OGT MBB Florida @ Virginia 11/10/2023 ACCN (Fri) 7 PM

Nov 10 (Fri) 7 PM Gator Sports Network from LEARFIELD
Florida vs Virginia

BROADCAST INFO
ACC Network | ESPN App
Play-by-Play: Doug Sherman
Analyst: Cory Alexander

Gator Sports Network from LEARFIELD
Play-by-Play: Kyle Crooks
Analyst: Lee Humphrey

 

HEAD COACH
Todd Golden
17-17 | 2nd season at UF
74-53 | 5th season overall

Tony Bennett
242-125 | 15th season at Virginia
411-157 | 18th season overall

MATCHUP BASICS
All-Time Series: 2-1
All-Time vs. ACC: 152-139
vs. ACC under Golden: 1-0
Last vs. Virginia: W 65-39, 3/18/17,
Orlando (NCAA Tournament)

 

NUMBERS OF NOTE
4​

Virginia is the first of four ACC opponents the Gators will play in November, also hosting Florida State, facing Pittsburgh in Brooklyn and finally visiting Wake Forest in the ACC/SEC Challenge.

2​

Two Florida big men hit multiple 3-pointers in the season opener with 6-foot-11 Alex Condon and 7-foot-1 Micah Handlogten each knocking down their first two
attempts from deep as Gators.

20/6​

Riley Kugel’s 23 points and six steals vs. Loyola Md. made him the fourth Gator to reach 20 points and six steals in a game since 1996, joining Corey Brewer, Nick Calathes and Michael Frazier II

 

FLORIDA POSSIBLE STARTERS​

# Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Min. Pts. Reb. Misc.
4 Tyrese Samuel F 6-10 239 Gr. 25.5 15.0 8.0 .556 fg%
3 Micah Handlogten C 7-1 235 So. 21.1 16.0 6.0 .875 fg%
1 Walter Clayton Jr. G 6-2 195 Jr. 32.9 9.0 8.0 5.0 ast
2 Riley Kugel G 6-5 207 So. 33.8 23.0 3.0 .667 fg%
5 Will Richard G 6-4 206 Jr. 30.0 3.0 1.0 2.0 last

VIRGINIA POSSIBLE STARTERS​

# Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Min. Pts. Reb. Misc.
34 Jacob Groves F 6-9 211 Gr. 14.7 9.0 1.0 3.0 3fg
2 Reece Beekman G 6-3 194 Sr. 27.5 16.0 4.0 7.0 ast
4 Andrew Rohde G 6-6 202 So. 25.9 6.0 3.0 2.0 3fg
11 Isaac McKneely G 6-4 188 So. 28.8 15.0 4.0 4.0 3fg
13 Ryan Dunn G 6-8 216 So. 21.1 9.0 7.0 2.0 blk

NOVEMBER
6 Loyola Maryland SEC+ W 93-73
10 vs. RV Virginia (Charlotte) ACC Net. 7 p.m.
14 Florida A&M SEC+ 7 p.m.
17 Florida State SEC Net. 7 p.m.
22 Pittsburgh (Brooklyn) ESPN2/U 9:30 p.m.
24 vs. BU/OSU (Brooklyn) ESPN/2 3/5:30
29 at Wake Forest ESPNU 7:15

NOVEMBER
6 Loyola Maryland SEC+ W 93-73
10 vs. RV Virginia (Charlotte) ACC Net. 7 p.m.
14 Florida A&M SEC+ 7 p.m.
17 Florida State SEC Net. 7 p.m.
22 Pittsburgh (Brooklyn) ESPN2/U 9:30 p.m.
24 vs. BU/OSU (Brooklyn) ESPN/2 3/5:30
29 at Wake Forest ESPNU 7:15

 

THE TIP-OFF​

• Florida plays its first of four November games against ACC opponents, squaring off against Virginia for the firstregular season meeting in series history. The programs have previously met twice in the NCAA Tournament
(2012, 2017) and once in the NIT (1992).

• It also marks Florida’s first of two games at Charlotte’s Spectrum Center during nonconference play. The Gators return in December to play Michigan in the second installment of the Jumpman Invitational.

