Knoxville, TN Florida (12-7/3-4 SEC) vs. #18/20 Tennessee (13-5/4-3 SEC) Thompson-Boling Arena (21,678) | Knoxville, Tenn. Game 20 | Jan. 26, 2022 | 6 p.m. BROADCAST INFO ESPN2 | ESPN App Play-by-Play: Tom Hart Analyst: Jimmy Dykes Gators Sports Network Play-by-Play: Mick Hubert Analyst: Lee Humphrey
HEAD COACHES Mike White 135-82 | 7th season at UF 236-122 | 11th season overall Rick Barnes 136-78 | 6th season at UT 740-391 | 35th season overall MATCHUP BASICS All-Time Series: 58-79 All-Time/Away: 17-49 Series under White: 2-7 Away/under White: 0-5 Last Meeting: L, 66-78, 3/12/21 (SEC
FLORIDA POSSIBLE STARTERS # Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Min. Pts. Reb. Misc. 4 Anthony Duruji F 6-7 209 Sr. 25.0 9.5 4.4 1.2 stl 33 Jason Jitoboh C 6-11 285 Jr. 10.4 4.2 2.5 .638 fg% 14 Kowacie Reeves G 6-6 182 Fr. 14.4 4.9 1.2 0.9 3fg 23 Brandon McKissic G 6-3 185 Gr. 26.9 6.4 3.4 1.9 ast 24 Phlandrous Fleming Jr. G 6-5 205 Gr. 24.0 10.3 3.6 1.3 stl Tennessee POSSIBLE STARTERS # Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Min. Pts. Reb. Misc. 13 Olivier Nkamhoua F 6-8 232 Jr. 21.4 8.4 5.6 1.1 blk 33 Uros Plavsic F 7-0 251 Jr. 12.8 4.7 3.3 .610 fg% 1 Kennedy Chandler G 6-0 171 Fr. 30.1 13.3 3.1 4.9 ast 25 Santiago Vescovi G 6-3 191 Jr. 29.4 14.1 4.7 3.0 3fg 30 Josiah-Jordan James G 6-6 214 Jr. 25.6 6.7 5.5 1.5 stl
NUMBERS OF NOTE 5 Florida visits Knoxville for the fifth consecutive season. The Gators have had just two home-court opportunities vs. the Vols during that span. 25 Through Wednesday’s game, the Gators will have played five of their first 20 games this season -- 25 percent -- against AP top-20 teams. 6 Jason Jitoboh’s six field goals without a miss were the most by a Gator since Omar Payne’s 9-for-9 game vs. Auburn on Jan. 18, 2020. Jitoboh is the fourth Gator under Mike White to post a perfect day with at least six field goals, joining Payne, Andrew Nembhard and Devin Robinson
2021-22 AT A GLANCE • Florida plays its third game in five days, looking to bounce back in quick fashion from Monday’s loss at Ole Miss. The Gators could not overcome a cold shooting day from 3-point range (4-for-29) and the absence of Colin Castleton (shoulder) and CJ Felder (illness) in Oxford. • 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). • Florida is among the SEC leaders in blocked shots (second, 5.8), 3-point field goal percentage defense (third, .296), scoring defense (third, 63.1) and offensive rebounds (fourth, 12.3). • 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. • 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. • 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 season.
ABOUT THE OPPONENT • Tennessee enters off two straight wins, most recently a home victory over LSU. The Volunteers earned non-conference wins vs. Arizona (home), North Carolina (neutral) and Colorado (away). Tennessee owns a top-five defense in KenPom’s defensive efficiency ratings. • Santiago Vescovi leads the offensive attack with 14.1 points per game and 54 made 3-pointers (.383). • Freshman Kennedy Chandler adds 13.3 points per game and leads UT with 84 assists and 39 steals, while Olivier Nkamhoua leads the team with 20 blocked shots. • Uros Plavsic has recently moved into the starting five with John Fulk- erson coming off the bench. OPPONENT’S LAST 5 GAMES Jan. 8 at LSU L 67-79 Jan. 11 South Carolina W 66-46 Jan. 15 at Kentucky L 79-107 Jan. 18 at Vanderbilt W 68-60 Jan. 22 LSU W 64-50 OPPONENT’S NEXT 5 GAMES Jan. 29 at Texas Feb. 1 Texas A&M Feb. 5 at South Carolina Feb. 9 at Mississippi State Feb. 12 Vanderbilt SERIES UNDER WHITE (2-7) Jan. 6, 2016 A L 69-83 Jan. 7, 2017 H W 83-70 Feb. 21, 2018 A L 57-62 Jan. 12, 2019 H L 67-78 Feb. 9, 2019 A L 61-73 Feb. 29, 2020 A L 58-63 Jan. 19, 2021 H W 75-49 March 7, 2021 A L 54-65 March 12, 2021 SEC L 66-78
Even our good teams often get smacked in Knoxville, so this could get really ugly. On the flip side it’s a weekday 6pm tip and playing Florida doesn’t get anyone excited anymore so maybe we can catch them sleeping.
Say that again go73 - CMW 2 - 7 vs UT 0-5 on the road (Courtesy of Gator Growl) CC is still out apparently - UF falls to 3 - 5 in the SEC IMO, doubt it is even close at the end.
I know CC is most likley out for this game. But what about Felder? We need all hands on deck so I hope Felder can come back and play and that there aren't any other players that can't play due to illness or injury
Going to be all hands on deck with the quick turnaround. No matter what, I'll be watching this evening. Love the 6:00 start time!
I heard Felder was in bad shape right before the Ole Miss game. Even if he is available I wouldn't expect much from him only two days out from the worst of his symptoms.
Ah! Thanks for that info. Yeah, the quick turn around with those types of symptoms don't sound good for Felder being able to contribute too much today. Oh well, hopefully everyone else on the team can step up and give 2 good halves of effort
I'm afraid AKA is going to need to reel in a Goliath grouper to give the Gators a chance here. Maybe my avatar could work
I’ve given this considerable thought, and I don’t believe there is a connection between catching a gigantic fish and the Gators winning basketball games. Maybe, I’m wrong.
