OGT-Florida @ Georgia 1) 2/17/2024 1:00 SECN

Florida 17-7/7-4 SEC vs. Georgia 14-10/4-7 SEC
Stegeman Coliseum (10,523) | Athens, Ga.
Game 25 | Feb. 17, 2024 | 1 p.m.

BROADCAST INFO
SEC Network | ESPN App
Play-by-Play: Mike Morgan
Analyst: Mark Wise

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

 

HEAD COACHES
Todd Golden
33-24 | 2nd season at UF
90-60 | 5th season overall

Mike White
30-26 | 2nd season at Georgia
273-154 | 13th season overall

MATCHUP BASICS
All-Time Series: 123-103
All-Time Away: 44-62
Series under Golden: 3-0
Away under Golden: 1-0
Last Meeting: W/OT, 102-98, 1/27/24 (Home)

 

FLORIDA POSSIBLE STARTERS
# Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Min. Pts. Reb. Misc.
4 Tyrese Samuel F 6-10 239 Gr. 27.5 13.1 8.0 1.2 stl
3 Micah Handlogten C 7-1 235 So. 20.2 6.7 7.6 .650 fg%
0 Zyon Pullin G 6-4 206 Gr. 32.6 15.5 3.8 4.9 ast
1 Walter Clayton Jr. G 6-2 195 Jr. 30.6 16.3 3.6 2.4 3fg
5 Will Richard G 6-4 206 Jr. 28.5 11.1 3.9 1.9 3fg

GEORGIA POSSIBLE STARTERS
# Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Min. Pts. Reb. Misc.
54 Russel Tchewa C 7-0 275 Gr. 24.0 7.3 6.7 1.0 ast
1 Jabri Abdur-Rahim G 6-8 215 Sr. 26.9 12.8 3.7 2.3 3fg
3 Noah Thomasson G 6-4 210 Gr. 27.5 12.0 2.9 1.9 3fg
4 Silas Demary Jr. G 6-5 190 Fr. 26.7 9.9 3.9 1.5 stl
11 Justin Hill G 6-0 185 Sr. 24.2 9.0 1.9 3.7 ast

 

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 97-7

MARCH
2 at #11 South Carolina SEC Net. 1 p.m.
5 #15 Alabama ESPN/2 9 p.m.
9 at Vanderbilt SEC Net. 4:30 p.m.
13-17 SEC Tournament (Nashville)

 

NUMBERS OF NOTE
9​

Florida looks to extend its nine-game winning streak vs. Georgia,
tied for its second-longest winning streak in series history (11, 2004-09; nine, 1964-68). UF’s longest winning streak vs. an SEC foe was a 14-game run against Tennessee (1991-98).

1,000​

Will Richard stands at 999 career points, one away from the 1,000-point career milestone. He scored 399 in one season at Belmont and has 600 as a Gator.

4​

In UF’s first 20 games of the season, the team shooting a higher field goal percentage won the game. By contrast, the last four games have all been won by the team that shot a lower field goal percentage

 

THE TIP-OFF​

• Florida outlasted Georgia in the first meeting this season, Earning a 102-98 overtime win, part of UF’s current stretch of six wins in its last seven outings. Micah Handlogten led the Gators with 23 points and 17 rebounds in the Gainesville end of the series.

• The Gators’ recent success has been powered by taking care of the ball as UF has committed single-digit turnovers in five of its last seven games, including a season-low seven in the wins vs. Mississippi State and Auburn.

• Zyon Pullin leads the SEC in assist/turnover ratio both overall (3.9) and in conference play (4.0), and his 4.9 assists per game rank second in the SEC. Pullin has scored 10+ points in every appearance this season, and his 21-game double-figure scoring streak is the fifth-longest by a Gator since 1996-97.

• Florida has two of the top three offensive rebounders in the SEC in Micah Handlogten (3.8) and Tyrese Samuel (3.2), and UF’s 40.2% offensive rebounding rate is second-highest in the nation.

2023-24 HIGHLIGHTS​

• The Gators outlasted LSU, led by Walter Clayton Jr.’s 21 points, along with 15 points from Tyrese Samuel and 14
by Zyon Pullin. Florida overcame LSU’s 11-for-21 3-point game by scoring 20 points off 19 offensive rebounds
while committing just eight turnovers.

• Florida’s win vs. #12 Auburn marked the Gators’ 15th in a row at home vs. the Tigers. Riley Kugel’s 22 points led the Gators, along with 20 points from Walter Clayton Jr. and 19 by Zyon Pullin, while the Gators matched a.season low with just seven turnovers.

• The Gators notched a big resume win in their victory at 10th-ranked Kentucky, led by a trio of 20-point scorers in Walter Clayton Jr. (23), Tyrese Samuel (22) and Zyon Pullin (21). Clayton’s 3-pointer with 3.0 seconds left in regulation forced overtime and another with 1:42 left in overtime put the Gators ahead for good.

• 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 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.

• 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

 

ABOUT THE OPPONENT
• Georgia posted a 10-game winning streak earlier this season and enters Saturday’s game off its midweek bye. The Bulldogs posted wins vs. Florida State and Wake Forest in nonconference action and have beaten South Carolina, LSU, Arkansas and Missouri in SEC play. Overall, Georgia holds an 11-3 record on its home floor.

• Jabri Abdur-Rahim leads Georgia with 12.8 points per game and 55 3-point field goals at a .377 percentage.

• Noah Thomasson adds 12.0 points per game, while RJ Melendez chips
in 10.3, including a career-high 35 in the first meeting with Florida this season.

• Russel Tchewa leads Georgia in rebounding (6.7) and blocked shots (16), while Justin Hill leads in assists (88) and Silas Demary Jr. in steals (35).

OPPONENT’S LAST 5 GAMES
Jan. 27 at Florida L/OT 98-102
Jan. 31 Alabama L 76-85
Feb. 3 South Carolina L 62-72
Feb. 7 at Mississippi State L 62-75
Feb. 10 at Arkansas L 75-78

OPPONENT’S NEXT 5 GAMES
Feb. 21 at Vanderbilt
Feb. 24 Auburn
Feb. 27 at LSU
March 2 Texas A&M
March 5 Ole Miss

LAST 20 VS. GEORGIA (16-4)
Jan. 23, 2013 A W 64-47
Jan. 14, 2014 H W 72-50
Jan. 17, 2015 A L 61-73
Jan. 2, 2016 H W 77-63
Feb. 16, 2016 A W 57-53
Jan. 14, 2017 H W/OT 80-76
Feb. 7, 2017 A W 72-60
Jan. 30, 2018 A L 60-72
Feb. 14, 2018 H L/OT 69-72
Jan. 19, 2019 A W 62-52
March 2, 2019 H L 61-55
Feb. 5, 2020 H W 81-75
March 4, 2020 A W 68-54
Jan. 23, 2021 A W 92-84
Feb. 20, 2021 H W 70-63
Feb. 9, 2022 H W 72-63
Feb. 26, 2022 A W 84-72
Jan. 7, 2023 H W 82-75
Feb. 28, 2023 A W 77-67
Jan. 27, 2024 H W/OT 102-98