Feb 1 (Wed) 7 PM Gator Sports Network from LEARFIELD SEC #2 Tennessee @ Florida Presented by T-Mobile Gainesville, FL Exactech Arena at Stephen C. O'Connell Center Watch Listen Live Stats BROADCAST INFO ESPN2 | ESPN App Play-by-Play: Kevin Fitzgerald Analyst: Jimmy Dykes Gator Sports Network from LEARFIELD SiriusXM 386 | SXM App 976 Play-by-Play: Sean Kelley Analyst: Mark Wise
HEAD COACHES Todd Golden 12-9 | 1st season at UF 69-45 | 4th season overall Rick Barnes 168-84 | 8th season at Tennessee 772-398 | 36th season overall MATCHUP BASICS All-Time Series: 58-80 All-Time/Home: 36-25 Series under Golden: 0-0 Home under Golden: 0-0 All-Time vs. Top-5: 22-63 Last Meeting: L, 71-78, 1/26/22 (Away
FLORIDA POSSIBLE STARTERS # Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Min. Pts. Reb. Misc. 12 Colin Castleton F 6-11 250 Gr. 30.7 14.9 7.6 3.2 blk 0 Myreon Jones G 6-3 177 Gr. 19.7 5.1 3.0 2.2 ast 5 Will Richard G 6-4 206 So. 27.2 10.2 4.5 1.7 3fg 11 Kyle Lofton G 6-3 188 Gr. 30.9 8.5 2.9 3.1 ast 24 Riley Kugel G 6-5 207 Fr. 18.1 6.8 2.3 0.9 stl OPPONENT POSSIBLE STARTERS # Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Min. Pts. Reb. Misc. 2 Julian Phillips F 6-8 198 Fr. 25.7 9.7 5.1 1.7 ast 13 Olivier Nkamhoua F 6-9 236 Sr. 25.4 11.0 5.1 2.1 ast 5 Zakai Zeigler G 5-9 171 So. 29.2 11.2 3.0 5.1 ast 25 Santiago Vescovi G 6-3 192 Sr. 31.7 12.2 4.3 2.6 3fg 30 Josiah-Jordan James G 6-6 224 Sr. 22.4 10.1 4.5 1.8 3fg
NUMBERS OF NOTE 55Florida faces a top-five opponent in back-to-back games for just the second time in program history and the first time in 55 years. UF split back-to-back games vs. #4 Tennessee on Jan. 15 and 20, 1968, losing at UT then winning at home. 3Tennessee will be the Gators’ third top-five foe of 2022-23, matching the most different top-five teams Florida has faced in a season (see page 6). 5Florida has five all-time wins vs. top-2 opponents, including last season’s home win vs. #2 Auburn, which marked the highest-ranked home win in Florida history
GATORS AT A GLANCE • Florida hosts second-ranked Tennessee, as the Gators look to build on five wins over their last six SEC games. UF is facing back-to-back top-five opponents for the second time in program history and the first time in 55 years. • The Gators have won five of their last six in SEC action and are ranked eighth in defensive efficiency nationally (KenPom) as Florida has held SEC opponents to .374 from the field and .245 from 3-point range. • Colin Castleton leads UF in scoring (14.9), rebounding (7.6), blocked shots (67), free throws made (81) and steals (21). Kyle Lofton tops the Gators with 58 assists, and Will Richard paces the squad with 33 made 3-pointers and a .402 3-point percentage. • As a team, the Gators’ 6.0 blocked shots per game are third in the NCAA. Individually, Castleton’s 3.19 blocked shots per game rank third the nation. • Florida turned in a complete performance vs. South Carolina, where Colin Castleton’s 18 points led five scorers in double figures and the Gators dished a season-high 21 assists vs. five turnovers. Myreon Jones flirted with a triple-double with 10 rebounds and eight assists -- both career highs -- to go along with nine points and zero turnovers. • Six SEC schools hired new head coaches in 2022, including Florida. Todd Golden has posted a 5-0 mark against his fellow first-year coaches around the league and swept his first time through last off-season’s hires. • UF built a 16-point first-half lead at Mississippi State, then staved off the Bulldogs’ rally, getting a stop on the final possession of the game to seal the win. Colin Castleton posted 13 points, while Will Richard added 12 on 4-for-5 shooting from 3-point range. Kyle Lofton and Myreon Jones combined for 11 assists and zero turnovers, and Lofton chipped in a season-high and team-leading eight rebounds. • Colin Castleton earned SEC Player of the Week honors on Jan. 16 behind two strong performances in the wins at LSU and vs. #20 Missouri. At LSU, Castleton posted 18 points and five blocks with a career night at the free throw line (12-for-15). He followed up with an all-around performance against Mizzou, tallying 16 points, 13 rebounds, a career-high six assists, three steals and two blocked shots. • The Gators’ win at LSU snapped the Tigers’ 13-game home winning streak. As UF made its 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. • 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, with 16/10 vs. FAMU and 13/10 vs. Ohio. • 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.
