Mar 15 (Fri) 9:30 PM Florida vs Alabama #18 Alabama Nashville, TN Radio: Gators Sports Network from LEARFIELD Watch Listen Game Notes BROADCAST INFO SEC Network | ESPN App Play-by-Play: Tom Hart Analyst: Dane Bradshaw Sideline: Alyssa Lang Gators Sports Network from LEARFIELD Play-by-Play: Sean Kelley Analyst: Lee Humphrey Producer/Engineer: Steve Ega
HEAD COACHES Todd Golden 38-27 | 2nd season at UF 95-63 | 5th season overall Nate Oats 113-52 | 5th season at Alabama 209-95 | 9th season overall MATCHUP BASICS All-Time Series: 71-79 In SEC Tournament: 7-7 Series under Golden: 1-2 Last Meeting: W, 105-87, 3/5/24 (Away)
FLORIDA POSSIBLE STARTERS # Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Min. Pts. Reb. Misc. 4 Tyrese Samuel F 6-10 239 Gr. 27.1 13.9 7.8 1.7 ast 3 Micah Handlogten C 7-1 235 So. 19.8 5.7 7.2 .626 fg% 0 Zyon Pullin G 6-4 206 Gr. 33.5 15.5 3.9 5.1 ast 1 Walter Clayton Jr. G 6-2 195 Jr. 31.2 17.1 3.7 2.5 3fg 5 Will Richard G 6-4 206 Jr. 29.3 11.3 4.0 1.9 3fg OPPONENT POSSIBLE STARTERS # Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Min. Pts. Reb. Misc. 2 Grant Nelson F 6-11 230 Sr. 25.8 12.0 5.7 1.5 blk 23 Nick Pringle F 6-10 230 Sr. 17.8 6.8 4.8 .646 fg% 1 Mark Sears G 6-1 185 Sr. 32.8 21.1 4.0 2.4 3fg 12 Latrell Wrightsell Jr. G 6-3 190 Sr. 23.9 9.1 3.1 2.3 3fg 55 Aaron Estrada G 6-3 190 Gr. 29.9 13.4 5.3 4.5 ast
NUMBERS OF NOTE 200With 200 combined offensive rebounds, Micah Handlogten (103) and Tyrese Samuel (97) are UF’s top single-season offensive rebound- ing duo, surpassing the previous high of 198 in 2006-07 by Joakim Noah (102) and Al Horford (96). 4.23Zyon Pullin’s 4.23 assist-to-turn-over ratio leads the nation. UF’s first-team All-SEC point guard has back-to-back eight-assist games. 14Walter Clayton Jr.’s 548 points this season rank 14th in Florida history and have him 14 points from passing Anthony Roberson’s 561 in 2004-05 to move into UF’s top-10 single-season scoring totals.
THE TIP-OFF • Florida and Alabama meet for the third time in 24 days with the home team taking both regular season meetings. UF’s 105 points against Alabama in its Senior Night win marked Florida’s most ever in regulation against a top-25 opponent as four Gators scored 19+ points in the victory, led by Will Richard’s 23. • First-team All-SEC honoree Zyon Pullin leads the nation and is on pace to post the SEC’s best single-season assist-to-turnover ratio (4.23) of the 2000s. Pullin’s scoring average and assist/turnover ratio combination of 15.7 ppg and 4.38 A/TO has only been surpassed once nationally since the 1996-97 season (Monte Morris, Iowa St., 2016-17, 16.4, 5.17). • Leading scorer and second-team All-SEC guard Walter Clayton Jr. has the 14th-best scoring season in Florida history with 548 points while knocking down 81 3-pointers, two away from moving past Taurean Green (82 in 2006-07) and into Florida’s top-10 all-time single-season 3-point performances. • In the frontcourt, Florida has gotten 11 double-doubles from AP second-team All-SEC Tyrese Samuel, most by a Gator since Al Horford’s 16 in 2006-07, and a 17.9% offensive rebounding percentage from Micah Handlogten, which ranks fourth in the nation. SEC All-Freshman Alex Condon leads the league’s freshmen in rebounding )(6.3) and blocked shots (39). 2023-24 HIGHLIGHTS• Florida lit the scoreboard for 105 points in the win vs. 16th-ranked Alabama, the Gators’ most all-time in regulation vs. a ranked opponent. Will Richard led the attack with 23 points and Walter Clayton Jr. added 22, while Zyon Pullin and Tyrese Samuel scored 19 points each. • Tyrese Samuel’s career-high 28 points led the Gators in the win vs. Missouri. Samuel (10 rebounds) and Micah Handlogten (12 points/12 rebounds) both posted double-doubles, while Zyon Pullin added 21 points. • 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. • The Gators win at 10th-ranked Kentucky featured 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. • 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. • 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 OT forced the final session. • The Gators topped Pitt in the first game of the NIT Season Tip-Off behind 28 points from Walter Clayton Jr. , a 20-point, 10-rebound performance from Tyrese Samuel and a 24-to-8 assist-to-turnover showing as a team.
