14.1 points, 3.8 assists and 3.1 rebounds per game. The Blue Devils were 18-point home favorites early this morning.
-- After losing at Texas on Saturday, Kansas is on the road again tonight at Baylor. The Bears were slumping mightily until snapping out of it Saturday and winning at Oklahoma St. as 11-point underdogs. If Scott Drew's team can knock off KU tonight, it will have bolstered its resume by miles in a matter of only 72 hours.
