Florida 14-6/4-3 SEC vs. #10/8 Kentucky 15-4/5-2 SEC Rupp Arena (23,000) | Lexington, Ky. Game 21 | Jan. 31, 2024 | 8 p.m BROADCAST INFO ESPN | ESPN App Play-by-Play: Karl Ravech Analyst: Jay Bilas Sideline: Marty Smith Gators Sports Network from LEARFIELD Play-by-Play: Sean Kelley Analyst: Lee Humphrey Producer/Engineer: Steve Egan
HEAD COACHES Todd Golden 30-23 | 2nd season at UF 87-59 | 5th season overall John Calipari 402-117 | 15th season at Kentucky 846-257 | 32nd season overall MATCHUP BASICS All-Time Series: 41-110 All-Time Away: 11-55 Series under Golden: 0-3 Away under Golden: 0-1 Last Meeting: L, 85-87, 1/6/24 (Home)
FLORIDA POSSIBLE STARTERS # Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Min. Pts. Reb. Misc. 4 Tyrese Samuel F 6-10 239 Gr. 27.4 13.2 8.3 1.3 stl 3 Micah Handlogten C 7-1 235 So. 19.9 7.4 7.9 .674 fg% 0 Zyon Pullin G 6-4 206 Gr. 31.5 14.9 3.6 4.8 ast 1 Walter Clayton Jr. G 6-2 195 Jr. 30.4 15.9 3.8 2.2 3fg 5 Will Richard G 6-4 206 Jr. 28.8 11.4 3.8 2.0 3fg KENTUCKY POSSIBLE STARTERS # Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Min. Pts. Reb. Misc. 2 Aaron Bradshaw F 7-1 226 Fr. 19.9 6.4 4.6 .544 fg% 4 Tre Mitchell F 6-9 231 Gr. 34.0 13.4 7.7 2.5 ast 3 Adou Thiero G 6-8 222 So. 22.0 7.0 5.6 1.1 blk 12 Antonio Reeves G 6-6 195 5th 30.9 19.5 4.4 2.6 3fg 21 D.J. Wagner G 6-4 192 Fr. 28.4 12.0 1.9 3.7 as
NOVEMBER 6 Loyola Maryland SEC+ W 93-73 10 vs. RV Virginia (Charlotte) ACC Net. L 70-73 14 Florida A&M SEC+ W 89-68 17 Florida State SEC Net. W 89-68 22 vs. Pitt (Brooklyn) ESPN2 W 86-71 24 vs. #13/12 Baylor (Brooklyn) ESPN L 91-95 29 at Wake Forest ESPNU L 71-82 DECEMBER 5 Merrimack SEC+ W 77-57 9 vs. Richmond (Sunrise) SEC Net. W 87-76 14 vs. ECU (Lakeland) SEC Net. W 70-65 19 vs. Michigan (Charlotte) ESPN W/2OT 106-101 22 Grambling State SEC+ W 96-57 30 Quinnipiac ESPNU W 97-72 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 L 66-85 20 at Missouri ESPNU W 79-67 24 Mississippi State SEC Net. W 79-70 27 Georgia ESPN2 W/OT 102-98 31 at #10/8 Kentucky ESPN 8 p.m FEBRUARY 3 at Texas A&M ESPN2 4 p.m. 10 #16 Auburn SEC Net. 3:30 p.m. 13 LSU SEC Net. 8 p.m. 17 at Georgia SEC Net. 1 p.m. 21 at #24 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 #24 Alabama ESPN/2 9 p.m. 9 at Vanderbilt SSEC Net. 4:30 p.m. 13-17 SEC Tournament (Nashville
NUMBERS OF NOTE 1stZyon Pullin leads the SEC with a 6.2 assist/turnover ratio in the conference play and 4.5 overall. He has eight games with at least five assists and one or fewer turnovers. 9.3Micah Handlogten leads the SEC with 9.3 rebounds per game in league play. His 17 boards in Saturday’s win vs. UGA were the most by a Gator since Alex Tyus’ 17 vs. BYU in the 2011 NCAA Tournament. 9.2%Florida’s .746 free throw percentage in SEC play represents a 9.2 percent increase over its nonconference rate of .654. The Gators’ 18.0 free throws made per game in conference play trail only Georgia.
