OGT-Florida @ #23 Ole Miss 1/10/24 9 p.m. EST SECN

Florida 10-4/0-1 SEC vs. RV/#23 Ole Miss 13-1/0-1 SEC
SJB Pavilion at Ole Miss (9,500) | Oxford, Miss.
Game 15 | Jan. 10, 2024 | 9 p.m. EST

BROADCAST INFO
SEC Network | ESPN App
Play-by-Play: Kevin Fitzgerald
Analyst: Richard Hendrix

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

 

FLORIDA POSSIBLE STARTERS
# Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Min. Pts. Reb. Misc.
4 Tyrese Samuel F 6-10 239 Gr. 27.5 13.5 8.7 1.5 stl
3 Micah Handlogten C 7-1 235 So. 17.7 6.8 7.5 .661 fg%
0 Zyon Pullin G 6-4 206 Gr. 29.5 14.9 3.5 4.8 ast
1 Walter Clayton Jr. G 6-2 195 Jr. 29.6 15.7 3.9 3.3 ast
5 Will Richard G 6-4 206 Jr. 29.1 11.1 3.6 1.9 3fg

OPPONENT POSSIBLE STARTERS
# Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Min. Pts. Reb. Misc.
3 Jamarion Sharp F 7-5 235 Sr. 18.4 3.9 4.4 2.6 blk
4 Jaemyn Brakefield F 6-8 220 Sr. 28.1 11.6 5.7 2.1 ast
5 Jaylen Murray G 5-11 170 Jr. 31.2 14.4 2.5 2.2 3fg
7 Allen Flanigan G 6-6 215 Sr. 32.0 16.2 7.3 3.4 ast
11 Matthew Murrell G 6-4 200 Sr. 34.4 16.4 3.8 2.3 3fg

 

HEAD COACHES​

Todd Golden
26-21 | 2nd season at UF
83-57 | 5th season overall

Chris Beard
13-1 | 1st season at Ole Miss
250-99 | 12th season overall

MATCHUP BASICS
All-Time Series: 70-48
All-Time Away: 23-32
Series under Golden: 1-0
Away under Golden: 0-0
Last Meeting:
W, 79-64, 2/15/23 (Home)

 

NUMBERS OF NOTE
40%​

The Gators have the sixth-best offensive rebounding rate in the
nation at 40.0 percent. Three players average multiple offensive
rebounds, including Micah Handlogten (3.8), Tyrese Samuel (3.2)
and Alex Condon (2.0).

3​

Florida has had three games this season with multiple 20-point
scorers. The Gators had just one such game over the previous three
seasons (2/26/22 at Georgia).

1,000​

Walter Clayton Jr. enters Wednesday’s game with 991 career points,
nine away from the 1,000-point career mark. Clayton scored 771
over two seasons at Iona and has 220 this season at Florida.

 

THE TIP-OFF​

• Florida hits the road for its first SEC road contest looking to bounce back from a razor-close setback vs. sixth-ranked Kentucky in the league opener. The Gators look to snap a three-game skid in Oxford, where UF was the first visiting team to win in the SJB Pavilion in 2016 before dropping the next three visits.

• UF has won six of its last seven games, as a 6-0 December accounted for its longest winning streak since another six-game streak in Nov. 2021. It also joins Nov. 2021 as UF’s only undefeated months of the past 10 seasons (since 2014-15).

• Both Walter Clayton Jr. and Zyon Pullin posted 23 points in Saturday’s SEC opener vs. Kentucky. Pullin has scored in double figures in all 11 appearances this season and ranks second in the SEC with 4.8 assists per game.

• Down low, Tyrese Samuel leads the SEC with 8.7 rebounds per game and a .646 field goal percentage and is one of three Gators averaging multiple offensive rebounds per game (3.2), along with Micah Handlogten (3.8)
and Alex Condon (2.0).

