Florida @ Providence preview

Last Meeting ( Dec 6, 2006 ) Providence 67, Florida 85

A pair of teams in great need of a solid non-conference win meet Tuesday in Brooklyn, N.Y., as Florida takes on Providence in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Invitational at the Barclays Center. The Gators, who do have a resume-building victory against Xavier, are coming off a 76-62 loss at No. 19 Butler in which they made 6-of-26 from 3-point range and had the appearance of a team still searching for an identity.

"Our culture has to be better. It just does," Florida coach Mike White told reporters after the loss. "Our locker room has to get better. We're painfully immature as a team right now. We've got to mature on the court, off the court, preparation for practice, middle of practice, after practice. We've got a bunch of guys who just have not experienced success at this level." The Friars are coming off a win over Stony Brook on Saturday, but there still remains plenty of room for improvement after the Seawolves scored 54 second-half points and fell by just four at Providence. "We let our foot off the gas a little bit at the start of the second half and gave them some life," assistant coach Jeff Battle told reporters after the game while head coach Ed Cooley was battling back spasms. "They made some tough threes and with the 3-point line it's always a crap shoot. We let down a little bit defensively and we have to get better than that." Guards David Duke and Luwane Pipkins scored 21 points apiece to help the Friars survive and win for just the second time in their last six games.

TV: 7 p.m. ET, ESPN2

ABOUT FLORIDA (6-3): Senior forward Kerry Blackshear Jr. leads the Gators in scoring (13.3 points per game) and rebounding (8.4) after recording 17 and five in the loss to Butler. Sophomore Andrew Nembhard ranks third on the team in scoring (10.1) and leads the way with 5.2 assists per contest after posting 11 and five, versus the Bulldogs. Blackshear and Nembhard were a combined 2-for-10 from long range as Florida's overall 3-point percentage dipped to 29.1, tied for 305th nationally heading into Monday's play.

ABOUT PROVIDENCE (6-5): Pipkins, who was expected to provide a big boost following a transfer from Massachusetts, made all 10 of his free throws and handed out seven assists against Stony Brook after posting a total of five points on 2-of-19 shooting from the field over his previous three games. "Fortunately, he's an experienced guy and has played a lot of basketball," Battle told reporters of the struggling Pipkins. "My conversations with him lately are to be who he is. Heck, we couldn't guard the guy for two years (while at Massachusetts)." Duke is averaging 16.3 points over his last four games while making 10-of-17 from behind the arc.

TIP-INS

1. Friars senior G Alpha Diallo recorded 17 points and 12 rebounds Saturday for his fourth double-double of the season, and he leads the team in both categories (13.5, 8.7).

2. Gators freshman G Scottie Lewis leads his team in both steals (1.3) and blocks (1.6).

3. Florida claimed each of the first four meetings, the most recent of which took place in 2006.

PREDICTION: Florida 73, Providence 65