OGT-Florida 4-1/0-0 SEC vs. #13 Baylor 5-0/0-0 vs Center (17,732) | Brooklyn, N.Y. NIT Seasom Tipoff

Nov 24 (Fri) 5:30 PM

#13 Baylor
Brooklyn, NY
Radio: Gator Sports Network from LEARFIELD

BROADCAST INFO​

ESPN | ESPN App
Play-by-Play: Kevin Brown
Analyst: Fran Fraschilla

Gator Sports Network from LEARFIELD
Play-by-Play: Sean Kelley
Analyst: Lee Humphrey
Producer/Engineer: Steve Egan

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HEAD COACHES​

Todd Golden
20-18 | 2nd season at UF
77-54 | 5th season overall
Scott Drew
425-233 | 21st season at Baylor
445-244 | 22nd season overall

MATCHUP BASICS​

All-Time Series: 1-2
Series under Golden: 0-0
Series at Neutral Sites: 0-1
All-Time vs. Big 12: 38-29
Last Meeting:
L, 72-61, 1/25/20, Home

 

FLORIDA POSSIBLE STARTERS
# Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Min. Pts. Reb. Misc.
4 Tyrese Samuel F 6-10 239 Gr. 25.6 13.8 8.8 2.4 ast
3 Micah Handlogten C 7-1 235 So. 17.1 8.0 6.8 .679 fg%
1 Walter Clayton Jr. G 6-2 195 Jr. 31.2 17.2 4.0 4.4 ast
2 Riley Kugel G 6-5 207 So. 29.7 11.4 3.2 2.0 stl
5 Will Richard G 6-4 206 Jr. 31.3 10.4 3.0 1.6 ast

BAYLOR POSSIBLE STARTERS
# Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Min. Pts. Reb. Misc.
11 Jalen Bridges F 6-9 225 Sr. 23.9 9.0 4.2 1.0 blk
21 Yves Missi C 7-0 235 Fr. 20.8 9.4 6.8 2.6 blk
2 Jayden Nunn G 6-4 190 Jr. 25.8 13.2 2.4 3.0 ast
4 Ja’Kobe Walter G 6-5 195 Fr. 29.5 19.2 4.6 0.8 ast
10 RayJ Dennis G 6-2 185 RSr. 27.1 11.8 3.6 5.6 as

 

NUMBERS OF NOTE
1st​

In Wednesday’s win vs. Pitt, Tyrese
Samuel became the first Gator this century to post 20 points,
10 rebounds, three assists, three steals and three blocked shots in
a game.

28/6​

Walter Clayton Jr. became the first Gator to score 28+ points with at
least six made 3-pointers since KeVaughn Allen did so (31/8) vs.
Texas A&M on Jan. 22, 2019.

41​

In two games since Zyon Pullin made his Florida debut, the Gators
have totaled 41 assists. Pullin has tallied 12 assists with just two
turnovers.

 

THE TIP-OFF​

• Florida and Baylor square off in the championship game of the NIT Season Tip-Off as the Gators look for their third holiday tournament title in the last five seasons, previously claiming the 2021 Fort Myers Tip-Off and the 2019 Charlest on Classic.

• Florida trails the all-time series, 2-1, and the teams split a pair of meetings in Gainesville in the erstwhile SEC/ Big 12 Challenge (Jan. 2018 and 2020), the most recent coming when the Bears were the #1 team in the nation.

• The Gators have scored 86 points or more and shot .470 or better in their four wins this season.

2023-24 HIGHLIGHTS​

• The Gators topped Pitt behind 28 points from Walter Clayton on 6-for-8 shooting from 3-point range, a 20-point, 10-rebound performance from Tyrese Samuel and a 24-to-8 assist-to-turnover showing.

• Florida blitzed Florida State, leading 27-5 before taking a 52-22 advantage into halftime. The Gators shot .643 and held the Seminoles to .258 from the field during the first half. Walter Clayton Jr. led UF with 19 points, while Zyon Pullin and Tyrese Samuel added 15 each and Thomas Haugh grabbed 10 rebounds.

• Will Richard knocked down four 3-pointers in a hard-fought loss vs. Virginia and posted a team-leading 16 points as all five starters scored in double figures. Micah Handlogten (14 points, 14 rebounds) and Tyrese Samuel (10 points, 11 rebounds) both posted their first double-double as Gators vs. UVA.

• The Gators started their season hot, going on a 16-0 run over the first six minutes of the season-opening win vs. Loyola Maryland, led by Riley Kugel’s 23 points and six steals.

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 also 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-on role.

 

ABOUT THE OPPONENT
• Baylor has won four of its last five regular season tournaments and
enters after an opening-round win vs. Oregon State. The Bears also
topped Auburn in a neutral-site season opener.

• A pair of freshmen are leading Baylor in scoring and rebounding as
Ja’Kobe Walter is averaging 19.2 points per game and Yves Missi is
grabbing 6.8 rebounds per game. Walter had 24 vs. Oregon State and
Missi added a double-double with 14 points and 14 rebounds.

• Also averaging in double figures for Baylor are Jayden Nunn (13.2
ppg), RayJ Dennis (11.8) and Langston Love (10.8).

OPPONENT’S LAST 5 GAMES​

Nov. 7 vs. Auburn W 88-82
Nov. 9 John Brown W 96-70
Nov. 12 Gardner-Webb W 77-62
Nov. 14 Kansas City W 99-61
Nov. 22 vs. Oregon State W 88-72

OPPONENT’S NEXT 5 GAMES​

Nov. 28 Nicholls
Dec. 2 Northwestern State
Dec. 5 Seton Hall
Dec. 16 vs. Michigan State
Dec. 20 vs. Duke

ALL-TIME SERIES (1-2)​

Dec. 30, 1981 N L 71-72
Jan. 27, 2018 H W 81-60
Jan. 25, 2020 H L 61-72

GATORS AT BARCLAYS CENTER (2-1)​

Dec. 17, 2019 vs. Providence W 83-51
Dec. 12, 2021 vs. Maryland L 68-70
Nov. 22, 2023 vs. Pitt W 86-71