OGT-Florida at #13 Alabama 2/21/2024 7:00 ESPN2

Feb 21 (Wed) 7 PM Gator Sports Network from LEARFIELD
SEC
Florida at #13 Alabama
Tuscaloosa, AL

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BROADCAST INFO
ESPN2 | ESPN App
Play-by-Play: Tom Hart
Analyst: Jimmy Dykes

Gators Sports Network from LEARFIELD
Play-by-Play: Sean Kelley
Analyst: Lee Humphrey
Producer/Engineer: Steve Egan

 

HEAD COACHES
Todd Golden
34-24 | 2nd season at UF
91-60 | 5th season overall

Nate Oats
110-49 | 5th season at Alabama
206-92 | 9th season overall

MATCHUP BASICS
All-Time Series: 70-78
All-Time Away: 22-49
Series under Golden: 0-1
Away under Golden: 0-1
Last Meeting: L, 97-69, 2/8/24 (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. 20.0 6.5 7.3 .654 fg%
0 Zyon Pullin G 6-4 206 Gr. 32.8 15.5 4.0 4.9 ast
1 Walter Clayton Jr. G 6-2 195 Jr. 30.7 16.4 3.6 2.3 3fg
5 Will Richard G 6-4 206 Jr. 28.6 11.1 3.9 1.8 3fg

ALABAMA POSSIBLE STARTERS
# Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Min. Pts. Reb. Misc.
2 Grant Nelson F 6-11 230 Sr. 25.4 11.9 5.5 1.5 blk
1 Mark Sears G 6-1 185 Sr. 31.2 20.6 4.3 2.4 3fg
3 Rylan Griffen G 6-6 190 So. 25.6 11.2 3.6 2.0 3fg
12 Latrell Wrightsell Jr. G 6-3 190 Sr. 23.9 9.0 3.2 2.3 3fg
55 Aaron Estrada G 6-3 190 Gr. 28.0 12.8 4.9 4.1 as

 

NUMBERS OF NOTE
6​

Zyon Pullin is one of six active players with 1,500 points, 500
rebounds and 500 assists, joining RayJ Dennis (Baylor), Xavier Johnson (Indiana), Dayvion McKnight (Xavier), Tristen Newton (UConn)
and Baylor Scheierman (Creighton).

.500​

Florida has an all-time 687-688 SEC record. The Gators have not
owned an all-time .500 mark in SEC play since falling to 13-14 on Feb.
7, 1936, dropping as many as 132 games under .500 on Jan. 7, 1984.

5​

In UF’s first 20 games of the season, the team shooting a higher field goal percentage won the game. By contrast, the last five games have
all been won by the team that shot a lower field goal percentage.

 

THE TIP-OFF​

• Florida and Alabama square off for the first of two meetings in a 14-day span, bringing together two of the hottest teams in the SEC. Florida has won seven of eight, its best in-season eight-game stretch since a nine-game win streak in Jan.-Feb. 2017. UF entered the nation’s top-25 rankings for the first time since Dec. 6, 2021.

• The Gators’ recent success has been powered by taking care of the ball as UF has committed single-digit turnovers in six of its last eight games, including a season-low seven in the wins vs. Mississippi State and Auburn.

• Zyon Pullin leads the SEC in assist/turnover ratio overall (4.1) and in conference play (4.4), and his 4.9 assists per game rank second in the SEC. Pullin has scored 10+ points in every appearance this season, and his 22-game double-figure scoring streak is the fifth-longest by a Gator since 1996-97.

• Florida has two of the top three offensive rebounders in the SEC in Micah Handlogten (3.7) and Tyrese Samuel (3.2). UF’s 40.1% offensive rebounding rate is the second-highest in the nation, while Handlogten’s 18.6% offensive rebounding rate ranks third nationally.

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 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 overtime. 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 commit 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.

• 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​

• Alabama is tied for the national lead with 90.7 points per game, and
its 11.8 3-point field goals made per game rank second in the nation.

• Mark Sears leads the SEC with 20.6 points per game and has 60
3-pointers at a .451 clip., shooting .516 from the field.

• Aaron Estrada (12.8 ppg), Grant Nelson (11.9) and Rylan Griffen (11.2)
also average double figures for the Tide.

• In addition to Sears, Griffen (.407, 50 3FG) and Latrell Wrightsell Jr.
(.445, 57 3FG) are also elite 3-point threats.

• Estrada leads Alabama with 103 assists and 37 steals, while Nelson’s
37 blocked shots lead the way.

OPPONENT’S LAST 5 GAMES
Jan. 31 at Georgia W 85-76
Feb. 3 Mississippi State W 99-67
Feb. 7 at Auburn L 81-99
Feb. 10 at LSU W 109-92
Feb. 17 Texas A&M W 100-75

OPPONENT’S NEXT 5 GAMES
Feb. 24 at Kentucky
Feb. 28 at Ole Miss
March 2 Tennessee
March 5 at Florida
March 9 Arkansas

LAST 20 VS. ALABAMA (15-5)
Feb. 18, 2009 H W 83-74
Feb. 4, 2010 A W 66-65
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