OGT-Florida at Alabama 2/8/2023 9:00 pm ESPN2

Feb 8 (Wed) 9 PM
SEC
Florida at Alabama
Tuscaloosa, AL
Radio: Gator Sports Network from LEARFIELD

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HEAD COACHES
Todd Golden
13-10 | 1st season at UF
70-46 | 4th season overall

Nate Oats
81-39 | 4th season at Alabama
177-82 | 8th season overall

MATCHUP BASICS
All-Time Series: 70-77
All-Time/Away: 22-48
Series under Golden: 0-0
Away under Golden: 0-0
vs. Top-5 under Golden: 1-1
All-Time vs. Top-5: 23-63
All-Time Away vs. Top-5: 2-31
Last Meeting: L, 70-83, 1/5/22 (Home)

 

FLORIDA POSSIBLE STARTERS
# Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Min. Pts. Reb. Misc.
12 Colin Castleton F 6-11 250 Gr. 31.2 15.6 7.7 3.1 blk
0 Myreon Jones G 6-3 177 Gr. 20.6 5.3 3.0 2.3 ast
5 Will Richard G 6-4 206 So. 27.7 10.3 4.6 1.7 3fg
11 Kyle Lofton G 6-3 188 Gr. 31.3 9.0 3.0 3.0 ast
24 Riley Kugel G 6-5 207 Fr. 18.9 6.6 2.5 0.9 stl

OPPONENT POSSIBLE STARTERS
# Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Min. Pts. Reb. Misc.
15 Noah Clowney F 6-10 210 Fr. 25.3 10.0 8.3 1.1 blk
24 Brandon Miller F 6-9 200 Fr. 33.0 18.8 8.2 3.1 3fg
14 Charles Bediako C 7-0 225 So. 20.0 5.5 5.3 1.5 blk
0 Jaden Bradley G 6-3 185 Fr. 21.8 7.7 2.9 3.3 ast
1 Mark Sears G 6-1 185 Jr. 30.7 13.7 3.8 2.0 3fg

 

NUMBERS OF NOTE
4​

Florida faces four different top-5 teams in a season for the first time in program history. Four total games vs. top-5 teams marks UF’s most since playing four in 2014-15, Billy Donovan’s final season. This
also marks the first time since 1976-77 that the Gators square off
against multiple different top-5 SEC opponents.

20​

With his performance at Kentucky, Colin Castleton became the first player since Dwyane Wade 20
years ago (3/8/03 vs. UK) to post 25 points, eight rebounds, five assists, three blocked shots and a steal
against an SEC team.

 

GATORS AT A GLANCE​

• Florida visits Alabama to face another top-5 opponent after notching a win vs. #2 Tennessee last week in
Gainesville. The Gators are looking for the first top-3 road win in program history, going 0-16 in such games
entering Wednesday’s contest.

• This marks the first time in program history that Florida plays three AP top-5 opponents in a four-game span.
With two of those three on the road and the lone non-top-5 game a trip to Kentucky, the last two weeks make
up the toughest four-game stretch in program history.

• