Florida (12-6/3-3 SEC) vs. Ole Miss (9-9/1-5 SEC) Sandy and John Black Pavilion at Ole Miss (9,500) | Oxford, Miss. Game 19 | Jan. 24, 2022 | 7 p.m. ET BROADCAST INFO SEC+ | ESPN App Play-by-Play: Seth Austin Analyst: John Stroud Gators Sports Network Play-by-Play: Mick Hubert Analyst: Lee Humphrey
FLORIDA POSSIBLE STARTERS # Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Min. Pts. Reb. Misc. 4 Anthony Duruji F 6-7 209 Sr. 25.1 9.4 4.4 1.3 stl 33 Jason Jitoboh C 6-11 285 Jr. 9.4 3.7 2.3 .585 fg% 14 Kowacie Reeves G 6-6 182 Fr. 14.1 4.8 1.2 1.0 3fg 23 Brandon McKissic G 6-3 185 Gr. 26.8 6.3 3.3 1.4 stl 24 Phlandrous Fleming Jr. G 6-5 205 Gr. 23.5 10.6 3.6 1.3 stl Ole Miss POSSIBLE STARTERS # Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Min. Pts. Reb. Misc. 4 Jaemyn Brakefield F 6-8 220 So. 26.4 9.1 4.2 1.1 3fg 3 Nysier Brooks C 7-0 245 Gr. 28.5 9.5 8.1 .602 fg% 2 Daeshun Ruffin G 5-9 160 Fr. 25.0 11.0 0.9 3.6 ast 11 Matthew Murrell G 6-4 200 So. 26.1 9.8 2.8 1.7 3fg 14 Tye Fagan G 6-3 198 Sr. 20.7 7.4 3.7 2.1 as
HEAD COACHES Mike White 135-81 | 7th season at UF 236-121 | 11th season overall Kermit Davis 60-51 | 4th season at Ole Miss 463-289 | 24th season overall MATCHUP BASICS All-Time Series: 68-47 All-Time/Away: 23-31 Series under White: 6-2 Away/under White: 1-2 Last Meeting: W, 72-63, 1/12/21 (Home)
NUMBERS OF NOTE 5 Monday’s contest marks the midpoint of a Florida stretch of five games in 11 days. The Gators come in riding a three-game winning streak, its longest since opening the season with six straight. 10 Jason Jitoboh posted his first career double-figure rebounding game of his career in Saturday’s win vs. Vanderbilt. He grabbed five of UF’s 16 offensive rebounds as the Gators posted a 20-4 edge in second-chance points. 20-2 Florida finished last season’s meeting on a 20-2 run over the final 6:28, turning a nine-point deficit into a nine-point win. Colin Castleton had 21 points, 10 rebounds, and eight blocked shots in the game.
2021-22 AT A GLANCE • Florida and Ole Miss make up the game originally scheduled for Dec. 29, as the Gators are in the midst of a five-game span over 11 days. UF posted a 61-42 win vs. Vanderbilt on Saturday and will turn the page quickly after Monday’s game with Tennessee awaiting in Knoxville on Wednesday. • The Gators stifled Vanderbilt on Saturday, limiting the Commodores to 14 second-half points. Vandy’s 42 total points marked the second-fewest UF has allowed vs. an SEC opponent under Mike White (41 at SC, 2/10/18). No Commodore scored more than seven points against the UF defense, and the Gators forced the SEC’s leading scorer Scotty Pippen Jr. into a 1-for-10 day with a season-low six points. • Anthony Duruji scored 18 of his 22 points vs. Mississippi State in the second half, helping UF rally from seven points down with 7:20 to play. Duruji nabbed a career-high five steals vs. MSU, becoming the fifth Gator since 1996 (Donovan/White Era) to post a 22-point, five-steal outing. He joins Nick Calathes (twice), Corey Brewer (twice), Brett Nelson, and Jason Williams (twice). • Colin Castleton posted 17.5 points, 8.3 rebounds, 3.5 blocked shots, and shooting .610 from the field through four SEC games before suffering a shoulder injury in practice on Jan. 18 that has kept him out since. • UF’s 3-point defense has been strong in the Gators’ wins, limiting opponents to .254 shooting from beyond the arc in those games. Florida’s foes are averaging 4.3 made 3-pointers in its victories, including four games with just two 3-pointers allowed. • Florida is among the SEC leaders in blocked shots (second, 5.9), 3-point field goal percentage defense (second, 2.95), scoring defense (third, 62.7), steals (fourth, 9.6), and offensive rebounds (fourth, 12.6). • The Gators met three straight-ranked SEC foes to start its SEC slate. It marked just the fourth three-game stretch vs. ranked SEC teams in UF history and the first since Feb. 2001. Florida had never before opened its SEC slate with three consecutive contests vs. top-25 opponents. • 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 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’ quartet of veteran impact transfers combined for 3,882 career points scored at their previous schools. 