#24/RV Florida 18-8/8-5 SEC vs. Vanderbilt 7-19/2-11 SEC Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center (10,151) | Billy Donovan Court Gainesville, Fla. | Game 27 | Feb. 24, 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 Ega
HEAD COACHES Todd Golden 34-25 | 2nd season at UF 91-61 | 5th season overall Jerry Stackhouse 68-88 | 5th season at Vandy/overall MATCHUP BASICS All-Time Series: 73-73 All-Time Home: 45-21 Series under Golden: 0-2 Home under Golden: 0-1 Last Meeting: L, 88-72, 2/25/23 (Away)
FLORIDA POSSIBLE STARTERS # Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Min. Pts. Reb. Misc. 4 Tyrese Samuel F 6-10 239 Gr. 27.2 12.9 7.9 1.2 stl 3 Micah Handlogten C 7-1 235 So. 20.4 6.5 7.6 .654 fg% 0 Zyon Pullin G 6-4 206 Gr. 33.2 15.6 4.0 4.9 ast 1 Walter Clayton Jr. G 6-2 195 Jr. 31.1 16.8 3.8 2.7 3fg 5 Will Richard G 6-4 206 Jr. 29.0 11.3 3.8 1.9 3fg VANDERBILT POSSIBLE STARTERS # Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Min. Pts. Reb. Misc. 2 Ven-Allen Lubin F 6-8 230 So. 26.6 11.0 5.8 1.0 blk 0 Tyrin Lawrence G 6-4 200 Sr. 30.7 13.4 5.0 1.5 stl 4 Isaiah West G 6-2 190 Fr. 13.2 3.2 1.1 0.8 ast 5 Ezra Manjon G 6-0 170 5th 31.0 14.0 3.0 3.7 ast 12 Evan Taylor G 6-6 205 Gr. 23.5 8.7 3.8 1.7
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 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 Quinnipia L 91-95 29 at Wake Forest ESPNU L 71-82 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 W/OT 94-91 FEBRUARY 3 at Texas A&M ESPN2 L 66-67 10 #12/11 Auburn SEC Net. W 81-65 13 LSU SEC Net. W 82-80 17 at Georgia SEC Net. W 88-82 21 at #13 Alabama ESPN2 L/OT 93-98 24 Vanderbilt SEC Net. 1 p.m. 28 Missouri SEC Net. 6:30 p.m MARCH 2 at #20 South Carolina ESPN 12 p.m. 5 #13 Alabama ESPN/2 9 p.m. 9 at Vanderbilt SEC Net. 4:30 p.m. 13-17 SEC Tournament (Nashville
NUMBERS OF NOTE 4.04Zyon Pullin’s 4.04 assist-to-turnover ratio ranks #2 in the nation, as he and College of Charleston’s CJ Fulton (4.50) are the only two players in the nation above 4.00. 20UF’s 27 individual 20-point performances are the team’s most in 20 years (28, 2003-04), and Walter Clayton Jr.’s 10 such games mark the most by a Gator since Kenny Boynton’s 13 in 2011-12. 19.2%Micah Handlogten’s 19.2 offensive rebounding percentage ranks #2 in the nation, and his 3.88 offensive boards per game rate 10th nation- ally after grabbing nine at Alabama on Wednesday
THE TIP-OFF• Florida returns home to a sold-out Exactech Arena to host Vanderbilt as the Gators look to bounce back from a hard-fought overtime loss at #13 Alabama. All five of Florida’s home SEC Saturdays this season have sold out in advance. • UF has won seven of its last nine games and entered the AP Top 25 this week for the first time since Dec. 6, 2021. This marks the latest in a season UF has held a ranking since entering the 2018 NCAA Tournament at #23. • The Gators’ recent success has been powered by taking care of the ball as UF has committed single-digit turnovers in seven of its last nine games, while Walter Clayton Jr. has four straight 20-point performances. • Zyon Pullin leads the SEC and ranks second in the nation in assist/turnover ratio (4.04), and his 4.9 assists per game rank second in the SEC. Pullin has scored 10+ points in every appearance this season, and his 23-game double-figure scoring streak is tied for the third-longest by a