On the hardwood and in life, UF guards Nick Calathes and Jai Lucas are like brothers, but when it comes to video games the roommates are miles apart.
"(Calathes is) not really that good, but he talks the most trash," Lucas said. "It's always fun to beat him because he talks the most, but he's not good at video games."
Calathes admits his game in the virtual world is all talk and has no problem giving Lucas the credit he deserves.
"Oh yeah, definitely," Calathes said. "He plays a lot, so he probably deserves the honor."
The two former McDonald's All-Americans are developing a special bond as the season progresses. Calathes said the two spend most of their time together, whether it's within the walls of a gym or their Keys dormitory apartment, which they share with teammates Chandler Parsons and Adam Allen.
"I'm around Nick all the time, so I know him real well," Lucas said. "He's a great guy. He's always trying to crack a joke. He thinks he's real funny, but he's really not that funny at all."
Perhaps the most notable bond of all can be seen during games, where the two make up two-thirds of the Gators' starting backcourt. In Tuesday's win against Alabama, the combo combined for 40 points and 12 assists.
"I think we definitely give mismatch problems. We can both handle the ball and shoot," Calathes said. "Whoever gets the ball can go with it."
The Gators (14-2) will hope for much of the same Saturday when UF hosts Auburn (9-3) at noon.
UF is coming off a big 90-83 win in its Southeastern Conference opener. In the road victory, the Gators hit big shots when they needed them they most - something UF coach Billy Donovan said was key to the team's success.
"Every time they started to pull away a little bit we made some timely shots," Donovan said. "That's always something you get a little concerned about, because what happens if we don't make timely shots?"
Donovan continued to express questions about the team's reaction and response to games. He said the Gators have a lot to learn from the win and hopes the confidence won't lead to complacency.
"I thought our guys competed and played hard … but we still made so many mistakes consecutively," he said. "We have to get a lot better than we are right now."
UF faces an Auburn team that has been marred with injuries and poor luck so far. The Tigers had only seven scholarship players before losing forward Korvotney Barber to a broken hand two weeks ago. That came on the heels of a five-game suspension to forward Quan Prowell to open the year. Forward Lucas Hargrove has missed time with a broken hand as well, and forward Josh Dollard is done for the season with a medical redshirt.
UF will aim to replicate last year's performance, when the Gators dominated Auburn 91-66 on the road. Donovan said the team has a long path ahead and admitted he has no intention of predicting the future any time soon.
"It's just like I said from day one. There's certain things experience-wise that I want to give them that doesn't make sense to them," he said. "It would be like me explaining to you what Mars was like and what it was like when you land."
