Marshall (2-3) vs. No. 24 Florida (5-2)
Stephen C. O'Connell Center, Gainesville, Florida; Friday, 9 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: No. 24 Florida hosts Marshall in a non-conference matchup. Marshall won easily 91-63 at home against Howard last week. Florida has moved up to No. 24 in the latest AP rankings following wins over Saint Joseph's, Miami and Xavier last week.
BIG MEN ON CAMPUS: Florida's Kerry Blackshear Jr. has averaged 13.3 points and 9.6 rebounds while Keyontae Johnson has put up 13 points and 6.6 rebounds. For the Thundering Herd, Taevion Kinsey has averaged 15 points, 6.6 rebounds and 5.8 assists while Jarrod West has put up 15.4 points and 2.4 steals.
FACILITATING THE OFFENSE: Kinsey has either made or assisted on 45 percent of all Marshall field goals over the last three games. Kinsey has 19 field goals and 21 assists in those games.
SHARING THE BURDEN: Florida is a perfect 5-0 when at least three of its players score 10 or more points. The team is 0-2 when fewer than three Gators players score in double-figures.
ACCOUNTING FOR ASSISTS: The Thundering Herd have recently created buckets via assists more often than the Gators. Florida has an assist on 35 of 80 field goals (43.8 percent) over its past three games while Marshall has assists on 48 of 88 field goals (54.5 percent) during its past three games.
LAST FIVE: Florida has averaged 68.6 points per game over its last five games. The Gators are giving up only 61.4 points per game over that stretch.