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 Myreon Jones (Penn State) and CJ Felder (Boston College). Jones led the Nittany Lions in scoring last season with 15.3 points per game, while Felder averaged 9.7 points and 5.9 rebounds last seas
ABOUT THE OPPONENT • Ole Miss, now in its fourth season under Kermit Davis, earned wins vs. Memphis and Dayton in nonconference play and picked up an SEC win at home vs. Mississippi State. • Like Florida, Ole Miss has been without its leading scorer recently. Jarkel Joiner was averaging 13.6 points per game with 22 3-pointers and 36 assists through 13 games before being sidelined by a back injury. • A 5-foot-9 freshman, Daeshun Ruffin suffered a broken hand in the Rebels’ opener and has been effective since his return, averaging 11.0 points in 10 appearances this season. • Seven-footer Nysier Brooks, a grad transfer from Miami (Fla.), leads the team in rebounding (8.1), blocked shots (23), and is connecting at a .602 clip from the field while averaging 9.5 points per game. • Sophomore Matthew Murrell is seeing increased action this season, moving into starting the lineup and averaging 9.8 points with a team- high 30 made 3-pointers. • Junior Luis Rodriguez and Georgia transfer Tye Fagan have both started games in the Rebels’ backcourt, as well. Rodriguez has a team-best 28 steals. • Florida associate head coach Al Pinkins coached on Davis’ Middle Tennessee staff for eight seasons (2003-11). OPPONENT’S LAST 5 GAMES Jan. 8 Mississippi State W 82-72 Jan. 11 at Texas A&M L 51-67 Jan. 15 Auburn L 71-80 Jan. 18 Missouri L 53-78 Jan. 22 at Mississippi State L 60-78 OPPONENT’S NEXT 5 GAMES Jan. 26 Arkansas Jan. 29 Kansas State Feb. 1 at LSU Feb. 5 at Florida Feb. 9 Alabama SERIES UNDER WHITE (6-2) Jan. 16, 2016 A W 80-71 Feb. 9, 2016 H W 77-72 Jan. 3, 2017 H W 70-63 Jan. 13, 2018 A L 72-78 Jan. 30, 2019 H W/OT 90-86 Jan. 14, 2020 H W 71-55 Feb. 8, 2020 A L 51-68 Jan. 12, 2021 H W 72-63
The last couple of games should show the guys there is more than one way to grab a win. In the first one they played one of their best games of the year but it didn't come so easy to start off the second one and they were forced to regroup at halftime, dig down deep, and get a win in spite of not shooting lights out. It's also good to see White putting more faith in his bench.
This, vs. Oklahoma State, vs. Ole Miss, vs. Georgia, at Georgia, and at Vanderbilt are the games left that I believe are must wins in terms. If we lose a game this week, it cannot be this one as it could end up being a Quad 3 loss. We are one of three teams to in the top 50 to have a Quad 4 loss, so adding a Quad 3 loss to the resume would be baddddd.
One thing about their newish arena is that it is reasonably well lit. Their old place was really dark.
Speaking of Pomeroy I will not give details as it is info that is only available to those that pay for it, but UF is REALLY good at free throw defense. I know that we all joke about that stat, but maybe they are really good at fouling the bad free throw shooters and not fouling good free throw shooters. On the other hand Pippen Jr was not very good from the line on Saturday against us so maybe there is something more to it.
Has there been any actual diagnosis or prognosis made for CC's injury, other than "out indefinitely"?