2023-24 HIGHLIGHTS​

• Zyon Pullin scored 22 and Tyrese Samuel posted 21 points and 11 rebounds in the Gators’ double overtime victory vs. Michigan in Charlotte. Pullin’s 3-pointer with 8.9 seconds remaining in the first overtime forced the second extra session, where an 11-0 UF run put the game away.

• In his homecoming game at Lakeland vs. East Carolina, Walter Clayton Jr. exploded for 20 first-half points on the way to a team-leading 22. Clayton scored 10 of the Gators’ first 12 points out of the gate playing just down the road from his hometown of Lake Wales.

• Will Richard earned Orange Bowl Classic MVP honors as he scored 19 of his 21 points in the second half to lead the Gators vs. Richmond. Richard posted a solo 9-0 run as he hit three 3-pointers in a 90-second span that
helped create separation vs. the Spiders.

• Walter Clayton Jr. scored 21 of his 26 points vs. Merrimack in the second half. Freshman Alex Condon added his first career double-double with 12 points and 16 rebounds. Condon’s 16 boards were the most by a Florida freshman since Al Horford’s 18 vs. Alabama during the 2004-05 season.

• Florida came up just short against 13th-ranked Baylor in the NIT Season Tip-Off championship game as Riley Kugel exploded for 25 points and nine rebounds, both career highs. Tyrese Samuel and Zyon Pullin earned All-Tournament Team honors, and Samuel added SEC Player of the Week recognition.

• The Gators topped Pitt in the first game of the NIT Season Tip-Off behind 28 points from Walter Clayton Jr. 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 as a team.

• 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.

 

ABOUT THE OPPONENT​

• Ole Miss posted a 13-0 nonconference record in its first season under
Chris Beard, including home wins vs. Memphis and North Carolina State and a road victory at UCF.

• Returner Matthew Murrell leads the team at 16.4 points per game
with 32 made 3-pointers (.386), adding 30 steals on the defensive
end.
• Auburn transfer Allen Flanigan scores 16.2 per game and is grabbing a
team-high 7.3 rebounds per game.

• Saint Peter’s transfer Jaylen Murray adds 14.4 points per game and
has dished a team-high 51 assists and shoots .456 from 3-point range
(31-for-68).

• Returner Jaemyn Brakefield rounds out the double-figure scorers at
11.6 points per game.

• The 7-foot-5 Jamarion Sharp, a Western Kentucky transfer, has blocked 36 shots, averaging an SEC-leading 2.57 swats per game.

OPPONENT’S LAST 5 GA​

Dec. 16 vs. California W 88-78
Dec. 19 Troy W 74-53
Dec. 23 vs. Southern Miss W 89-72
Dec. 31 Bryant W 95-78
Jan. 6 at Tennessee L 64-90
OPPONENT’S NEXT 5 GAMES
Jan. 13 Vanderbilt
Jan. 17 at LSU
Jan. 20 at Auburn
Jan. 24 Arkansas
Jan. 27 at Texas A&M

LAST 20 VS. OLE MISS (14-6)
Jan. 16, 2008 A L 87-89
Jan. 10, 2009 H W 78-68
Feb. 20, 2010 A W 64-61
Jan. 8, 2011 H W 77-71
Jan. 26, 2012 A W 64-60
Feb. 2, 2013 H W 78-64
March 17, 2013 SEC L 63-66
Feb. 22, 2014 A W 75-71
Jan. 24, 2015 A L 71-72
Feb. 12, 2015 H L 61-62
Jan. 16, 2016 A W 80-71
Feb. 9, 2016 H W 77-72
Jan. 3, 2017 H W 70-63
Jan. 13, 2018 A L 72-78
Jan. 30, 2019 H W/OT 90-86
Jan. 14, 2020 H W 71-55
Feb. 8, 2020 A L 51-68
Jan. 12, 2021 H W 72-63
Jan. 24, 2022 A L 54-70
Feb. 5, 2022 H W/OT 62-57
Feb. 15, 2023 H W 79-64