• The Gators started their season hot, going on a 16-0 run over the first six minutes of Monday’s win vs. Loyola Maryland. Riley Kugel’s 23 points and six steals led the way, while Micah Handlogten (16), Tyrese Samuel (15)
and Alex Condon (13) all contributed double-figure scoring and Walter Clayton Jr. added nine points, eight rebounds and five assists

 

IT’S A SMALL WORLD​

• As college athletics looked for a way to compete during COVID, the Basketball Hall of Fame put on Bubbleville, which hosted 46 games over 11 days at Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Conn. Florida and Virginia were scheduled
to meet on Nov. 27, 2020.

• A COVID pause caused the Gators’ participation in Bubbleville to be delayed, resulting in the shuffling of match ups. As a result, San Francisco took Florida’s place on Nov. 27 and pulled off a monumental upset of fourth-ranked Virginia, launching their head coach Todd Golden into the national college basketball consciousness.

• Three years later, Golden now leads the Gators into a Basketball Hall of Fame event against Virginia

 

2023-24 OUTLOOK
• Florida moves into its second season under head coach Todd Golden, who led the Gators to a pair of top-25 wins and a postseason berth in his first season leading the program.

• The Gators had a busy spring in the transfer portal, bringing in one of the top transfer classes in the nation, along with its freshman class.

• Florida returns four scholarship players, including a pair of starters in Will Richard and Riley Kugel.

• Richard posted 18 double-figure scoring games, including a season-high 24 at Georgia, while Kugel shone late in the season and earned SEC All-Freshman honors after averaging 17.3 points over the last 10 games of the season.

• Point guard Denzel Aberdeen and forward Aleks Szymczyk also return as sophomores looking to make a jump.

• UF’s transfer class includes guards Walter Clayton Jr., Zyon Pullin and Julian Rishwain along with the frontcourt duo of Micah Handlogten and Tyrese Samuel.
• The Gators welcome several freshmen to the program with 6-foot-9 forward Thomas Haugh from Pennsylvania, 6-foot-11 Australian Alex Condon and Lithuanian point guard Kajus Kublickas joining the squad.

• Walk-ons Alex Klatsky and Jack May both return, while the Gators also added freshman Cooper Josefsberg and former team manager Bennett Andersen to the roster in the walk-o

 

ABOUT THE OPPONENT​

• Virginia enters its 15th season under the guidance of Tony Bennett,
who led the Cavaliers to the 2019 NCAA championship. UVA has
notched more than 20 wins in 11 straight seasons (excluding the
shortened 2020-21 season).

• Virginia returns one starter in senior guard Reece Beekman, who
averaged 9.5 points and 5.3 assists last season. The Cavaliers bring
back five other returners, led by Isaac McKneely’s 6.7 points per game.

• Like most teams, Virginia has an influx of newcomers with four trans-
fers and five freshmen on its roster. One familiar face to Florida is Jake
Groves, who came from Oklahoma and the Gators also faced in the
Spectrum Center last season.

 

OPPONENT’S LAST 5 GAMES
March 9 vs. North Carolina W 68-59
March 10 vs. Clemson W 76-56
March 11 vs. Duke L 49-59
March 16 vs. Furman L 67-68
Nov. 6 Tarleton State W 80-50

OPPONENT’S NEXT 5 GAMES
Nov. 14 North Carolina A&T
Nov. 16 Texas Southern
Nov. 20 vs. Wisconsin
Nov. 22 vs. SMU/West Virginia
Nov. 29 Texas A&M

ALL-TIME SERIES (2-1)
March 30, 1992 NYC (NIT) L 56-62
March 16, 2012 Omaha (NCAA) W 71-45
March 18, 2017 Orlando (NCAA) W 65-39

LAST 10 VS. ACC (5-5)
Dec. 4, 2017 Florida State L 66-83
Dec. 16, 2017 vs. Clemson L 69-71
Nov. 6, 2018 at #17 Florida State L 60-81
Nov. 10, 2019 Florida State L 51-63
Nov. 22, 2019 vs. Miami W 78-58
Dec. 3, 2020 vs. Boston College W 90-70
Dec. 12, 2020 at Florida State L 61-74
March 19, 2020 *vs. Virginia Tech W/OT 75-70
Nov. 14, 2021 #20 Florida State W 71-55
Nov. 18, 2022 at Florida State W 76-67
*NCAA Tournament
Official Basketball Box Score -- Game Totals -- Final Statistics
Virginia vs Florida
3/18/17 8:50 p.m. at Orlando, Fla. (Amway Center)
Virgini