OGT-Florida 21-10/11-7 SEC vs. Georgia (9:30 PM --SECN)

Florida 21-10/11-7 SEC vs. Georgia 16-15/6-12 SEC -OR- Missouri 8-23/0-18 SEC
Bridgestone Arena (19,395) | Nashville, Tenn. | SEC Tournament
Game 32 | March 14, 2024 | 25 minutes after Game 5

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 Egan

 

HEAD COACHES
Todd Golden
37-27 | 2nd season at UF
94-63 | 5th season overall

Mike White
32-31 | 2nd season at Georgia
275-159| 13th season overall

Dennis Gates
33-33 | 2nd season at Missouri
83-73 | 5th season overall

MATCHUP BASICS
All-Time vs. UGA: 124-103
vs. UGA under Golden: 4-0
vs. UGA in SEC Tournament: 2-1
All-Time vs. Mizzou: 10-4
vs. Mizzou under Golden: 3-0
vs. Mizzou in SEC Tournament: 1-0

 

FLORIDA POSSIBLE STARTERS
# Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Min. Pts. Reb. Misc.
4 Tyrese Samuel F 6-10 239 Gr. 27.1 13.8 7.5 1.2 stl
3 Micah Handlogten C 7-1 235 So. 20.2 5.9 7.3 .631 fg%
0 Zyon Pullin G 6-4 206 Gr. 33.7 15.7 3.6 5.0 ast
1 Walter Clayton Jr. G 6-2 195 Jr. 31.1 17.0 3.6 2.5 3fg
5 Will Richard G 6-4 206 Jr. 29.0 11.2 3.9 1.9 3fg

FLORIDA RESERVES
# Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Min. Pts. Reb. Misc.
2 Riley Kugel G 6-5 207 So. 23.6 9.3 3.4 1.6 ast
21 Alex Condon F/C 6-11 230 Fr. 19.8 7.5 6.5 1.2 blk
10 Thomas Haugh F 6-9 210 Fr. 13.7 3.8 3.6 0.6 blk
11 Denzel Aberdeen G 6-5 190 So. 8.9 2.6 0.9 0.7 ast
30 Kajus Kublickas G 6-2 171 Fr. 4.3 0.9 0.4 0.5 ast

 

NUMBERS OF NOTE
2​

Florida’s backcourt duo of Zyon Pullin and Walter Clayton Jr. give
the Gators their first season with multiple All-SEC guards since
2012-13, when Kenny Boynton, Mike Rosario and Scottie Wilbekin
helped the Gators to an SEC title.

526​

Walter Clayton Jr.’s 526 points put him five shy of the single-season record by a transfer in Florida history, trailing only Dorian Finney-Smith (530 in 2015-16) and Jalen Hudson (528 in 2017-18). Clayton’s performance also ranks in the top 25 single-season scoring outputs overall in UF history.

 

THE TIP-OFF​

• Florida enters the postseason with its highest-scoring team in program history, led by the dynamic backcourt of Zyon Pullin and Walter Clayton Jr., who lead a starting five all brought from the portal by Todd Golden and
have the Gators poised for an NCAA Tournament bid in Golden’s second season at the helm.

• First-team All-SEC honoree Zyon Pullin is on pace to post the SEC’s best single-season assist-to-turnover ratio (4.38) 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 a top-25 scoring season in Florida history while knocking down at least three 3-pointers in 12 of UF’s 18 SEC games.

• In the frontcourt, Florida has gotten 10 double-doubles from AP second-team All-SEC Tyrese Samuel and a 17.7% offensive rebounding percentage from Micah Handlogten. SEC All-Freshman Alex Condon has recorded
6.5 rebounds per game and 38 blocked shots, both of which lead all SEC freshmen.

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.

• Walter Clayton Jr.’s four-game streak of 20-point outings from Feb. 10-21 matched UF’s longest since 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.

• 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.

