OGT-Florida vs UCF 3/15/2023 7:00 ESPN2

Mar 15 (Wed) 7 PM Gator Sports Network from LEARFIELD

Florida vs UCF
Gainesville, FL Exactech Arena at Stephen C. O'Connell Center

• Listen
• NIT Bracket

BROADCAST INFO
ESPN2 | ESPN App
Play-by-Play: Mike Morgan
Analyst: Mark Wise

Gator Sports Network from LEARFIELD
Play-by-Play: Kyle Crooks
Analyst: Lee Humphrey
Engineer/Producer: Steve Ega

 

HEAD COACHES
Todd Golden
16-16 | 1st season at UF
73-52 | 4th season overall

Johnny Dawkins
130-86 | 7th season at UCF
286-201 | 16th season overall

MATCHUP BASICS
All-Time in NIT: 14-13
Home in NIT: 9-2
All-Time Series: 10-1
Series at Home: 8-0
Last Meeting: W, 79-66, 11/23/12 (Home)

 

FLORIDA POSSIBLE STARTERS
# Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Min. Pts. Reb. Misc.
33 Jason Jitoboh C 6-11 300 Sr. 11.4 3.1 1.5 0.7 blk
0 Myreon Jones G 6-3 177 Gr. 21.7 5.4 3.4 2.1 ast
5 Will Richard G 6-4 206 So. 27.8 10.6 4.5 1.6 3fg
11 Kyle Lofton G 6-3 188 Gr. 32.6 8.9 3.0 3.6 ast
24 Riley Kugel G 6-5 207 Fr. 22.8 9.8 2.9 1.0 3fg

OPPONENT POSSIBLE STARTERS
# Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Min. Pts. Reb. Misc.
2 Michael Durr F 7-0 250 5th 22.0 5.8 4.7 1.0 blk
25 Taylor Hendricks F 6-9 210 Fr. 34.5 15.3 6.9 1.8 3fg
3 Darius Johnson G 6-1 190 So. 31.3 10.3 3.1 4.4 ast
12 Ithiel Horton G 6-5 200 RSr. 30.8 12.4 3.7 2.3 3fg
13 C.J. Kelly G 6-5 200 Sr. 30.3 13.1 3.6 2.0 3fg

 

NUMBERS OF NOTE
9​

SEC All-Freshman honoree RileyKugel has nine straight games
in double figures, averaging 17.8 points over that stretch. He is
looking for UF’s first 10-game double-figure streak by a freshman
since Bradley Beal had 10 in a row in 2011-12.

2​

Todd Golden is the second headcoach in Florida history to lead the
Gators to postseason play in his first year as head coach.

.571​

Will Richard shot 8-for-14 from3-point range over the Gators’ final
two regular season games and looks to bounce back from a 1-for-7
game in the SEC Tournament.

 

GATORS AT A GLANCE​

• Florida makes its 12th all-time appearance in the National Invitation Tournament, earning a No. 4 seed. The Gators have advanced as far as the NIT semifinals three times previously, in 1986, 1992 and 2008.

• Colin Castleton earned first-team All-SEC honors from the coaches and USA Today and second-team from the AP, as well as Defensive Player of the Year by USA Today and All-Defensive Team by the coaches.

• Riley Kugel earned SEC All-Freshman honors from the league’s coaches after finishing the regular season with eight straight games in double figures, averaging 18.3 points over that stretch. That streak marked the longest by a UF freshman since Bradley Beal had 10 double-figure SEC games in a row in 2011-12. Kugel’s 12.6 points per game in conference play was also the most since Beal (14.4 ppg).

• Will Richard posted a big week for the Gators to close the regular season, dropping a career-high 24 points at Georgia, including 5-for-8 from the 3-point line, and adding an 18-point performance vs. LSU.

• With Riley Kugel’s career-high 24 vs. Kentucky and 20 on the road at Vanderbilt, he became the first Florida freshman with back-to-back 20-point games since Kenny Boynton (2009-10).

• Colin Castleton’s injury has posed a significant loss for the Gators as he led UF in scoring (16.0), rebounding (7.7), blocked shots (78) and free throws made (113). His 3.0 blocked shots per game rank fourth nationally.

