LINEUP NOTES

Florida:

• Surprisingly, Mike White’s only cycled through four starting lineups this year, and the current one was his third. Looks like he likes it: Nembhard, Locke, Lewis, Johnson, Blackshear.
• Generally, at least nine guys play every game for Florida, with Dontay Bassett occasionally being the tenth. However, the only guys to get double-digit minutes more than twice in the last seven games are Tre Mann and Omar Payne.
• I can’t underscore enough how important it is for Tennessee to get Blackshear off the floor. Florida when Blackshear is on: +23.2 adjusted net rating; would rank 7th nationally. Florida when Blackshear is off: +4.3 adjusted net rating; would rank 120th.

Tennessee: 

• Vescovi, Bowden, JJJ, Pons, Fulkerson.
• Start Davonte Gaines.

KEY MATCHUPS

Yves Pons vs. Keyontae Johnson. Ideally, the perfect outcome here is that Pons swallows up Johnson and forces him to take shots anywhere but the rim. Few have done that this season; Vandy realistically came closest in the past month and he hit his long shots anyway. You’ve got to live with that risk. On the other side of the ball, Pons has scored between 6 and 14 points in nine straight games. It feels like his Kansas breakout game was a year ago; he needs another one here.

John Fulkerson vs. Kerry Blackshear. Already discussed ad nauseum, but rest assured that anything less than a Fulkerson 18 & 7 game is probably a loss.

PREDICTION

Florida 64, Tennessee 63.