MatchupFLORIDA IN THE SEC TOURNAMENT • All-Time Record: 47-52 • Championships: 4 (2005, 2006, 2007, 2014) • Runner-Up: 6 (1934, 1989, 1994, 2004, 2011, 2013) • Florida notched its first SEC Tournament win since 2021 after falling in overtime in its first game in 2022 and 2023. • The Gators last advanced to the semifinals in 2019, knocking off top-seeded LSU in the quarterfinals on Andrew Nembhard’s buzzer- beater. That marked UF’s lone semifinal appearance since winning the tournament in 2014. • Florida and Alabama have split 14 all-time SEC Tournament meetings with Alabama winning the first five from 1934-92 and UF taking seven of the last nine between 1994-2015. • The last SEC Tournament meeting, a Florida victory in 2015, marked Billy Donovan’s 467th and final win as UF’s head coach as well as Anthony Grant’s final game as Alabama’s head coach. OPPONENT’S LAST 5 GAMES Feb. 24 at Kentucky L 95-117 Feb. 28 at Ole Miss W 103-88 March 2 Tennessee L 74-81 March 5 at Florida L 87-105 March 9 Arkansas W/OT 92-88 VS. ALABAMA, SEC TOURNAMENT (7-7) Feb. 27, 1934 Atlanta (C) L 25-41 Feb. 28, 1979 Birmingham L 64-81 March 12, 1989 Knoxville (C) L 60-72 March 8, 1991 Nashville L 65-71 March 13, 1992 Birmingham L 60-62 March 12, 1994 Memphis (S) W 68-52 March 6, 1997 Memphis L 66-80 March 9, 2001 Nashville W 69-61 March 12, 2004 Atlanta W/OT 75-73 March 12, 2005 Atlanta (S) W 68-62 March 13, 2008 Atlanta L 69-80 March 9, 2012 New Orleans W 66-63 March 16, 2013 Nashville (S) W 61-51 March 12, 2015 Nashville W 69-61 S=Semifinals; C=Championship LAST 20 VS. ALABAMA (14-6) March 1, 2011 H W 78-51 Feb. 14, 2012 A W 61-52 March 9, 2012 SEC W 66-63 March 2, 2013 H W 64-52 March 16, 2013 SEC W 61-51 Jan. 23, 2014 A W 68-62 Feb. 8, 2014 H W 78-69 Jan. 27, 2015 A W 52-50 March 12, 2015 SEC W 69-61 Feb. 13, 2016 H L 55-61 Jan. 10, 2017 A W 80-67 Feb. 3, 2018 H L 50-68 Feb. 27, 2018 A W 73-52 Feb. 16, 2019 A W 71-53 Jan. 4, 2020 H W/2OT 104-98 Jan. 5, 2021 A L 71-86 Jan. 5, 2022 H L 70-83 Feb. 8, 2023 A L 69-97 Feb. 21, 2024 A L/OT 93-98 March 5, 2024 H W 105-87
I wonder if Coach Oats will deploy the dreaded 1-3-1 defense on us. Thanks once again for the informative GAME THREAD, @GatorGrowl ! GO Gators!
I like our chances today. We beat them once and should have beat them twice, we have a game under our belt in the arena, which I think will give us a chance to jump on them early as they hae to adjust, Richard seems confortable shooting in this gym, and ZP should be well rested.
Maybe we lose, but based on our two games already I don’t know how you could make Alabama a 4.5 point favorite.
We were playing well the last two times we played them. Not so great right now. Will the refs allow Alabama to bully our guards again?