Florida (13-11/6-5 SEC) vs. Vanderbilt (12-12/5-6 SEC) Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center (10,151) | Billy Donovan Court Gainesville, Fla. | Game 25 | Feb. 11, 2023 | 3:30 p.m. BROADCAST INFO SEC Network | ESPN App Play-by-Play: Paul Sunderland Analyst: Richard Hendrix Gator Sports Network from LEARFIELD SiriusXM 85/191 | SXM App 962 Play-by-Play: Sean Kelley Analyst: Lee Humphrey Engineer/Producer: Steve Egan
HEAD COACHES Todd Golden 13-11 | 1st season at UF 70-47 | 4th season overall Jerry Stackhouse 51-66 | 4th season at Vandy/overall MATCHUP BASICS All-Time Series: 73-71 All-Time/Home: 45-20 Series under Golden: 0-0 Home under Golden: 0-0 Last Meeting: W, 82-78, 3/1/22 (Away) FLORIDA POSSIBLE STARTERS # Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Min. Pts. Reb. Misc. 12 Colin Castleton F 6-11 250 Gr. 31.4 16.1 7.8 3.0 blk 0 Myreon Jones G 6-3 177 Gr. 20.4 5.1 3.0 2.2 ast 5 Will Richard G 6-4 206 So. 27.8 10.3 4.5 1.7 3fg 11 Kyle Lofton G 6-3 188 Gr. 31.4 8.7 3.0 3.1 ast 24 Riley Kugel G 6-5 207 Fr. 19.7 7.0 2.6 0.9 stl OPPONENT POSSIBLE STARTERS # Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Min. Pts. Reb. Misc. 42 Quentin Millora-Brown F 6-10 245 5th 17.2 3.6 3.9 0.6 stl 21 Liam Robbins C 7-0 250 5th 22.3 13.4 6.4 3.0 blk 0 Tyrin Lawrence G 6-4 200 Jr. 26.7 11.4 3.8 1.8 ast 5 Ezra Manjon G 6-0 170 Sr. 27.2 8.5 2.8 3.3 ast 12 Trey Thomas G 6-0 160 Jr. 23.5 6.3 1.9 1.7 3fg
NUMBERS OF NOTE 189Colin Castleton has blocked 189 shots as a Gator, tied with Al Horford for #3 in program history. Down the stretch, he will look to join Dwayne Schintzius (272) and Kevarruis Hayes (214) as the only Gators to block 200 shots. 20Colin Castleton is the first Gator to score 20+ points in three consecutive SEC games since Nick Calathes did so in four straight from Jan. 28 through Feb. 10, 2009. 9Florida’s active streak of nine consecutive wins against Vanderbilt marks the longest winning streak for either team in series history.
GATORS AT A GLANCE • After playing six of its last nine games on the road, Florida returns home where it has four straight wins, including a victory vs. #2 Tennessee in the Gators’ last home outing. • The Gators have played the 11th-toughest schedule in the nation to date (KenPom) and are coming off the most challenging four-game stretch in program history, which included three top-five opponents (two on the road) and a trip to Kentucky. • Florida ranks 11th in defensive efficiency and ninth in two-point field goal percentage defense nationally (KenPom). The Gators have held SEC opponents to .385 from the field and .282 from 3-point range. • Colin Castleton leads UF in scoring (16.1), rebounding (7.8), blocked shots (73), free throws made (107) and co-leads in steals (22) with Kyle Lofton. Lofton has dished a team-high 68 assists, and Will Richard paces Florida with 39 made 3-pointers and a .411 3-point percentage. • As a team, the Gators’ 5.9 blocked shots per game rank third in the NCAA. Individually, Castleton’s 3.04 blocked shots per game rank fourth the nation. • Colin Castleton posted a 29-point, 10-rebound double-double at #3 Alabama, becoming the first Gator since Nick Calathes in 2009 to post three straight 20-point games in SEC play. • Colin Castleton’s 20 points and nine rebounds led the Gators’ win vs. #2 Tennessee, along with Kyle Lofton’s 14 points and four rebounds. Both Lofton and Will Richard posted a +26 plus-minus. The win marked Florida’s sixth all-time top-2 win and matched the highest-ranked home win in program history. • With his outing at Kentucky, Colin Castleton became the first player since Dwyane Wade 20 years ago (3/8/03) vs. UK) to post 25 points, eight rebounds, five assists, three blocked shots and a steal against an SEC team. • 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. • 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) to help the Gators snap LSU’s 13-game home winning streak. 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. • 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 • Vanderbilt comes in with two straight wins, including a buzzer-beating win vs. #6 Tennessee on Wednesday where Tyrin Lawrence knocked down a corner 3-pointer as time expired. • Seven-footer Liam Robbins leads Vandy with 13.4 points, 6.4 rebounds and 3.0 blocked shots per game, while Lawrence adds 11.4 points and Jordan Wright scores 10.3. • Ezra Manjon has a team-high 80 assists and 23 steals, while Myles Stute is the top 3-point threat, shooting .404 (59/146) from beyond the arc. OPPONENT’S LAST 5 GAMES Jan. 24 Kentucky L 53-69 Jan. 28 at Texas A&M L 66-72 Jan. 31 at Alabama L 44-101 Feb. 4 Ole Miss W 74-71 Feb. 8 Tennessee W 66-65 OPPONENT’S NEXT 5 GAMES Feb. 14 at South Carolina Feb. 18 Auburn Feb. 22 at LSU Feb. 25 Florida March 1 at Kentucky LAST 20 VS. VANDERBILT (13-7) March 6, 2013 H W 66-40 Feb. 25, 2014 A W 57-54 Feb. 3, 2015 A L 61-67 Feb. 18, 2015 H W 50-47 Jan. 26, 2016 A L 59-60 Feb. 23, 2016 H L 74-87 Jan. 21, 2017 H L 66-68 March 4, 2017 A L 71-73 March 10, 2017 SEC L/OT 62-72 Dec. 30, 2017 H W 81-74 Feb. 17, 2018 A L 68-71 Feb. 13, 2019 H W 66-57 Feb. 27, 2019 A W 71-55 Feb. 1, 2020 A W 61-55 Feb. 15, 2020 H W 84-66 Dec. 30, 2020 A W 91-72 Jan. 27, 2021 H W 78-71 March 11, 2021 SEC W 69-63 Jan. 22, 2022 H W 61-42 March 1, 2022 A W 82-78
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Well, we have to win. Let’s see how Kugel does after saying Vandy is the type of team we have to beat.
