Jan 10 (Tue) 7 PM SEC Florida at LSU Baton Rouge, LA Radio: Gator Sports Network from LEARFIELD Watch Listen Live Stats BROADCAST INFO SEC Network | ESPN App Play-by-Play: Mike Morgan Analyst: Daymeon Fishback Gator Sports Network from LEARFIELD SiriusXM 382 | SXM App 972 Play-by-Play: Sean Kelley Analyst: Lee Humphrey
HEAD COACHES Todd Golden 8-7 | 1st season at UF 65-43 | 4th season overall Matt McMahon 12-3 | 1st season at LSU 166-70 | 8th season overall MATCHUP BASICS All-Time Series: 50-66 All-Time/Away: 15-36 Series under Golden: 0-0 Away under Golden: 0-0 Last Meeting: L, 58-64, 1/12/22 (Home)
FLORIDA POSSIBLE STARTERS # Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Min. Pts. Reb. Misc. 3 Alex Fudge F 6-9 200 So. 22.8 7.5 5.3 0.9 blk 12 Colin Castleton F 6-11 250 Gr. 29.8 14.7 7.5 3.0 blk 2 Trey Bonham G 6-0 170 Jr. 20.0 9.9 2.9 1.8 ast 5 Will Richard G 6-4 206 So. 27.0 10.1 4.4 1.5 3fg 11 Kyle Lofton G 6-3 188 Gr. 29.8 9.2 2.5 3.5 ast LSU POSSIBLE STARTERS # Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Min. Pts. Reb. Misc. 12 KJ Williams F 6-10 250 5th 32.0 18.2 7.7 1.9 3fg 20 Derek Fountain F 6-10 225 Jr. 21.8 7.3 5.7 1.5 stl 1 Cam Hayes G 6-2 185 Jr. 20.8 8.7 2.0 2.0 ast 0 Trae Hannibal G 6-2 215 Sr. 20.3 6.3 4.1 2.9 ast 44 Adam Miller G 6-3 190 RSo. 33.1 13.3 2.0 2.6 3fg
NUMBERS OF NOTE 7/5Against UGA, Colin Castleton became the only Gator to post seven blocked shots and five assists in a game since the 1996-97. He and UK’s Nerlens Noel are the only players to do so in SEC play over that time (1/12/13 vs. Texas A&M). Castleton added 12 points and eight boards vs. UGA. 18Kyle Lofton scored a season-high 18 points vs. Georgia, and his 11.7 points per game in SEC play lead the Gators. 2ndRecords only tell part of the story, as UF sits more than 20 places ahead of LSU in KenPom’s ratings. The Gators played the SEC’s second- toughest nonconference schedule (LSU 14th).
GATORS AT A GLANCE • Florida visits Baton Rouge for the first time since January 2020. UF’s last three meetings against LSU have been in Gainesville, as the scheduled Feb. 2021 game in LSU was canceled and UF hosted last season’s only contest. • Todd Golden and Matt McMahon squared off in the 2022 NCAA Tournament at their prior stops, with McMa- hon’s Murray State edging Golden’s shorthanded San Francisco team in an epic overtime battle. • The Gators had five players in double figures in their win vs. UGA, led by Kyle Lofton’s season-high 18. Colin Castleton posted 12 points, eight rebounds, seven blocked shots and five assists, while Will Richard added 14 points and nine rebounds. Myreon Jones (season-high 13 points) and Kowacie Reeves (12) both added a scoring spark off the bench, as UF enjoyed a 35-17 bench scoring edge. • Colin Castleton leads UF in scoring (14.7), rebounding (7.5), blocked shots (45), free throws made (56) and steals (16). Kyle Lofton has a team-high 46 assists, and Trey Bonham’s 23 3-point field goals are UF’s most. • As a team, the Gators’ 6.0 blocked shots per game are tied for third in the NCAA. Castleton’s 3.00 swats per game rate rank third the nation. • Kowacie Reeves exploded for 20 points on 7-for-11 shooting vs. Ohio, including 4-for-7 from 3-point range, to lead the Gators’ rout in Tampa. Reeves also came back from the holiday break strong, leading UF with 15 points at Auburn. • Alex Fudge had a four-game stretch from Nov. 30-Dec. 14 when averaged 13.3 points and a team-high 8.3 rebounds, shooting 18-for-32 (.563) from the field, 3-for-6 from 3-point range, and hitting 14 of 15 free throw attempts (.933). Fudge had a pair of double-doubles over that span, posting 16 and 10 vs. FAMU and 13 and 10 vs. Ohio. • Through Will Richard’s first seven appearances of the season, he displayed impressive efficiency scoring 13+ points six times while shooting .607 from the field, .586 from 3-point range and .947 from the free throw line. • 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). • 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. • 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. • Golden compiled a 57-36 record over three seasons at San Francisco and led the Dons to their first NCAA Tour- nament bid since 1998 and their first at-large selection since 1982.
ABOUT THE OPPONENT • LSU enjoyed a 12-1 start to the season, opening SEC play with a win vs. #9 Arkansas before dropping a pair of road contests last week. • KJ Williams, who followed Matt McMahon from Murray State, leads the Tigers with 18.2 points and 7.7 rebounds per game, 24 steals and 14 blocked shots. On top of all that, the 6-foot-10 forward is knocking down 3-pointers at a .492 clip (29-for-59). • Adam Miller averages 13.3 points with a team-high 39 3-pointers made (.336), while Justice Hill has dished a team-leading 53 assists. • Trae Hannibal earned SEC Player of the Week honors for the opening slate of games with 19 points off the bench in the win vs. Arkansas. OPPONENT’S LAST 5 GAMES Dec. 17 Winthrop W 89-81 Dec. 21 East Tennessee State W 72-68 Dec. 28 Arkansas W 60-57 Jan. 3 at Kentucky L 71-74 Jan. 7 at Texas A&M L 56-69 OPPONENT’S NEXT 5 GAMES Jan. 14 at Alabama Jan. 18 Auburn Jan. 21 Tennessee Jan. 24 at Arkansas Jan. 28 Texas Tech LAST 20 VS. LSU (13-7) Feb. 24, 2009 A L 75-81 Jan. 16, 2010 H W 72-58 Feb. 20, 2011 A W 68-61 Jan. 21, 2012 H W 76-64 Jan. 12, 2013 A W 74-52 March 15, 2013 SEC W 80-58 March 1, 2014 H W 79-61 Jan. 20, 2015 H L 61-79 Feb. 21, 2015 A L 63-70 Jan. 9, 2016 H W 68-62 Feb. 27, 2016 A L 91-96 Feb. 25, 2017 A W 106-71 Feb. 7, 2018 H W 73-64 Feb. 20, 2019 A W/OT 82-77 March 6, 2019 H L/OT 78-79 March 15, 2019 SEC W 76-73 Jan. 21, 2020 A L 82-84 Feb. 26, 2020 H W 81-66 Jan. 2, 2021 H W 83-79 Jan. 12, 2022 H L 58-64
Going to be interesting to see how and if we build on our win against Georgia. Especially Lofton. Thanks for all the info and for starting the game thread, @GatorGrowl !
Ugh… we aren’t great at chasing the ball… either on the glass or loose ball. Our hustle stats can’t be good.