Florida 15-7/5-4 SEC vs. #12/11 Auburn 19-4/8-2 SEC Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center (10,151) | Billy Donovan Court Gainesville, Fla. | Game 23 | Feb. 3, 2024 | 3:30 p.m. BROADCAST INFO SEC Network | ESPN App Play-by-Play: Dave Neal Analyst: Patric Young Gators Sports Network from LEARFIELD Play-by-Play: Sean Kelley Analyst: Lee Humphrey Producer/Engineer: Steve Egan
HEAD COACHES Todd Golden 31-24 | 2nd season at UF 88-60 | 5th season overall Bruce Pearl 206-115 | 10th season at Auburn 668-380 | 29th season overall MATCHUP BASICS All-Time Series: 82-91 All-Time Home: 51-29 Series under Golden: 0-1 Home under Golden: 0-0 Last Meeting: L, 58-61, 12/28/22 (Away) BROADCAST INFO SEC Network | ESPN App Play-by-Play: Dave Neal Analyst: Patric Young Gators 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. 27.6 13.3 8.4 1.2 stl 3 Micah Handlogten C 7-1 235 So. 19.8 7.0 7.6 .670 fg% 0 Zyon Pullin G 6-4 206 Gr. 32.2 15.4 3.7 5.1 ast 1 Walter Clayton Jr. G 6-2 195 Jr. 30.5 15.9 3.6 2.4 3fg 5 Will Richard G 6-4 206 Jr. 29.0 11.6 4.0 2.0 3fg AUBURN POSSIBLE STARTERS # Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Min. Pts. Reb. Misc. 2 Jaylin Williams F 6-8 245 Gr. 24.4 13.3 5.2 2.0 ast 4 Johni Broome F 6-10 240 Jr. 24.1 16.0 8.7 2.4 blk 5 Chris Moore F 6-6 220 Sr. 14.5 2.4 1.6 0.9 ast 3 Tre Donaldson G 6-3 200 So. 19.4 7.4 2.7 3.5 ast 12 Denver Jones G 6-4 205 Jr. 20.7 7.7 1.9 1.2 3fg
NUMBERS OF NOTE 20Zyon Pullin has scored double figures in all 19 of his appearances and looks to become the fifth Gator since 1996-97 with a 20-game double-figure scoring streak, joining Anthony Roberson (29), Colin Castleton (24), Kenny Boynton (23) and Udonis Haslem (23). 17thFlorida has the 17th-ranked offensive efficiency in the nation, per KenPom. The Gators are working toward their first top-20 finish in that category since 2013-14, when UF ranked 19th. 1,000Will Richard stands at 988 career points, 12 away from the 1,000- point milestone. He scored 399 in one season at Belmont and has 589 as a Gator.
THE TIP-OFF• Florida looks to bounce back after seeing its four-game win streak halted in a one-point road loss at Texas A&M. Fresh off their bye, the Gators welcome 12th-ranked Auburn for a Quad 1 opportunity on their home floor, also marking the fifth-ranked opponent for UF over its first 10 SEC contests. • Zyon Pullin leads the SEC in assist/turnover ratio both overall (4.2) and in conference play (4.6), and his 5.1 assists per game rank second in the SEC. Pullin has scored 10+ points in every appearance this season, and his 19-game double-figure scoring streak is tied for 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 (3.3), and UF’s 40.0% offensive rebounding rate is second-highest in the nation. Samuel has nine double-doubles, including three 20/10 outings, most recently his 22-point, 13-rebound effort in the win at #10 Kentucky. 2023-24 HIGHLIGHTS• 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 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. • 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 .643 and held the Seminoles to .258 from the field during the first half
ABOUT THE OPPONENT• Auburn enters ranked #4 in KenPom, riding a three-game winning streak. The Tigers have the nation’s top-ranked two-point field goal defense, allowing just .425 shooting inside the arc. They also block 16.5 percent of opponents’ field goal attempts, second-best in the nation (Houston, 17.7%). • Johni Broome leads the Tigers with 16.0 points per game, 8.7 rebounds and 55 blocked shots. Broome is adept at getting to the free throw line, shooting 4.9 free throws per game. • Jaylin Williams adds 13.3 points per game, shooting .598 from the floor. • Sixth man Chad Baker-Mazara chips in 9.5 points, while leading 3-point shooter Aden Holloway (43/138, .312) has been recently coming off the bench, as well. • Tre Donaldson leads with 81 assists, and K.D. Johnson has 31 steals. OPPONENT’S LAST 5 GAMES Jan. 24 at Alabama L 75-79 Jan. 27 at Mississippi State L 58-64 Jan. 31 Vanderbilt W 81-54 Feb. 3 at Ole Miss W 91-77 Feb. 7 Alabama W 99-81 OPPONENT’S NEXT 5 GAMES Feb. 14 South Carolina Feb. 17 Kentucky Feb. 24 at Georgia Feb. 28 at Tennessee March 2 Mississippi State LAST 20 VS. AUBURN (15-5) Jan. 14, 2009 A W 68-65 March 13, 2009 SEC L 58-61 Feb. 18, 2010 H W 78-70 March 11, 2010 SEC W 78-69 Jan. 20, 2011 A W 45-40 Feb. 21, 2012 H W 63-47 Feb. 16, 2013 A W 83-52 Jan. 18, 2014 A W 68-61 Feb. 19, 2014 H W 71-66 Jan. 15, 2015 H W 75-55 Jan. 23, 2016 H W 95-63 Feb. 14, 2017 A W 114-95 Feb. 24, 2018 H W 72-66 Feb. 5, 2019 A L 62-76 March 16, 2019 SEC L 62-65 Jan. 18, 2020 H W 69-47 Feb. 23, 2021 A W 74-57 Jan. 8, 2022 A L 73-85 Feb. 19, 2022 H W 63-62 Dec. 28, 2022 A L 58-61
Thanks for all the info @GatorGrowl. Gators have to play exceptionally well to win, IMO, but it's doable.
A week's rest might be the difference. AU is either going to be full of themselves and worn out from partying after slamming Bama, or riding high with confidence. Golden over Pearl at home before a packed house would be a good day.
Certainly a winnable game, for basically the same reason that we were a winnable game for TAMU. Full week off, Auburn coming off an emotional win, home game.
This one feels like a bellwether game. aTm was a trend (and too tired/lack of depth) or we have another gear for an Auburn. As I posted a few weeks ago, this team appears as if it is content being this team.
A rare big time opportunity at home for Florida this year. Of the seven teams not named Florida that have a .500 or better conference record, we play nine games against them and six are on the road. We HAVE to take advantage today because this schedule just really screwed us this year.
Like UT game… the first few minutes will tell us how we will handle AU defensive pressure and physicality. Gotta be better than versus Vols. Can’t have our offense pushed out.