ABOUT THE OPPONENT • Santiago Vescovi leads the Volunteers with 12.2 points per game and has a team-high 46 made 3-pointers (.402). • Zakai Zeigler (11.2), Olivier Nkamhoua (11.0) and Josiah-Jordan James (10.1) also average in double figures, with Zeigler pacing the team in assists (108) and steals (48). • Jonas Aidoo is the team’s top rebounder (5.1 per game) and shot-blocker (24). OPPONENT’S LAST 5 GAMES Jan. 14 Kentucky L 56-63 Jan. 17 at Mississippi State W 70-59 Jan. 21 at LSU W 77-56 Jan. 25 Georgia W 70-41 Jan. 28 Texas W 82-71 OPPONENT’S NEXT 5 GAMES Feb. 4 Auburn Feb. 8 at Vanderbilt Feb. 11 Missouri Feb. 15 Alabama Feb. 18 at Kentucky LAST 20 VS. TENNESSEE (9-11) Jan. 11, 2011 A W/OT 81-75 Feb. 12, 2011 H W 61-60 March 11, 2011 SEC W 85-74 Jan. 7, 2012 A L 56-67 Feb. 11, 2012 H L 70-75 Feb. 26, 2013 A L 58-64 Jan. 25, 2014 H W 67-41 Feb. 11, 2014 A W 67-58 March 15, 2014 SEC W 56-49 Feb. 28, 2015 H W 66-49 Jan. 6, 2016 A L 69-83 Jan. 7, 2017 H W 83-70 Feb. 21, 2018 A L 57-62 Jan. 12, 2019 H L 67-78 Feb. 9, 2019 A L 61-73 Feb. 29, 2020 A L 58-63 Jan. 19, 2021 H W 75-49 March 7, 2021 A L 54-65 March 12, 2021 SEC L 66-78 Jan. 26, 2022 A L 71-78 UF’S ALL-TIME TOP-2 WINS (5-26) March 24, 2000 *vs. #1 Duke (Syracuse) W 87-78 Nov. 29, 2002 vs. #2 Kansas (NYC) W 83-73 April 2, 2007 *vs. #1 Ohio State (Atlanta) W 84-75 Nov. 27, 2009 vs. #2 Mich. St. (Atlantic City) W 77-74 Feb. 19, 2022 #2 Auburn W 63-62 *NCAA Tournament
Florida is now outside of the next four out according to ESPN. We have to win one of these next three. Maybe even 2.
How desperately do we need to win? Oklahoma, who beat us and has 3 Q1 wins and 3 Q2 wins, just destroyed Alabama and is still the first team out. We have an insane amount of climbing to do, hope this desperation is felt by the team and the fans in attendance tonight.
Not sure I agree at all that beating the #2 ranked team tonight is a "desperate need." Things change with the so-called first four out. It's completely unreliable at this point in the season and just something akin to ESPN click-bait. Florida climbs through a combination of winning games and other teams losing games. There are a LOT of games left. Sure, it would be great to upset the #2 team . . . but it's not "desperately needed" tonight IMO. What are desperately needed are some tweaks we have been discussing in OGTs.
I didn't want this seemingly directed at anyone specific . . . I hope we can all get together and enjoy a good game without hyperbolic postings. Remember, this is a discussion board and not a venting board. Most understand and we have had a good time celebrating the positive/encouraging and commiserating about the not so positive/discouraging.
Well you'll DEFINITELY know who he is after tonight's game! All you have to do is watch any SEC Network's "SEC Now" show which airs after Tennessee plays - and he will ALWAYS be mentioned. He's one of the best in the conference.
