Dec 7 (Wed) 9 PM Gators Sports Network from LEARFIELD Florida vs #5 UConn Presented by Florida Blue Gainesville, FL Exactech Arena at Stephen C. O'Connell Center Watch Listen Live Stats Roster Card Tickets BROADCAST INFO ESPN2 | ESPN App Play-by-Play: Kevin Fitzgerald Analyst: Jimmy Dykes Gators Sports Network from LEARFIELD SiriusXM 385 | SXM App 975 Play-by-Play: Sean Kelley Analyst: Lee Humphrey
HEAD COACHES Todd Golden 6-3 | 1st season at UF 63-39 | 4th season overall Dan Hurley 82-47 | 5th season at UConn 233-152 | 13th season overall MATCHUP BASICS All-Time Series: 1-4 All-Time/Home: 0-1 All-Time vs. AP Top 10: 48-129 All-Time vs.Big East: 22-22 vs. Big East under Golden: 0-1 Last Meeting: L, 59-62, 11/17/19 (Away)
NUMBERS OF NOTE 2The Gators have allowed two fastbreak points in each of their last two games and have allowed 4.8 per game in UF’s six wins (18.0 in losses). .750Over his last four appearances, Will Richard has shot .750 (21-for28) from the field and .688 from 3-point range (11-for-16). .998Colin Castleton enters Wednesday’s game with 998 career points, including his 99 at Michigan. With 899 points as a Gator, Castleton looks to eventually join Dorian Finney-Smith as the only transfers to score 1,000 points for UF
FLORIDA POSSIBLE STARTERS # Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Min. Pts. Reb. Misc. 3 Alex Fudge F 6-9 200 So. 21.5 8.0 4.9 1.1 blk 12 Colin Castleton F 6-11 250 5th 28.1 16.6 7.4 2.9 blk 2 Trey Bonham G 6-0 170 Jr. 17.8 10.2 3.0 2.2 ast 14 Kowacie Reeves G 6-6 192 So. 20.6 9.6 2.4 1.9 3fg 24 Riley Kugel G 6-5 207 Fr. 17.2 5.6 1.7 1.0 ast CONNECTICUT POSSIBLE STARTERS # Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Min. Pts. Reb. Misc. 11 Alex Karaban F 6-8 210 R-Fr. 29.6 9.7 3.8 2.0 ast 21 Adama Sanogo F 6-9 245 Jr. 24.9 18.7 6.9 3.7 ftm 2 Tristen Newton G 6-5 190 Sr. 27.8 11.4 4.6 4.2 ast 24 Jordan Hawkins G 6-5 195 So. 22.4 13.3 2.7 3.0 3fg 44 Andre Jackson Jr. G 6-6 210 Jr. 24.5 5.0 5.8 4.3 as
GATORS AT A GLANCE • Florida welcomes undefeated #5 UConn for the Gators’ first ranked showdown under head coach Todd Golden. • Florida is 22-61 overall vs. AP top-5 opponents, including 5-17 in regular season nonconference action, which includes a 2-3 mark at home and 1-2 in the O’Connell Center. The Gators’ only top-5 regular season nonconference win in the O’Dome came on Dec. 23, 2006, an 86-60 victory vs. #3 Ohio State. • The Gators are 48-129 all-time vs. AP top-10 opponents. Florida is 8-30 in regular season nonconference games vs. AP top-10 foes, including 4-7 at home and 2-6 in the O’Connell Center. • Florida is coming off a pair of wins vs. in-state foes that saw five Gators score in double figures in both games, ed by Trey Bonham’s 23 points vs. Florida A&M and Will Richard’s 14 against Stetson. • Will Richard has provided efficient scoring from the wing, tallying at least 13 points in seven of his eight appearances while shooting .607 from the field, .586 from 3-point range and .947 from the free throw line. • Alex Fudge posted his first career double-double vs. Florida A&M, tallying 16 points and 10 rebounds. All 16 points and nine of his rebounds came in the second half. • Colin Castleton’s double-double vs. Xavier (11 points, 10 rebounds) marked his 15th as a Gator, tying him with Joakim Noah and Chandler Parsons for fifth-most by a Gator since the 1996-97 season. • 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 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 zebounds and five blocked shots in a game, a stat line he accomplished vs. FAU. • Kowacie Reeves stepped up with a pair of late 3-pointers in the win vs. Kennesaw State. Reeves had his strongest showing of the season with 19 points vs. Florida A&M, which included three 3-pointers and three authoritative dunks. • Riley Kugel made his first career start vs. Florida A&M, marking six straight seasons and 15 of the last 16 in which a freshman started at least one game for UF (every season since 2007-08 except 2016-17). • 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). • Golden compiled a 57-36 record over three seasons at San Francisco and led the Dons to their first NCAA Tournament bid since 1998 and their first at-large selection since 1982.
