The Gators are steamrolling through the SEC and will try to turn Ole Miss into just another mile marker on their road to the conference championship.
No. 4 Florida will pursue its 10th straight win and fourth game in a row holding an opponent under 50 points when No. 16 Ole Miss visits the O’Connell Center Saturday night (7 p.m., ESPNU). The Gators (17-2, 7-0 in the SEC) are coming off a 75-36 win over South Carolina and are allowing just 50.4 points per game, though coach Billy Donovan still thinks his team has something to prove.
“It’s all very, very fragile,” he said. “For me, it’s trying to get these guys to understand — and I think they’ve done a pretty good job — that we’re in the midst of a process right now. It doesn’t make a difference how special our defense was yesterday. How special is our defense going to be on Saturday?”
The challenge is unusual. The Rebels (17-3, 6-1) have not made the NCAA Tournament in more than a decade and posted only one win against Florida in the past 10 seasons, but are off to one of their best starts ever. They rank fifth in the country at 80 points per game.
The Gators might have been eager to hand Ole Miss its first SEC loss, but Kentucky beat them to it by winning 87-74 on Tuesday.
The Rebels’ leader is Marshall Henderson, a troubled and flamboyant guard who is at his fourth school in four years. Over the past four years, he has been in trouble for using counterfeit money, marijuana and cocaine. He is known for taunting opposing players and fans, and Tuesday he got into a heated argument with Ole Miss coach Andy Kennedy.
Henderson also is averaging 19.3 points per game, best in the SEC, and has hit more three-pointers than any player in the conference.
“He does a good job of coming off screens and hitting shots,” said Florida guard Scottie Wilbekin, who likely will cover Henderson most of the night. “He has good range so he can make them from pretty far out. You just have to stay up on him and always be ready, keep a hand over the ball.”