• 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. 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 IN THE SEC TOURNAMENT​

• All-Time Record: 46-52

• Championships: 4 (2005, 2006, 2007, 2014)

• Runner-Up: 6 (1934, 1989, 1994, 2004, 2011, 2013)

• Florida looks for its first SEC Tournament win since 2021, falling in
overtime in each of its last two appearances.

• 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.

• Despite Georgia being UF’s most common opponent in program
history, the teams have only squared off in the SEC Tournament three
times. The teams were scheduled to meet in 2020 before the emerg-
ing coronavirus pandemic wiped out the tournament.

• UF and Mizzou played in the quarterfinals of Florida’s last SEC Tourna-
ment championship run in 2014, a victory that was part of the Gators’
30-game winning streak.

 

Matchup
Category Florida Georgia Missouri
Scoring Offense 84.9 75.0 72.6
Scoring Defense 77.6 74.7 76.6
Scoring Margin +7.3 +0.2 -4.0
Field Goal Pct. .457 .430 .441
Field Goal Pct. Def. .433 .436 .446
3-Pt. FG Pct. .339 .331 .323
3-Pt. FG Pct. Def. .321 .336 .341
3-Pt. FG Made 7.8 7.9 7.4
3-Pt. FG Allowed 6.8 7.9 7.6
Free Throw Pct. .710 .732 .791
Free Throws Made 17.0 16.6 14.6
Rebounds 43.0 35.7 30.6
Opp. Rebounds 35.7 37.2 37.3
Rebounding Margin +7.2 -1.5 -6.6
Assists 15.4 11.5 12.1
Turnovers 12.0 11.5 11.5
Opp. Turnovers 10.9 11.5 12.9
Turnover Margin -1.1 0.0 +1.4
Assist/TO Ratio 1.3 1.0 1.1
Steals 6.6 6.3 7.7
Blocked Shots 5.4 3.1 4.8

FLORIDA IN THE SEC TOURNAMENT
• All-Time Record: 46-52

• Championships: 4 (2005, 2006, 2007, 2014)

• Runner-Up: 6 (1934, 1989, 1994, 2004, 2011, 2013)

• Florida looks for its first SEC Tournament win since 2021, falling in
overtime in each of its last two appearances.

• 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.

• Despite Georgia being UF’s most common opponent in program
history, the teams have only squared off in the SEC Tournament three
times. The teams were scheduled to meet in 2020 before the emerg-
ing coronavirus pandemic wiped out the tournament.

• UF and Mizzou played in the quarterfinals of Florida’s last SEC Tourna-
ment championship run in 2014, a victory that was part of the Gators’
30-game winning streak.

GEORGIA’S LAST 5 GAMES
Feb. 24 Auburn L 76-97
Feb. 27 at LSU L 66-67
March 2 Texas A&M L 56-70
March 5 Ole Miss W 69-66
March 9 at Auburn L 78-92

VS. UGA IN SEC TOURNAMENT (2-1)
March 12, 1988 Baton Rouge (semis) L 70-72
March 10, 1989 Knoxville W 62-61
March 11, 2007 Atlanta W 74-57
March 12, 2020 Nashville | Canceled due to COVID

VS. UGA UNDER GOLDEN (4-0)
Jan. 7, 2023 H W 82-75
Feb. 28, 2023 A W 77-67
Jan. 27, 2024 H W/OT 102-98
Feb. 17, 2024 A W 88-82

MISSOURI’S LAST 5 GAMES
Feb. 24 at Arkansas L 73-88
Feb. 28 at Florida L 74-83
March 2 Ole Miss L 78-84
March 5 Auburn L 74-101
March 9 at LSU L 80-84

VS. MIZZOU IN SEC TOURNAMENT (1-0)
March 14, 2014 Atlanta W 72-49

VS. MIZZOU UNDER GOLDEN (3-0)
Jan. 14, 2023 H W 73-64
Jan. 20, 2024 A W 79-67
Feb. 28, 2024 H W 83-74