THE TIP-OFF• Florida enters Wednesday’s game with three straight wins and looks to continue its upward trajectory with three straight Quad 1 opportunities on deck. • The Gators are 5-65 all-time on the road against AP Top-10 opponents and are looking for their first such win since a 2003 victory at #7 Mississippi State. Three of those five victories have come at Kentucky. • Zyon Pullin leads the SEC in assist/turnover ratio both overall (4.5) and in conference play (6.8). His 4.8 assists per game rank second in the SEC, and Pullin has scored in double figures in every appearance this season. • Florida has two of the top three offensive rebounders in the SEC in Micah Handlogten (3.8) and Tyrese Samuel (3.4). Handlogten averages 3.5 second-chance points per game, getting nearly half of his points from the offensive glass (63 of 133). 2023-24 HIGHLIGHTS• Micah Handlogten posted 23 points and 17 rebounds in the win vs. Georgia, while Zyon Pullin scored seven of his 20 points in the overtime period. Handlogten is just the fifth SEC player over the last 10 seasons to post 23 and 17 in a conference game, joining Oscar Tshiebwe, Sindarius Thornwell, Ben Simmons & Jordan Mickey. • Will Richard led the Gators with 23 points and nine rebounds in the win vs. Mississippi State as Florida committed a season-low seven turnovers. Zyon Pullin and Walter Clayton Jr. each added 15 points. • Five Gators scored in double figures in the victory at Mizzou, led by Tyrese Samuel’s 17, while Micah Handlogten posted a 10-point, 13-rebound double-double. • 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. • 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. • 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 .643and held the Seminoles to .258 from the field during the first half.
ABOUT THE OPPONENT• Kentucky holds a 10-1 home record, including 3-0 in SEC play. • Antonio Reeves leads Kentucky with 19.5 points per game and has hit a team-leading 50 3-pointers at a .431 clip. • Also scoring double figures for UK are Rob Dillingham (13.9 ppg), Tre Mitchell (13.4), D.J. Wagner (12.0) and Reed Sheppard (11.5). • Mitchell leads the Wildcats with 7.7 rebounds per game and 24 blocled shots. • Sheppard has dished 77 assists and shoots from 3 at a .553 rate while recording 47 steals. OPPONENT’S LAST 5 GAMES Jan. 13 at Texas A&M L 92-97 Jan. 17 Mississippi State W 90-77 Jan. 20 Georgia W 105-96 Jan. 23 at S. Carolina L 62-79 Jan. 27 at Arkansas W 63-57 OPPONENT’S NEXT 5 GAMES Feb. 3 Tennessee Feb. 6 at Vanderbilt Feb. 10 Gonzaga Feb. 13 Ole Miss Feb. 17 at Aub ALL-TIME TOP-10 ROAD WINS (5-65) Dec. 17, 1966 at #4 Kentucky W 78-75 Feb. 3, 1968 at #7 Vanderbilt W 91-85 Jan. 20, 1988 at #4 Kentucky W 58-56 Feb. 1, 1998 at #7 Kentucky W 86-78 Jan. 7, 2003 at #7 Mississippi State W 74-66
I think our team is good enough that we pull off a “holy **** that was a season changer” win at some point this season. I hope it’s tomorrow.
"The Gators are 5-65 all-time on the road against AP Top-10 opponents and are looking for their first such win since a 2003 victory at #7 Mississippi State. Three of those five victories have come at Kentucky." So there is hope!
We should have beaten KY when we played them at home. Let is slip away. Our guys have the ability to win at Rupp, but it's going to be a tough task. Let's hope they can git 'er dun!!
Best of luck to NBN brethren. I am hoping for a fun, exciting, and close game with no injuries. I really like the way that Florida is playing.
Question for you... I noticed when I browse the Kentucky BBall forums, they are usually very dismissive of UF as a rival. While the series is lopsided in Kentucky's favor, I would think that UF is the one team that they would respect. Why do you think UK has such a low opinion of the UF basketball program, and who do you consider UK's true rival in the SEC if it isn't UF? Genuinely curious to hear your thoughts... you're a good UK fan and represent them well.
I can't speak for the DailyDouble, but UK considered UF its primary SEC foe and rival during the Donovan era. We've slipped way under their radar since. It's up to us to get back to that point because UK ain't ever going away.