ABOUT THE OPPONENT • UConn makes the return trip to Gainesville to wrap a home-and-homeseries that began three seasons ago in Storrs. The Huskies claimed thechampionship in the Phil Knight Invitational bracket in Portland overThanksgiving weekend. • Adama Sanogo leads the Huskies with 18.7 points and 6.9 reboundsper game. Jordan Hawkins added 13.3 points and has hit a team-leading 21 3-pointers this season (.396). • Tristen Newton also chips in double figures at 11.4 points per game and paces the team with 38 assists and 14 steals. • Joey Calcaterra is shooting .586 from 3-point range (17-for-29), and Donovan Clingan has blocked 18 shots. OPPONENT’S LAST 5 GAMES Nov. 20 Delaware State W 95-60 Nov. 24 vs. Oregon W 83-59 Nov. 25 vs. Alabama W 82-67 Nov. 27 vs. Iowa State W 71-53 Dec. 1 Oklahoma State W 74-64 ALL-TIME VS. UCONN (1-4) March 25, 1994 NCAA W/OT 69-60 Dec. 2, 2013 A L 64-65 April 5, 2014 NCAA L 53-63 Jan. 3, 2015 H L 59-63 Nov. 17, 2019 A L 59-62 LAST DECADE VS. BIG EAST (4-9) Games vs. current Big East teams, regardless of affiliation at game time. 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 Nov. 24, 2022 vs. Xavier L 83-90 *NCAA Tournament; ^NIT LAST 10 NON-CONFERENCE REGULAR SEASON GAMES VS. AP TOP 10 (2-8) Nov, 16, 2010 #4 Ohio State L 75-93 Dec. 18, 2010 vs. #6 Kansas State W 57-44 Nov. 15, 2011 at #3 Ohio State L 74-81 Dec. 2, 2011 at #4 Syracuse L 68-72 Dec. 15, 2012 at #8 Arizona L 64-65 Nov. 28, 2014 vs. #5 North Carolina L 64-75 Dec. 12, 2015 at #1 Michigan State L 52-58 Jan. 30, 2016 #9 West Virginia W 88-71 Dec. 6, 2016 vs. #5 Duke L 74-84 Jan. 25, 2020 #1 Baylor L 61-27 ALL-TIME NON-CONFERENCE REGULAR SEASON AP TOP-10 WINS (8) Dec. 12, 1961 #3 Wake Forest W 71-65 Dec. 1, 1971 #9 Louisville W 70-69 Nov. 29, 2002 vs. #2 Kansas W 83-73 Nov. 28, 2003 vs. #4 Arizona W 78-77 Dec. 23, 2006 #3 Ohio State W 86-60 Nov. 27, 2009 vs. #2 Michigan State W 77-74 Dec. 18, 2010 vs. #6 Kansas State W 57-44 Jan. 30, 2016 #9 West Virginia W 88-71 !" #$% ! & ' ("' # ( ) *$ + ,- . / ' % $ ) ) ) "#*#0 # $ % & ' 12 ' )12 ' 2 ( ' ) 12 ' ) 12 ' ) 12 ' 12 ' 12 ' 1)2 3 ! 4%-! 5 + ) 6 6 ' ' 7' ) ) '8- '% ) 9 ' : ;; ) ! ! $ &'! :' ) $ ) ) "#*#0 # $ % & ' ) 12 ' 12 ' 12 ( ' 12 ' 12 ' 12 ' ) 12 ' 12 ' 12 3 ! 4%-! 5 % )* %" (( +, -( %" (& . +, ## < = <! = % # < = < = . , # / . ) 0% . +, % 1% , ) % ) % $ % % # & ( * . ) ) +, *;;'' % > & ' % +, ??) @ 1 $A + .''5 & ) B % " + % " " 5 00" ('! 5 + 3'5 ' *B6 LAST MEETING: UCONN 62, FLORIDA 59
This is such a massive game. 9 games in and we have 0 wins that’ll be even close to Q1. First big home game with a crowd behind them, will be interesting to see how they play.
Not getting my hopes up here. Kinda feels like those Syracuse or Ohio State games back in the late 00s. Highly ranked non-conference opponent that doesn’t really stand out on paper, but is athletic, physical, and competitive. We haven’t seen a team with quite this kinda toughness and basketball smarts in a while. Gonna be very tough to get to the rim and finish. We absolutely have to shoot well when we get looks from the arc. They don’t strike me as a team full of shooters, but they will kill us in transition if we don’t get back or don’t find a man.
To pull the upset, we absolutely have to play our best defense of the season so far, shoot well, and go hard to the rim. Nothing cute tonight, Mr. Fudge. Go hard. Speaking of Mr. Fudge, I think he has caught and passed Mr. Felder, and has a much higher ceiling. However, tonight Mr. Felder may be the better option for us because he's the more physical player. It'll be interesting to see who is more effective.
I haven't seen them play yet, but I have seen bama. Unless it was an off night by the tide, the huskies must be pretty good.
Sorry if this was in the analytics -- have we ever beaten an out of conference top 5 team? Doing my own research found we beat a ranked #2 Michigan state in 2009-10, 77-74 Ohio state twice in 2006-07 (once in the ncaa finals) they were ranked #3 for the first game and 1 seed in the tourney) ) Villanova in the tourney in 2005-06, looks like were ranked#3 source - 2005-06 Florida Schedule and Results | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com
I wouldn't say we are a transition team. We will take advantage of transition opportunities but more of a half court team. Feed the post and surround our bigs with shooters. Our strength is our depth. We go 9-10 deep. Not 9-10 bodies that play but 9-10 that can hurt you. Our advantage is you never know which 3 guys are going to have it going. If someone is off someone on the bench is usually hitting. Looking forward to our first road game vs a good team like Florida.
That’s helpful. Wasn’t saying you are a transition team so much as we have been hurt badly from the arc in transition, and you have guys who can hit those shots—but more importantly the defensive rebounding and longer, athletic defenders to create transition opportunities. We like our depth, too, but with so many new guys in the rotation (5/10) in a coaching transition year, we are still figuring our combinations and who we can rely on. Lots of missed defensive assignments have hurt us to this point.
