#24 Florida vs. Missouri 2/28/24 6:30 p.m SECN ESPN App

(I am sorry this is late, I had some health issues this week)

Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center (10,151) | Billy Donovan Court
Gainesville, Fla. | Game 28 | Feb. 28, 2024 | 6:30 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
35-25 | 2nd season at UF
92-61 | 5th season overall

Dennis Gates
33-29 | 2nd season at Missouri
83-69 | 5th season overall

MATCHUP BASICS
All-Time Series: 10-4
All-Time Home: 5-1
Series under Golden: 2-0
Home under Golden: 1-0
Last Meeting: W, 79-67, 1/20/24 (Away)

 

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 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. W 77-64
28 Missouri SEC Net. 6:30 p.m.

MARCH
2 at #18 South Carolina ESPN/SEC 12 p.m.
5 #14 Alabama ESPN/2 9 p.m.
9 at Vanderbilt SEC Net. 4:30 p.m.
13-17 SEC Tournament (Nashville)

 

FLORIDA POSSIBLE STARTERS
# Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Min. Pts. Reb. Misc.
4 Tyrese Samuel F 6-10 239 Gr. 27.0 13.0 7.8 1.8 ast
3 Micah Handlogten C 7-1 235 So. 20.2 6.2 7.4 .648 fg%
0 Zyon Pullin G 6-4 206 Gr. 33.2 15.0 3.9 5.0 ast
1 Walter Clayton Jr. G 6-2 195 Jr. 31.1 16.9 3.8 2.4 3fg
5 Will Richard G 6-4 206 Jr. 29.1 11.7 3.8 2.0 3fg

OPPONENT POSSIBLE STARTERS
# Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Min. Pts. Reb. Misc.
0 Jordan Butler F 7-0 230 Fr. 11.1 2.1 1.9 0.9 blk
35 Noah Carter F 6-6 235 Gr. 27.0 11.7 5.2 1.2 3fg
2 Tamar Bates G 6-5 195 Jr. 26.8 13.6 2.8 1.1 3fg
10 Nick Honor G 5-10 200 Gr. 31.4 10.9 1.3 2.4 3fg
55 Sean East II

 

NUMBERS OF NOTE
88​

Florida looks to square its all-time SEC record at .500 for the first time in 88 years, currently sitting at 688-689. The Gators last owned an all-time .500 mark in SEC play at 13-13, falling below .500 on Feb. 7, 1936, and dropping as many as 132 games under .500 on Jan. 7, 1984.

1st​

Florida has a chance to post the first regular season sweep in series history. UF and Mizzou split two meetings in 2012-13, the only other prior regular season series.

.923​

Florida’s .923 home winning percentage to date this season
(12-1 record) stands as the team’s best since its 17-0 mark in 2013-14.

 

THE TIP-OFF​

• Florida looks to continue its strong home-court performances, where the Gators have won six straight and 12 of 13 this season, while UF’s win at Missouri on Jan. 20 sparked the Gators’ current 8-2 run over its last 10 games.

• UF entered the AP Top 25 on Feb. 19 for the first time since Dec. 6, 2021, also marking the latest in a season UF has held a ranking since entering the 2018 NCAA Tournament at #23.

• Zyon Pullin leads the SEC and ranks third in the nation in assist/turnover ratio (4.10), and his 4.95 assists per game rank second in the SEC. Pullin scored 10+ points in his first 23 games as a Gator, tied for the third-longest double-figure scoring streak by a Gator since 1996-97.

• Florida has two of the top three offensive rebounders in the SEC in Micah Handlogten (3.7) and Tyrese Samuel (3.1). UF’s 39.4% offensive rebounding rate is the third-highest in the nation, while Handlogten’s 18.7% offensive rebounding rate ranks second nationally.

2023-24 HIGHLIGHTS​

• Walter Clayton Jr. posted a four-game run of 20-point outings from Feb. 10-21, matching Colin Castleton, Tre Mann and Nick Calathes for the longest such streak by a Gator since Dwayne Schintzius’ five straight in 1989.

• 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 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.

• 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
• Missouri, in its second season under Dennis Gates, picked up a pair of nonconference road wins at Pitt and Minnesota. The Tigers have had several close calls in SEC play with an overtime loss vs. South Carolina and a three-point loss at Ole Miss.

• Sean East II leads Mizzou with 17.0 points per game and 104 assists.
• Tamar Bates scores 13.6 per game, while Noah Carter averages 11.7 and Nick Honor rounds out the double-figure scorers at 10.8 per game. Honor is the Tigers’ top 3-point threat with 64 made treys.

• Aidan Shaw has a team-best 34 blocked shots, while Caleb Grill grabs a team-leading 5.8 rebounds per game. Anthony Robinson II has a Missouri-best 32 steals.

OPPONENT’S LAST 5 GAMES
Feb. 7 Texas A&M L 60-79
Feb. 10 Mississippi State L 51-75
Feb. 17 at Ole Miss L 76-79
Feb. 20 Tennessee L 67-72
Feb. 24 at Arkansas L 73-88

OPPONENT’S UPCOMING GAMES
March 2 Ole Miss
March 5 Auburn
March 9 at LSU
March 13-17 SEC Tournament

ALL-TIME SERIES (10-4)
Jan. 19, 2013 H W 83-52
Feb. 19, 2013 A L 60-63
Feb. 4, 2014 H W 68-58
March 14, 2014 SEC W 72-49
Feb. 24, 2015 A L 52-64
March 5, 2016 A W 82-72
Feb. 2, 2017 H W 93-54
Jan. 6, 2018 A W 77-75
Feb. 23, 2019 H W 64-60
Jan. 11, 2020 A L 75-91
March 3, 2021 H L 70-72
Feb. 2, 2022 A W 66-65
Jan. 14, 2023 H W 73-64
Jan. 20, 2024 A W 79-67