Gator since 1996-97. • Florida has two of the top three offensive rebounders in the SEC in Micah Handlogten (3.9) and Tyrese Samuel (3.1). UF’s 39.8% offensive rebounding rate is the third-highest in the nation, while Handlogten’s 19.2% offensive Their rebounding rate ranks second nationally and his 3.88 offensive rebounds per game rank 10th. 2023-24 HIGHLIGHTS• 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 G ators, 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 home win vs. Georgia, while Zyon Pullin scored seven of his 20 points in the overtime period. The Gators completed the sweep in Athens for a 10th straight win vs. Georgia behind 21 points from Walter Clayton Jr. and 17 by Thomas Haugh. • The Gators outlasted LSU at home, 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. • 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. • 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• Vanderbilt owns wins against Texas A&M and Missouri during SEC play, and the Commodores’ nonconference highlight was a victory vs. UNC Greensboro. • Ezra Manjon lead Vandy with 14.0 points per game, with Tyrin Lawrence (13.4 ppg) and Ven-Allen Lubin (11.0 ppg) also adding double figures. • The same trio leads Vanderbilt in other categories with Manjon dish- ing 89 assists, Lawrence snagging 33 steals and Lubin blocking 20 shots. • Colin Smith leads the team in rebounding at 6.6 per game, while Evan Taylor has hit a team-best 43 3-pointers. OPPONENT’S LAST 5 GAMES Feb. 6 Kentucky L 77-109 Feb. 10 at South Carolina L 60-75 Feb. 13 Texas A&M W 74-73 Feb. 17 at Tennessee L 53-88 Feb. 21 Georgia L 64-76 OPPONENT’S NEXT 5 GAMES Feb. 27 at Arkansas March 2 LSU March 6 at Kentucky March 9 Florida March 13-17 SEC Tournament LAST 20 VS. VANDERBILT (11-9 Feb. 18, 2015 H W 50-47 Jan. 26, 2016 A L 59-60 Feb. 23, 2016 H L 74-87 Jan. 21, 2017 H L 66-68 March 4, 2017 A L 71-73 March 10, 2017 SEC L/OT 62-72 Dec. 30, 2017 H W 81-74 Feb. 17, 2018 A L 68-71 Feb. 13, 2019 H W 66-57 Feb. 27, 2019 A W 71-55 Feb. 1, 2020 A W 61-55 Feb. 15, 2020 H W 84-66 Dec. 30, 2020 A W 91-72 Jan. 27, 2021 H W 78-71 March 11, 2021 SEC W 69-63 Jan. 22, 2022 H W 61-42 March 1, 2022 A W 82-78 Feb. 11, 2023 H L 80-88 Feb. 25, 2023 A L 72-88
Losing at Vandy or vs. Mizzou would be brutal, but this our last chance for a Q4 loss. Let’s go out and dominate! Hope the crowd brings the energy.
Important game and glad it is at home. Yeah I know it's Vandy. And that's the problem. Can't have a hangover game. I have faith in our players and coaching staff to come through - just hope we play up to our ability today. That's all I ask! Thanks as always for an informative game thread, @GatorGrowl !
Have a commitment from 11 am until ?, so recording this game via my YouTubeTV Cloud LIbrary. Still have to watch last night's UF/LSU Gymnastics match and need to watch both before the baseball game at 6 pm. This is a busy, busy time of year for Gator sports. Love it.
Yeah, last night was crazy. Two softball games, the baseball game, and gymnastics...all at the same time! Not complaining mind you....good problem to have.....which one(s) to watch!
I like the 2 blocks by Micah but not the 6 offensive boards in 4 minutes. Bad carryover from last game, need to tighten up!
19-11 with 11:55 left in the first half at the under-12 TV timeout. Florida ball when they come back.
