Florida 10-5/0-2 SEC vs. Arkansas 9-6/0-2 SEC Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center (10,151) | Billy Donovan Court Gainesville, Fla. | Game 16 | Jan. 13, 2024 | 4 p.m. BROADCAST INFO ESPN | ESPN App Play-by-Play: Tom Hart Analyst: Jimmy Dykes Gator Sports Network from LEARFIELD Play-by-Play: Sean Kelley Analyst: Lee Humphrey Producer/Engineer: Steve
FLORIDA POSSIBLE STARTERS # Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Min. Pts. Reb. Misc. 4 Tyrese Samuel F 6-10 239 Gr. 27.2 13.3 8.3 1.5 stl 3 Micah Handlogten C 7-1 235 So. 18.0 6.7 7.5 .645 fg% 0 Zyon Pullin G 6-4 206 Gr. 29.9 15.2 3.3 4.8 ast 1 Walter Clayton Jr. G 6-2 195 Jr. 30.0 16.2 3.9 3.1 ast 5 Will Richard G 6-4 206 Jr. 29.2 10.7 3.7 1.8 3fg OPPONENT POSSIBLE STARTERS # Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Min. Pts. Reb. Misc. 2 Trevon Brazile F 6-10 220 RSo. 28.7 9.9 6.8 1.5 blk 15 Makhi Mitchell F 6-10 240 5th 14.2 5.5 3.3 1.2 blk 1 Keyon Menifield Jr. G 6-1 150 So. 25.7 11.8 3.2 2.8 ast 4 Davonte Davis G 6-4 185 Sr. 30.8 6.5 3.3 2.5 ast 12 Tramon Mark G 6-6 185 Jr. 30.2 17.0 3.7 1.2 3fg
HEAD COACHESTodd Golden 26-22 | 2nd season at UF 83-58 | 5th season overall Eric Musselman 104-48 | 5th season at Arkansas 214-82 | 9th season overall MATCHUP BASICS All-Time Series: 26-15 All-Time Home: 14-3 Series under Golden: 0-1 Home under Golden: 0-0 Last Meeting: L, 65-84, 2/18/23 (Away)
NUMBERS OF NOTE 10Alex Condon’s 10 offensive rebounds at Ole Miss marked the most by a Gator this century. He joins Oscar Tshiebwe as the only two SEC players over the last five seasons to grab 10 offensive boards in conference play. 5Walter Clayton Jr. has five 20-point games this season, including 23 points in both SEC contests. Clayton eclipsed 1,000 career points scored during Wednesday’s game. 1,500Zyon Pullin enters Wednesday’s game with 1,494 career points, six away from the 1,500-point career mark. Clayton scored 1,312 over four seasons at UC Riverside and has 182 this season at Florida.
THE TIP-OFF• Florida welcomes Arkansas as the Gators look to get back on the winning track, falling in their last two games after a 6-0 December. The Gators are 14-3 at home vs. Arkansas and won 14 straight vs. the Razorbacks in Gainesville from 1997-2020 before Arkansas halted the streak in 2022. • Florida looks to snap Arkansas’ three-game series winning streak, the Razorbacks’ longest against UF since winning the first five meetings between the teams from 1992-96. • Walter Clayton Jr. has posted 23 points in both of Florida’s SEC games, while Zyon Pullin has scored in double figures in all 12 appearances this season and ranks second in the SEC with 4.8 assists per game. • Alex Condon posted his second double-double of the season with 11 points and 15 rebounds at Ole Miss.Condon’s 10 offensive rebounds marked the most by any Gator this century, and he became the only UF freshman over that same time with multiple 15-rebound games (16 vs. Merrimack). • Eight SEC players are averaging 2.5 or more offensive rebounds this season, three of which are Gators: Micah Handlogten (4.0), Tyrese Samuel (3.0) and Alex Condon (2.5). 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• Arkansas won five of its last six in nonconference play, highlighted by a home win vs. Duke in the ACC/SEC Challenge. The Razorbacks also own a neutral-site double overtime win vs. Stanford. • Tramon Mark leads Arkansas with 17.0 points per game, shooting .539 from the field. • Khalif Battle comes off the bench to average 12.9 points and is the team’s top 3-point threat at .403 from long range with 25 made 3-point field goals. • Washington transfer Keyon Menifield Jr. rounds out the double-figure scorers, averaging 11.8 points through five appearances. • Trevon Brazile chips in 9.9 points and leads the way with 6.8 rebounds per game and 22 blocked shots, while Davonte Davis has distributed a team-high 38 assists. OPPONENT’S LAST 5 GAMES Dec. 16 Lipscomb W 69-66 Dec. 21 Abilene Christian W 83-73 Dec. 30 UNC Wilmington W 106-90 Jan. 6 Auburn L 51-83 Jan. 10 at Georgia L 66-76 OPPONENT’S NEXT 5 GAMES Jan. 16 Texas A&M Jan. 20 Arkansas Jan. 24 at Ole Miss Jan. 27 Kentucky Jan. 31 at Missouri LAST 20 VS. ARKANSAS (15-5) March 12, 2009 SEC W 73-58 Jan. 21, 2010 A W 71-66 Jan. 22, 2011 H W 75-43 Feb. 18, 2012 A W 98-68 Feb. 5, 2013 A L 69-80 Feb. 23, 2013 H W 71-54 Jan. 11, 2014 A W/OT 84-82 Jan. 31, 2015 H W 57-56 Feb. 3, 2016 H W 87-83 March 10, 2016 SEC W 68-61 Dec. 29, 2016 A W 81-72 March 1, 2017 H W 78-65 Jan. 17, 2018 H W 88-73 March 9, 2018 SEC L 72-80 Jan. 9, 2019 A W 57-51 March 14, 2019 SEC W 66-50 Feb. 18, 2020 H W 73-59 Feb. 16, 2021 A L 64-75 Feb. 22, 2022 H L 74-82 Feb. 18, 2023 A L 65-84
Looks like Zyon Pullin will soon have 1500 points, 500 rebounds and 500 assists. Wonder how many players have done that.
Generally speaking I try to be fairly level headed. But if we don't win this game.....I'm going to be VERY PISSED OFF! Coach Golden needs to get it IN GEAR and make it happen!
To me, this is a must win for Florida. We cannot start the SEC season 0-3 and they need a quality win very badly.
Sadly, if we lose this game, some Gator fans will say it must have been a trap game with them traveling to UT on Tuesday.
Todd Golden was quoted as saying, the reason Kugel didn’t play much in the Mississippi game. Is that he and Kugel were not on the same page before the game. Sounds like they had a bit of a spat. He said Kugel would not start in this game, but would see significant minutes and expect him to play well. This would be a good game for Kugel to show us where he was last season and have a breakout game.
