Florida 11-5/1-2 SEC vs. #6/7 Tennessee 12-4/2-1 SEC Thompson-Boling Arena (21,678) | Knoxville, Tenn. Game 17 | Jan. 16, 2024 | 5 p.m. BROADCAST INFO ESPN2 | ESPN App Play-by-Play: Karl Ravech Analyst: Jimmy Dykes Sideline: Marty Smith 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. 27.3 13.6 8.4 .628 fg% 3 Micah Handlogten C 7-1 235 So. 18.5 6.6 7.6 .646 fg% 0 Zyon Pullin G 6-4 206 Gr. 30.2 15.2 3.3 5.0 ast 1 Walter Clayton Jr. G 6-2 195 Jr. 29.6 15.9 3.9 3.1 ast 5 Will Richard G 6-4 206 Jr. 29.1 10.8 3.6 1.9 3fg OPPONENT POSSIBLE STARTERS # Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Min. Pts. Reb. Misc. 0 Jonas Aidoo F 6-11 240 Jr. 23.9 11.2 7.4 1.6 blk 3 Dalton Knecht G 6-6 213 5th 28.1 17.2 4.2 1.9 3fg 5 Zakai Ziegler G 5-9 171 Jr. 27.9 10.5 2.2 5.1 ast 25 Santiago Vescovi G 6-3 196 5th 27.2 7.7 3.9 2.8 ast 30 Josiah-Jordan James G 6-7 220 5th 30.4 10.1 6.9 2.3 a
HEAD COACHES Todd Golden 27-22 | 2nd season at UF 84-58 | 5th season overall Rick Barnes 187-96 | 9th season at Tennessee 791-410 | 37th season overall MATCHUP BASICS All-Time Series: 59-80 All-Time Away: 17-50 Series under Golden: 1-0 Away under Golden: 0-0 Last Meeting: W, 67-54, 2/1/23 (Home)
NUMBERS OF NOTE41% Florida’s .410 offensive rebounds percentage ranks third in the nation, and the Gators have three of the SEC’s top nine offensive rebounders in Micah Handlogten (4.0), Tyrese Samuel (3.1) and Alex Condon (2.4). 21Florida last defeated a top-10 team on the road 21 years ago at #7 Mississippi State on Jan. 7, 2003, one of five all-time top-10 road wins for the Gators (5-64). 4.06Zyon Pullin’s 4.06 assist/turnover ratio leads the SEC, and his 5.00 assists per game rate second. Pullin posted eight assists vs. one turnover in Saturday’s win vs. Arkansas.
THE TIP-OFF• Florida looks for its first win at Tennessee since 2014, making its first visit to Knoxville under Todd Golden. The Gators won their first matchup with UT under Golden’s guidance, toppling the #2-ranked Vols in Gainesville last season. • The Gators are 5-64 all-time on the road vs. AP Top-10 opponents with the last win coming on Jan. 7, 2003, when #11 Florida topped a #7 Mississippi State team in Starkville. Florida has lost 17 straight on the road vs. top-10 opponents. • Zyon Pullin not only leads the SEC in assist/turnover ratio (4.1) and rates second in assists (5.0), but has also scored in double figures in all 13 appearances this season. • Florida’s top three rebounders all grabbed at least nine rebounds in the win vs. Arkansas as Tyrese Samuel posted 11 as he recorded his seventh double-double of the season (17 points) and Micah Handlogten and Alex Condon both pulled down nine boards. 2023-24 HIGHLIGHTS• Five Gators in double figures highlighted UF’s win vs. Arkansas, as Riley Kugel scored 20 points off the bench to lead the way and Tyrese Samuel added a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds. • Alex Condon’s 10 offensive rebounds at Ole Miss marked the most by any Gator in available records (since 1996), and he is the only UF freshman over that same time with multiple 15-rebound games (16 vs. Merrimack). • 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. • 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• Tennessee owns an 8-0 home record and enters Tuesday’s game off a late rally to win at Georgia on Saturday. • Northern Colorado transfer Dalton Knecht leads the team with 17.2 points per game and has hit a team-high 31 3-point field goals. • Big man Jonas Aidoo scores 11.2 and grabs a team-leading 7.4 rebounds per game, also leading in blocked shots with 26. • Zakai Ziegler scores 10.5 points per game and leads the SEC at 5.1 assists per game, adding a team-best 26 steals. • Josiah-Jordan James rounds out the double-figure scorers at 10.1 per game. OPPONENT’S LAST 5 GAMES Dec. 21 Tarleton State W 65-46 Jan. 2 Norfolk State W 87-50 Jan. 6 Ole Miss W 90-64 Jan. 10 at Mississippi State L 72-77 Jan. 13 at Georgia W 85-79 OPPONENT’S NEXT 5 GAMES Jan. 20 Alabama Jan. 27 at Vanderbilt Jan. 30 South Carolina Feb. 3 at Kentucky LAST 20 VS. TENNESSEE (9-11) Feb. 12, 2011 H W 61-60 March 11, 2011 SEC W 85-74 Jan. 7, 2012 A L 56-67 Feb. 11, 2012 H L 70-75 Feb. 26, 2013 A L 58-64 Jan. 25, 2014 H W 67-41 Feb. 11, 2014 A W 67-58 March 15, 2014 SEC W 56-49 Feb. 28, 2015 H W 66-49 Jan. 6, 2016 A L 69-83 Jan. 7, 2017 H W 83-70 Feb. 21, 2018 A L 57-62 Jan. 12, 2019 H L 67-78 Feb. 9, 2019 A L 61-73 Feb. 29, 2020 A L 58-63 Jan. 19, 2021 H W 75-49 March 7, 2021 A L 54-65 March 12, 2021 SEC L 66-78 Jan. 26, 2022 A L 71-78 Feb. 1, 2023 H W 67-54
JANUARY 6 #6 Kentucky ESPN L 85-87 10 at RV/#23 Ole Miss SEC Net. L 85-103 13 Arkansas ESPN W 90-68 16 at #6/7 Tennessee ESPN 7 p.m. 20 at Missouri ESPNU 8 p.m. 24 Mississippi State SEC Net. 8:30 p.m. 27 Georgia ESPN/2/U 12 p.m. 31 at #8 Kentucky ESPN/2 8 p.m. FEBRUARY 3 at Texas A&M ESPN2 4 p.m. 10 #13 Auburn SEC Net. 3:30 p.m. 13 LSU SEC Net. 8 p.m. 17 at Georgia SEC Net. 1 p.m. 21 at RV Alabama ESPN2/U 7 p.m. 24 Vanderbilt SEC Net. 1 p.m. 28 Missouri SEC Net. 6:30 p.m. MARCH 2 at RV South Carolina SEC Net. 1 p.m. 5 RV Alabama ESPN/2 9 p.m. 9 at Vanderbilt SSEC Net. 4:30 p.m. 13-17 SEC Tournament (Nashville)
Tennessee will have their hands full tonight. I think that last game we played will do wonders for us today! Keys to victory: 1. FT shooting 2. 3 pt shooting 3. rebounding 4. turnovers
Tennessee has guys that can really make you pay if you don’t get back or close out. Our defense better be engaged.
I just hope we score 1 more point than them. Don't care how it happens, but I totally agree with all of Bazza's keys above.
Pet peeve - bigs who will force a shot up after getting an offensive rebound regardless of how many defenders have collapsed on him.
They’re doing a lot of hand checking and bumping It seems like teams are able to push us far from the basket - what can be done to counter?
