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Florida State vs. Florida: 3 biggest storylines for 2019-20 matchup

By Jason Burgess

ARLINGTON, TX - APRIL 05: The Florida Gators huddle before the NCAA Men's Final Four Semifinal against the Connecticut Huskies at AT&T Stadium on April 5, 2014 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
ARLINGTON, TX - APRIL 05: The Florida Gators huddle before the NCAA Men's Final Four Semifinal against the Connecticut Huskies at AT&T Stadium on April 5, 2014 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) /
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DES MOINES, IOWA – MARCH 21: Andrew Nembhard #2 of the Florida Gators handles the ball on offense against the Nevada Wolf Pack in the second half during the first round of the 2019 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Wells Fargo Arena on March 21, 2019 in Des Moines, Iowa. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
DES MOINES, IOWA – MARCH 21: Andrew Nembhard #2 of the Florida Gators handles the ball on offense against the Nevada Wolf Pack in the second half during the first round of the 2019 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Wells Fargo Arena on March 21, 2019 in Des Moines, Iowa. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) /

Three second-year players will play key roles for Florida

Another reason Florida is so highly thought of heading into this season is a trio of talented sophomores that had very successful freshman campaigns. Andrew Nembhard, Keyontae Johnson, and Noah Locke all return after combining to average 25.5 points, 11.6 rebounds, and 7.3 assists in 2019.

Locke is the top returning scorer of the three with his 9.4 points, he also shot a team-high 214 three-pointers, knocking down 38% of his attempts. In fact, if the defenders see Locke inside the three-point line, it is likely a shot is not going up, as he only attempted 87 two-point shots on the year. The 6-3 Locke has shown the ability to take over a game, scoring 27 on seven three-pointers in an 81-72 win over Texas A&M in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge.

Nembhard led the team in assists with 5.4 per game last season and added eight points per game and the 6-5 Canadian showed up big in Florida’s SEC semifinal win over LSU with 20 points, four rebounds, and six assists. The lone forward in the group is another guy who measures 6-5, forward Keyontae Johnson. Johnson is the Gator’s top returning rebounder, pulling down 6.4 as a freshman.

He also notched eight points per game and shot 47% from the field, with an adequate shot from three, knocking down 36%.  Johnson really emerged late in the season recording three double-doubles in his last five contests, with two in the SEC Tournament and a 10-point, 10-rebound effort in the win over Nevada in the NCAA Tournament.

Next. Top early non-conference tournaments for 2019-20. dark

The young trio will be a huge key for Florida this season and showed no signs of the sophomore slump, combining for 42 points in their exhibition win over Lynn and 23 against North Florida. Florida State will provide a much stiffer test, will the young Gators be able to take another step forward in 2019-20?

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