FSU 1-0 @ Florida 1-0 Nov. 14, 2021 | 1 p.m. ESPN

Florida (1-0/0-0 SEC) vs. #20/19 Florida State (1-0/0-0 ACC)
Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center | Gainesville, Fla.
Game 2 | Nov. 14, 2021 | 1 p.m.

BROADCAST INFO
ESPN | ESPN App
Play-by-Play: Kevin Fitzgerald
Analyst: Jimmy Dykes

Gators Sports Network
Play-by-Play: Mick Hubert
Analyst: Lee Humphrey

 

HEAD COACHES
Mike White
124-75 | 7th season at UF
225-115 | 11th season overall

Leonard Hamilton
379-227 | 20th season at FSU
579-437 | 34th season overall

 

MATCHUP BASICS
All-Time Series: 43-29
All-Time/Home: 21-9
All-Time vs. ACC: 150-139
Last Meeting: L, 71-83, 12/12/20 (Away)
Last Meeting vs. ACC:W/OT, vs. Virginia Tech, 75-70,
3/19/21 (Neutral/NCAA Tourn

 

NUMBERS OF NOTE
18
The Gators have recorded 18 wins
vs. AP Top 25 opponents under head
coach Mike White, earning multiple
top-25 victories in each of the past
five seasons. Six of those 18 ranked
victories have come on the Gators’
home court.

10
The Gators recorded 10 blocked shots
in the season opener, led by Colin
Castleton’s six. It marked UF’s ninth
game under White with double-digit
blocked shots, a mark the team did
reach between Dec. 17, 2006, (vs.
FAMU) and Nov. 27, 2015 (vs. FGCU).

2nd
Florida ranks second in the SEC over
the past six seasons in conference
wins, top-25 wins, NCAA Tournament
wins and road SEC wins

 

2021-22 AT A GLANCE
• Florida hosts Florida State in the Gators’ first test vs. a ranked opponent this season. The Gators own 18 wins against AP Top 25 teams under head coach Mike White’s guidance.

• Florida opened its season with a win vs. Elon, as Myreon Jones caught fi re for 20 points to lead the Gators, including 17 on 4-for-5 shooting from 3-point range in the second half.

• After playing with no seniors on their roster last season, the Gators have six senior or graduate players on the active roster, a group that accounted for 68 of Florida’s 74 points (91.9%) in the season opener.

• The Gators are one of six teams nationally with a win in each of the past four tournaments and the only South-
eastern Conference team to reach every NCAA Tournament in that span (since 2017).

• All-SEC front court man Colin Castleton returns to UF after testing the NBA waters this summer, along with fellow 2020-21 starters Tyree Appleby and Anthony Duruji. Castleton was recognized with preseason All-SEC first-team status by coaches and the media this season, along with a spot on the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award
watch list. Other returners include wing Niels Lane and post Jason Jitoboh, along with walk-on sophomores Alex Klatsky and Jack May.

• The Gators added a quartet of veteran impact transfers who have a combined 3,882 career points scored at their previous schools. Florida’s 2021 class of incoming transfers rates in the nation’s top two in career points (Arkansas, 4,125 points, 6 players).

• Guards Brandon McKissic (UMKC) and Phlandrous Fleming Jr. (Charleston Southern) both bring conference defensive player of the year and fi rst-team all-conference credentials to Gainesville as graduate transfers.

• The Gators also added a pair of undergrad transfers in senior guard Myreon Jones (Penn State) and junior forward CJ Felder (Boston College). Jones led the Nittany Lions in scoring last season with 15.3 points per game and averaged 2.4 3-pointers made per game, while Felder posted 9.7 points and 5.9 rebounds per game
last season.

• UF also brings in two freshmen guards in ESPN Top 100 prospect Kowacie Reeves (Macon, Ga.) and pure-
shooting lefty Elijah Kennedy (Virginia Beach, Va.), along with junior college transfer Tuongthach Gatkek.

• The Gators are slated for at least nine games against preseason AP top 25 opponents this season, including nonconference battles vs. Florida State and Maryland with the possibility of a meeting against Ohio State in Fort Myers.

• Associate head coach Al Pinkins returns for his fourth season at Florida, and assistant coaches Erik Pastrana and Akeem Miskdeen joined White’s staff after Jordan Mincy (Jacksonville) and Darris Nichols (Radford) moved on to head coaching opportunities.

• Director of basketball operations Jonathan Blake (seventh season) and special assistant to the head coach Bryce Douglas (fifth season) return to White’s support staff . Athletic trainer Duke Werner, Florida’s Associate AD for Sports Health, returns for his 18th season with the men’s basketball team and 28th at Florida, while
director of strength and conditioning Preston Greene enters his 11th season with the Gators

 

ABOUT THE OPPONENT​

• Leonard Hamilton enters his 20th season at Florida State and returns
double-figure scorer Anthony Polite (10.1 ppg) and regular starter
RayQuan Evans, along with spot starters Wyatt Wilkes and Malik
Osborne.

• Osborne led the Seminoles with 18 points and 13 rebounds in their
season-opening win vs. Penn, and Polite added 17 points. FSU forced
the Quakers into 26 turnovers with 15 steals.

OPPONENT’S LAST 5 GAMES
March 22 vs. Colorado W 71-53
March 28 vs. Michigan L 58-76
Oct. 28 Mississippi College (Exh.) W 94-51
Nov. 6 Florida College (Exh.) W 102-55
Nov. 10 Penn W 105-70

OPPONENT’S NEXT 5 GAMES
Dec. 15 Georgia Tech
Dec. 19 UCF
Dec. 21 Gardner-Webb
Dec. 29 at Clemson
Jan. 2 Duke

 

VS. ACC UNDER WHITE (5-10)
Dec. 8, 2015 at #17 Miami L 55-66
Dec. 29, 2015 Florida State L 71-73
Nov. 27, 2016 vs. Miami W 65-56
Dec. 6, 2016 vs. #5 Duke L 74-84
Dec. 11, 2016 at Florida State L 78-83
March 18, 2017 *vs. #24 Virginia W 65-39
Nov. 26, 2017 vs. #1 Duke L 84-87
Dec. 4, 2017 Florida State L 66-83
Dec. 16, 2017 vs. Clemson L 69-71
Nov. 6, 2018 at #17 Florida State L 60-81
Nov. 10, 2019 Florida State L 51-63
Nov. 22, 2019 vs. Miami W 78-58
Dec. 3, 2020 vs. Boston College W 90-70
Dec. 12, 2020 at Florida State L 61-74
March 19, 2020 *vs. Virginia Tech W/OT 75-70
*NCAA Tournament