OGT-MBB Florida vs. #20 Missouri 1/14/2023 3:30 pm SECN (73-64)

Florida (9-7/2-2 SEC) vs. #20 Missouri (13-3/2-2 SEC)
Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center (10,151) | Billy Donovan Court
Gainesville, Fla. | Game 17 | Jan. 14, 2023 | 3:30 p.m.

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BROADCAST INFO
SEC Network | ESPN App
Play-by-Play: Mike Morgan
Analyst: Daymeon Fishback

Gator Sports Network from LEARFIELD
SiriusXM 381 | SXM App 971
Play-by-Play: Sean Kelley
Analyst: Lee Humphrey

 

HEAD COACHES
Todd Golden
9-7 | 1st season at UF
66-43 | 4th season overall
Dennis Gates
13-3 | 1st season at Missouri
63-43 | 4th season overall

MATCHUP BASICS
All-Time Series: 8-4
All-Time/Home: 4-1
Series under Golden: 0-0
Home under Golden: 0-0
Last Meeting: W, 66-65, 2/2/22 (Away

 

GATORS AT A GLANCE​

• Florida squares off against a top-20 Missouri team that brings a 13-3 overall record into Gainesville. The Gators are looking to build off back-to-back SEC wins.

• The Florida defense and Colin Castleton’s 18-point, five-block performance powered Tuesday’s win at LSU, which snapped the Tigers’ 13-game home winning streak. As they made their second-half run, the Gators
got timely 3-pointers from Myreon Jones and Riley Kugel, each of whom assisted on the other’s big basket.

• 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 (14.9), rebounding (7.4), blocked shots (50), free throws made (68) and co-leads in steals (16). Kyle Lofton has a team-high 46 assists, and Trey Bonham’s 24 3-point field goals are
UF’s most.

• As a team, the Gators’ 6.1 blocked shots per game rank third in the NCAA. Individually, Castleton’s 3.12 swats per game also rate 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) was the 15th of his career, 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.

 

FLORIDA POSSIBLE STARTERS
# Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Min. Pts. Reb. Misc.
3 Alex Fudge F 6-9 200 So. 22.8 7.5 5.2 0.9 blk
12 Colin Castleton F 6-11 250 Gr. 30.2 14.9 7.4 3.1 blk
2 Trey Bonham G 6-0 170 Jr. 19.4 9.5 2.8 1.8 ast
5 Will Richard G 6-4 206 So. 26.8 9.8 4.4 1.4 3fg
11 Kyle Lofton G 6-3 188 Gr. 30.0 9.1 2.4 3.3 ast

OPPONENT POSSIBLE STARTERS
# Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Min. Pts. Reb. Misc.
13 Ronnie DeGray III F 6-6 225 Jr. 10.4 2.4 1.8 0.5 blk
24 Kobe Brown F 6-8 250 Sr. 24.9 15.3 5.6 2.4 ast
2 Tre Gomillion G 6-4 210 Gr. 18.8 5.2 2.8 2.1 ast
5 D’Moi Hodge G 6-4 188 Gr. 27.2 15.5 3.9 2.9 3fg
10 Nick Honor G 5-10 200 Gr. 29.8 9.6 1.9 3.6 ast

 

NUMBERS OF NOTE
11​

Colin Castleton sits 11 points from his 1,000th as a Gator, poised to be
UF’s 55th member of the 1,000-point club and the first addition since Chris
Chiozza in 2018. He would join Dorian Finney-Smith (1,220; 2013-16) as the
only transfers to tally 1,000 for UF.

20​

Colin Castleton has taken his shot blocking to a new level in SEC play, swatting 20 over the first four SEC games with four or more in all four contests.

1st​

This marks the Gators’ third straight game that features first-year head coaches at their current stop, with Florida and Todd Golden getting the best of Georgia and LSU over the last two games.

 

ABOUT THE OPPONENT

• Missouri #20 in the AP poll in its first season under head coach Dennis
Gates, who came to Mizzou from Cleveland State. Mizzou leads the
SEC (all games) with 85.7 points per game, a .494 field goal percent-
age, a +7.3 turnover margin, 18.6 assists and 11.6 steals per game.

• The Tigers earned a road win at Wichita State and neutral-site victo-
ries vs. UCF and Illinois during nonconference play before routing
Kentucky to open SEC action.

• Cleveland State transfer D’Moi Hodge leads Mizzou with 15.5 points
per game, making 2.9 3-pointers per game at a .402 clip (47-for-117).
Hodge also has a team-leading 44 steals.

• All-SEC performer Kobe Brown averages 15.3 points and a team-high 5.6 rebounds. Brown posted 31 points vs. Illinois and 30 against Kentucky to lead the Tigers.

• DeAndre Gholston (10.8 ppg) and Noah Carter (10.6) have both started 10 gaems, but more recently have been coming off the bench.

• Nick Honor (57 assists) and Sean East II (51) both average more than three assists per game

OPPONENT’S LAST 5 GAMES
Dec. 22 vs. Illinois W 93-71
Dec. 28 Kentucky W 89-75
Jan. 4 at Arkansas L 68-74
Jan. 7 Vanderbilt W 85-82
Jan. 11 at Texas A&M L 64-82

OPPONENT’S NEXT 5 GAMES
Jan. 18 Arkansas
Jan. 21 Alabama
Jan. 24 at Ole Miss
Jan. 28 Iowa State
Feb. 1 LSU

ALL-TIME SERIES (8-4)
Jan. 19, 2013 H W 83-52
Feb. 19, 2013 A L 60-63
Feb. 4, 2014 H W 68-58
March 14, 2014 SEC W 72-49
Feb. 24, 2015 A L 52-64
March 5, 2016 A W 82-72
Feb. 2, 2017 H W 93-54
Jan. 6, 2018 A W 77-75
Feb. 23, 2019 H W 64-60
Jan. 11, 2020 A L 75-91
March 3, 2021 H L 70-72
Feb. 2, 2022 A W 66-65