OGT-MBB Nov 24 (Thu) 5:30 PM vs Xavier Portland, OR Radio: ESPN2

Florida (3-1/0-0 SEC) vs. Xavier (3-1/0-0 Big East)
Veterans Memorial Coliseum (12,888) | Portland, Ore.
Phil Knight Legacy | Game 5 | Nov. 24, 2021 | 5:30 p.m. ES
Radio: Gators Sports Network from LEARFIELD

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BROADCAST INFO
ESPN2 | ESPN App
Play-by-Play: Doug Sherman
Analyst: Cory Alexander
Reporter: Brooke Weisbrod

Gators Sports Network from LEARFIELD
SiriusXM 386 | SXM App 976
Play-by-Play: Kyle Crooks
Analyst: Lee Humphrey

 

HEAD COACHES
Todd Golden
3-1 | 1st season at UF
60-37 | 4th season overall

Sean Miller
123-48 | 6th season at Xavier
425-157 | 18th season overall

MATCHUP BASICS
All-Time Series: 2-3
All-Time/Neutral: 1-2
All-Time vs. Big East: 22-21
Last Meeting:
3/20/22, L, 56-72 (Away/NIT)

 

NUMBERS OF NOTE​

2,923
Veterans Memorial Arena sits a 43-hour, 2,923-mile drive from Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center in Gainesville, the greatest distance UF has traveled for a game since its last trip to Portland for PK80 in Nov. 2017.

29.3
Colin Castleton is averaging 29.3 points and 10.0 rebounds over the past three games. He is also shooting 23-for-30 from the free throw line over that stretch

 

FLORIDA POSSIBLE STARTERS
# Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Min. Pts. Reb. Misc.
1 CJ Felder F 6-7 240 Sr. 15.8 3.3 5.3 0.8 stl
12 Colin Castleton F 6-11 250 5th 31.9 25.3 8.8 3.3 blk
5 Will Richard G 6-4 206 So. 29.4 14.0 4.5 1.5 3fg
11 Kyle Lofton G 6-3 188 Gr. 30.3 9.8 3.8 3.8 ast
14 Kowacie Reeves G 6-6 192 So. 20.3 8.5 2.3 2.0 3fg

XAVIER POSSIBLE STARTERS
# Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Min. Pts. Reb. Misc.
24 Jack Nunge F 7-0 245 Gr. 26.6 17.0 6.8 1.5 blk
32 Zach Freemantle F 6-9 225 Sr. 32.6 15.5 7.3 5.0 ast
0 Souley Boum G 6-3 175 Gr. 28.6 14.0 3.8 2.0 3fg
3 Colby Jones G 6-6 205 Jr. 29.9 13.3 5.0 6.7 ast
15 KyKy Tandy G 6-2 190 Sr. 20.6 6.3 2.0 2.0 ast

 

GATORS AT A GLANCE​

• Florida returns to Portland for the Phil Knight Legacy on the heels of a comeback win at rival Florida State. The
Gators are led by two-time All-SEC big man Colin Castleton, who has posted 29.3 points and 10.0 rebounds per
game over the past three contests.

• Will Richard has provided complementary scoring from the wing, tallying at least 13 points in every game
while shooting .545 from the field, .462 from 3-point range and a perfect 14-for-14 from the free throw line.

• The Gators were runners up in their bracket in the original PK80, defeating Gonzaga in a double-overtime semifinal shootout before falling to top-ranked Duke in the championship game.

• UF’s 19-point rally at Florida State marked the fourth-largest in team history and the largest on the road since a 22-point comeback at South Carolina on Feb. 24, 1993. Castleton scored 19 of his 25 points in the second half.

• Colin Castleton has opened the season on fire and posted 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 was the first since Anthony Roberson in Jan. 2005 to do so (see page 6 for full list).

• Castleton became 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.

• 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 points over 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, while the bouncy Jacksonville native Alex Fudge looks to make a sophomore leap.

• UF also added a pair of freshmen who shared a backcourt at Orlando’s Dr. Phillips High School in Denzel Aber-
deen 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 joined 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​

• Xavier welcomes Sean Miller back to the bench after the Musketeers
ended Florida’s 2021-22 campaign in the second round of the NIT in a
game that featured interim coaches on both benches.

• The Musketeers have been a prolific offensive team through the first
four games, helped by a lethal .443 3-point field goal percentage and
22 assists per game.

• Five players are averaging in double figures for Xavier, led by seven-
footer Jack Nunge at 17.0 points per game. Fellow frontcourt player
Zach Freemantle is scoring 15.5 points and grabbing a team-best 7.3
reounds per game.

• Souley Boum (14.0 ppg) Colby Jones (13.3) and Adam Kunkel (11.5) are
adding to the offensive production, with Jones dishing 20 assists in
three appearances.

OPPONENT’S LAST 5 GAMES
Nov. 2 Kentucky Wesleyan (Exh.) W 80-62
Nov. 7 Morgan State W 96-73
Nov. 11 Montana W 86-64
Nov. 15 Fairfield W 78-65
Nov. 18 Indiana L 79-81

ALL-TIME SERIES (2-3)
Dec. 28, 1959 N L 74-86
Feb. 13, 2010 H L 64-76
Dec. 31, 2010 A W 71-67
Nov. 24, 2019 N W 70-65
March 20, 2022 A L 56-72

LAST DECADE VS. BIG EAST (5-8)
Games vs. current Big East teams, regardless of affiliation at game time.
Nov. 29, 2012 Marquette W 82-49
Dec. 2, 2013 at UConn L 64-65
Nov. 26, 2014 vs. Georgetown L 65-66
April 5, 2014 *vs. UConn L 53-63
Jan. 3, 2015 UConn L 59-63
Nov. 24, 2016 vs. Seton Hall W 81-76
Nov. 23, 2018 vs. Butler L 54-61
Dec. 29, 2018 Butler W 77-43
Nov. 17, 2019 at UConn L 59-62
Nov. 24, 2019 vs. Xavier W 70-65
Dec. 7, 2019 at Butler L 62-76
Dec. 17, 2019 vs. Providence W 83-51
March 20, 2022 ^at Xavier L 56-72
*NCAA Tournament; ^NIT

FLORIDA IN INAUGURAL PK80
Runner-up finish
Nov. 23, 2017 vs. Stanford (Veterans) W 108-87
Nov. 24, 2017 vs. #17 Gonzaga (Moda) W/2OT 111-105
Nov. 26, 2017 vs. #1 Duke (Moda) L 84-87