• Kyle Lofton has a team-high 107 assists and 34 steals, and Will Richard paces Florida with 51 made 3-pointers and a .402 3-point percentage.

• Todd Golden is Florida’s only first-year head coach with multiple top-25 wins since John Lotz in the 1973-74 season, as UF has downed #2 Tennessee and #20 Missouri. Only Golden, Lotz and Tommy Bartlett (three, 1966-67) have multiple ranked wins as a first-year coach in UF history.

• Prior to his injury, Colin Castleton had four straight 20-point games, including a 29-point, 10-rebound double-double at #3 Alabama. He had also led the Gators in scoring in eight consecutive contests.

• 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 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 to go along with nine points and zero turnovers.

• In UF’s win at Mississippi State, Colin Castleton posted 13 points, while Will Richard added 12 on 4-for-5 shoot-ing from 3-point range. Kyle Lofton and Myreon Jones combined for 11 assists and zero turnovers.

• Colin Castleton earned SEC Player of the Week honors on Jan. 16 behind strong performances in wins at LSU and vs. #20 Missouri. At LSU, Castleton posted 18 points and five blocks. He followed up with an all-around
performance against Mizzou, tallying 16 points, 13 rebounds, six assists, three steals and two blocked shots.

 

ABOUT THE OPPONENT​

• Taylor Hendricks leads UCF with 15.4 points and 6.9 rebounds per
game along with 56 blocked shots. He is also shooting .399 from
3-point range (59/148).

• C.J. Kelly (13.1 ppg) and Ithiel Horton (12.4) have also been productive
beyond the arc, with Kelly shooting .398 (64/161) and Horton hitting a
team-leading 74 treys (.349, 74/212).

• Darius Johnson rounds out the Knights’ double-figure scorers at 10.3
points per game while leading the team with 101 assists (4.4 apg) and
48 steals.

OPPONENT’S LAST 5 GAMES
Feb. 26 at Tulsa W 68-49
March 2 at Temple L 55-57
March 5 East Carolina W 84-58
March 9 vs. SMU W 76-70
March 10 vs. Memphis L 76-81

ALL-TIME SERIES (10-1)
Nov. 24, 1984 H W 106-55
Nov. 26, 1985 H W 86-56
Dec. 10, 1986 H W 89-54
Dec. 20, 1994 H W 83-69
Nov. 22, 1996 H W 80-63
Nov. 18, 1997 H W 100-85
Dec. 4, 2003 N W 59-39
Dec. 3, 2005 H W 80-47
Dec. 20, 2008 N W 89-61
Dec. 1, 2010 N L 54-57
Nov. 23, 2012 H W 79-66

ALL-TIME NIT RESULTS (14-13)
March 13, 1969 vs. Temple L 66-82
March 14, 1984 vs. South Alabama L 87-88
March 14, 1985 at SW Louisiana L 64-65
March 13, 1986 Southern Miss W 81-71
March 17, 1986 TCU W 77-75
March 20, 1986 SW Missouri State W 54-53
March 24, 1986 vs. Wyoming L 58-67
March 26, 1986 vs. Louisiana Tech L 62-67
March 19, 1992 Richmond W 66-52
March 23, 1992 at Pittsburgh W 77-74
March 25, 1992 vs. Purdue W 74-67
March 30, 1992 vs. Virginia L 56-62
April 1, 1992 vs. Utah L 78-81
March 17, 1993 at Minnesota L 66-74
March 11, 1998 Georgetown L 69-71
March 19, 2008 San Diego State W 73-49
March 21, 2008 Creighton W 82-54
March 25, 2008 at Arizona State W 70-57
April 1, 2008 vs. UMass L 66-78
March 18, 2009 Jacksonville W 84-62
March 20, 2009 Miami W 74-60
March 24, 2009 Penn State L 62-71
March 15, 2016 at North Florida W 97-68
March 20, 2016 at Ohio State W 74-66
March 23, 2016 at George Washington L 77-82
March 16, 2022 Iona W 79-74
March 20, 2022 at Xavier L 56-72