Florida (2-1/0-0 SEC) vs. Florida State (0-3/0-0 ACC) Donald L. Tucker Civic Center (12,100) | Tallahassee, Fla. | Game 4 Sunshine Showdown presented by Fresh from Florida | Nov. 18, 2022 | 8 p.m. BROADCAST INFO ACC Network | ESPN App Play-by-Play: Mike Couzens Analyst: Malcolm Huckaby Gators Sports Network from LEARFIELD SiriusXM 390 | SXM App 980 Play-by-Play: Sean Kelley Analyst: Lee Humphrey
HEAD COACHES Todd Golden 2-1 | 1st season at UF 59-37 | 4th season overall Leonard Hamilton 395-244 | 21st season at FSU 595-454 | 35th season overall MATCHUP BASICS All-Time Series: 44-29 All-Time/Away: 18-14 All-Time vs. ACC: 151-139 Last Meeting: 11/14/21, W, 71-55 (Home)
FLORIDA POSSIBLE STARTERS # Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Min. Pts. Reb. Misc. 1 CJ Felder F 6-7 240 Sr. 15.9 3.7 5.0 1.0 stl 12 Colin Castleton F 6-11 250 5th 31.7 25.3 8.7 4.0 blk 5 Will Richard G 6-4 206 So. 27.1 14.3 4.0 1.7 3fg 11 Kyle Lofton G 6-3 188 Gr. 28.1 10.0 4.3 4.0 ast 14 Kowacie Reeves G 6-6 192 So. 23.9 10.0 3.0 2.3 3fg Florida State POSSIBLE STARTERS # Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Min. Pts. Reb. Misc. 3 Cameron Corhen F 6-10 225 Fr. 29.4 9.7 3.7 .529 fg% 4 Caleb Mills G 6-5 180 RJr. 28.8 10.7 2.3 2.7 stl 21 Cam’Ron Fletcher G 6-7 215 Jr. 29.3 11.7 8.3 1.7 3fg 22 Darin Green Jr. G 6-5 195 Jr. 35.8 16.3 3.0 4.0 3fg 35 Matthew Cleveland G 6-7 200 So. 28.5 8.0 3.7 0.7 st
NUMBERS OF NOTE 1Colin Castleton tallied 30 points, 12 rebounds and five blocked shots vs. FAU and is the first SEC player dating back to the 1996-97 season to notch those numbers in a game. 30Colin Castleton posted the ninth back-to-back 30-point games by an individual in Florida history, the seventh player to accomplish the feat. No Gator has done so in three consecutive games
GATORS AT A GLANCE • Florida makes the trip to Tallahassee for the Sunshine Showdown presented by Fresh from Florida, as the Gators look for their first road win in the series since Dec. 5, 2012. • It marks the first road game for the Gators under head coach Todd Golden and will be the Gators’ lone true road contest before SEC play and one of two in nonconference action (Jan. 28 at Kansas State). • Colin Castleton has opened the season on fire and is coming off back-to-back 30-point outings, notching a career-best 33 vs. Kennesaw State and 30 vs. FAU. An individual has recorded back-to-back 30-point games nine times in UF history and Castleton is the seventh different player to accomplish the feat. He is the first since Anthony Roberson in Jan. 2005 to do so (see page 5 for full list), and no player in Florida history has tallied three straight 30-point games. • Castleton is also the first Gator with a 30-point double-double since Joakim Noah (37/11 vs. Georgia, 3/1/06) and the only SEC player since the 1996-97 season with 30 points, 12 rebounds and five blocked shots in a game, a stat line he accomplished vs. FAU. • Will Richard has been a consistent and efficient offensive contributor early on for the Gators, scoring 14 or more in all three games while shooting .583 from the field and 5-for-9 from 3-point range. • Alex Fudge posted a career-high 16 points off the bench in his debut for the Gators. • Kowacie Reeves has opened the season in the starting five, and he stepped up with a pair of late 3-pointers in the win vs. Kennesaw State. Reeves is looking to build off a strong postseason, when he averaged 16.3 pointsover the Gators’ three tournament games, including a career-best 21 vs. Texas A&M in the SEC Tournament. • Grad point guard Kyle Lofton (Saint Bonaventure), a three-time All-A-10 player who scored 1,613 points in four seasons with the Bonnies, came to Florida via the transfer portal. UF also brings in a trio of transfers who all have three years of eligibility remaining: junior Trey Bonham (VMI), sophomore Alex Fudge (LSU) and sophomore Will Richard (Belmont). • Bonham averaged 11.3 points over two seasons at VMI, and Richard averaged 12.1 per game during his freshman campaign at Belmont. Jacksonville native Alex Fudge looks to make a jump after limited opportunities during his freshman season at LSU • UF also added a pair of freshmen who shared a backcourt at Orlando’s Dr. Phillips High School in Denzel Aberdeen and Riley Kugel, along with big man Aleks Szymczyk out of Frankfurt, Germany. • Golden took the lead at Florida after three seasons as head coach at San Francisco. He compiled a 57-36 record with the Dons and led them to their first NCAA Tournament bid since 1998 and their first at-large selection since 1982. • Carlin Hartman joins the Florida staff as associate head coach, bringing 22 years of collegiate coaching experience including five seasons on Lon Kruger’s staff at Oklahoma. Korey McCray also comes to UF as associate head coach, bringing experience at Mississippi State, LSU and UCLA to the Gators. Assistant coach Kevin Hovde rounds out the coaching staff, coming from his alma mater Richmond after coaching five seasons with Golden at San Francisco.
ABOUT THE OPPONENT • Leonard Hamilton is in his 21st season leading the Seminoles and is closing in on his 400th win with the program. • Florida State is led by Darin Green Jr.’s 16.3 points per game, as Green is shooting 12-for-22 (.545) from 3-point range. Green exploded for 24 points vs. Troy, including a 7-for-9 performance beyond the arc. • Cam’Ron Fletcher is producing 11.7 points and a team-leading 8.3 rebounds per game. • Caleb Mills is also scoring in double figures at 10.7 points per game and leads the team with eight steals, while Jalen Worley has a team- leading 14 assists off the bench. OPPONENT’S LAST 5 GAMES March 9 vs. Syracuse (ACC Tourn.) L 57-96 Oct. 27 Newberry College (Exh.) W 74-66 Nov. 7 Stetson L 74-83 Nov. 11 at UCF L 54-68 Nov. 14 Troy L 72-79 LAST 10 VS. FSU (3-7) Dec. 5, 2012 A W 72-47 Nov. 29, 2013 H W 67-66 Dec. 30, 2014 A L 63-65 Dec. 29, 2015 H L 71-73 Dec. 11, 2016 A L 78-83 Dec. 4, 2017 H L 66-83 Nov. 6, 2018 A L 60-81 Nov. 10, 2019 H L 51-63 Dec. 12, 2020 A L 71-83 Nov. 14, 2021 H W 71-55 LAST 10 VS. ACC (4-6) 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 Nov. 14, 2021 #20 Florida State W 71-55 *NCAA Tournament
