#20/16 Florida (7-2/0-0 SEC) vs. Maryland (5-4/0-1 Big Ten) Barclays Center (17,732) | Brooklyn, N.Y. Basketball Hall of Fame Invitational | Game 10 | Dec. 12, 2021 | 4:30 p.m BROADCAST INFO Big Ten Network | FOX Sports App Play-by-Play: Brandon Gaudin Analyst: Robbie Hummel Reporter: Andy Katz Gators Sports Network Play-by-Play: Mick Hubert Analyst: Lee Humphrey
HEAD COACHES Mike White 130-77 | 7th season at UF 231-117 | 11th season overall Danny Manning (Interim) 0-1 | 1st season as Maryland HC 116-141 | 9th season overall MATCHUP BASICS All-Time Series: 2-1 Series Under White: First Meeting All-Time vs. Big Ten: 25-36 vs. Big Ten under White: 3-4 Last Meeting: L/OT, 68-69, 12/10/03 (Home
FLORIDA POSSIBLE STARTERS # Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Min. Pts. Reb. Misc. 4 Anthony Duruji F 6-7 220 Sr.* 25.7 9.1 4.3 1.2 stl 12 Colin Castleton F 6-11 231 Sr.* 27.0 15.7 9.3 2.8 blk 0 Myreon Jones G 6-3 175 Sr.* 31.0 10.4 3.4 1.9 3fg 23 Brandon McKissic G 6-3 185 Gr. 27.0 8.3 3.4 1.8 stl 24 Phlandrous Fleming Jr. G 6-5 205 Gr. 22.7 10.6 3.0 1.3 stl *Eligible to apply for an additional season due to COVID-19. Maryland POSSIBLE STARTERS # Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Min. Pts. Reb. Misc. 24 Donta Scott F 6-8 230 Jr. 32.0 10.2 7.7 1.1 blk 33 Qudus Wahab F 6-11 240 Jr. 20.6 11.1 6.8 .607 fg% 4 Fatts Russell G 5-11 165 Gr. 31.2 12.1 4.1 3.7 ast 5 Eric Ayala G 6-5 205 Sr. 33.2 13.1 4.7 2.7 ast 13 Hakim Hart G 6-8 205 Jr. 28.0 8.2 3.6 2.1 as
NUMBERS OF NOTE 1 The Gators have one win vs. Big Ten competition already this season. Florida last had multiple wins vs. Big Ten opponents in 2006-07 (three, including two in the NCAA Tournament) and last did so during the the regular season in 1987-88. 21 Florida’s 21 steals on Wednesday vs. North Florida tied for the fifth-most in program history and the most since tallying 22 vs. VMI on Dec. 28, 1999. The Gators have double-digit steals in five of their last six games. 90 Florida and Maryland last met in a neutral-site game nearly 90 years ago in the 1932 Southern Conference tournament, in what was UF’s final game before the formation of the Southeastern Conference.
2021-22 AT A GLANCE • Florida and Maryland meet for the first time in 18 years, as the Gators return to Barclays Center and the Basketball Hall of Fame Invitational for the second time. Florida topped Providence in the event during its last visit to Brooklyn in Dec. 2019. • The Gators are seeking their second win of the season vs. a Big Ten opponent, with a victory vs. Ohio State at the Fort Myers Tip-Off already in hand. Florida last had multiple wins vs. the Big Ten in 2006-07 with a regular-season win vs. Ohio State before defeating both Purdue and Ohio State in the NCAA Tournament. The Gators last recorded multiple regular-season wins vs. the Big Ten in 1987-88, topping Ohio State and Michigan State. • The Gators have had a balanced offensive attack, with six different players leading or co-leading the team in scoring at least once within the first eight games of the season. • Florida leads the SEC in 3-point percentage defense (.268) and ranks second in scoring defense (59.1), steals (10.9) and turnover margin (+5.9). • Florida battled back from a double-digit deficit to knock off Ohio State on Tyree Appleby’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer to win the Fort Myers Tip-Off. Phlandrous Fleming led the Florida attack with 19 points and four steals, supported by Colin Castleton’s double-double with 11 points and 13 rebounds. • The Gators rode a strong late-first half performance to victory against Cal, outscoring the Bears 29-10 over the final 8:10 of the opening frame. Four Gators scored in double figures, led by Colin Castleton’s 16 and Tyree Appleby’s 15. • The Gators used a 13-0 second-half run to spark the win against 20th-ranked FSU, and Colin Castleton earned SEC Player of the Week honors with a 15-point, 16-rebound, six-blocked shot performance. • After playing with no seniors on their roster last season, the Gators have six senior or graduate players on the active roster this season. • The Gators are one of six teams nationally with a win in each of the past four tournaments and the only Southeastern Conference team to reach every NCAA Tournament in that span (since 2017). • 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 first-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, while Felder posted 9.7 points and 5.9 rebounds per game last season. • The Gators will play at least 10 games against preseason AP top 25 opponents this season, including nonconference battles vs. Florida State, Ohio State, and Maryland.
ABOUT THE OPPONENT • Maryland will be playing its second game under interim head coach Danny Manning and holds a 1-1 record in neutral site games this season with a win vs. Richmond and a loss vs. Louisville. • Eric Ayala leads four Terrapins in double figures with 13.1 points per game, joined by Fatts Russell (12.1), Qudus Wahab (11.1), and Donta Scott (10.2). Ayala is also the team leader in 3-pointers made with 18. • Scott paces Maryland in rebounding (7.7), Russell leads in assists (33), and Julian Reese comes off the bench with a team-high 13 blocked shots.
OPPONENT’S LAST 5 GAMES Nov. 19 Hofstra W 69-67 Nov. 25 vs. Richmond W 86-80 Nov. 27 vs. Louisville L 55-63 Dec. 1 Virginia Tech L 58-62 Dec. 5 Northwestern L 61-67 OPPONENT’S NEXT 5 GAMES Dec. 28 Loyola Maryland Dec. 30 Brown Jan. 3 at Iowa Jan. 6 at Illinois Jan. 9 Wisconsin
ALL-TIME SERIES (2-1) Feb. 27, 1932, N W 39-24 Dec. 14, 2002 A W 69-64 Dec. 10, 2003 H L/OT 68-69 VS. BIG TEN UNDER WHITE (3-4) Nov. 22, 2015, vs. Purdue L 70-85 Dec. 12, 2015, at Michigan State L 52-58 March 20, 2016, ^at Ohio State W 74-66 March 24, 2017 *vs. Wisconsin W/OT 84-83 Dec. 8, 2018, Michigan State L 59-63 March 23, 2019 *vs. Michigan L 49-64 Nov. 24, 2021, vs. Ohio State W 71-68 *NCAA Tournament; ^NI
These road games are always a big challenge. Speaking of big......I'm still getting used to Maryland being in the Big 10. Guess they'll always be ACC to me. Agree this is a big game for us. Thanks for the informative thread, as always, @GatorGrowl ! Go Gators!
Fox sports. That stinks. I have a flight at 6pm so will only get to watch part of the game at the airport. Don’t think that channel is available on southwest. I know ESPN is available on their flights
It’s really hard for me to express my true feelings about Mike White when I am missing half the games. On another note, I am paying Spectrum over $250 a month, and I don’t get the Big Ten Network as part of the sports package. It’s an enormous rip off.
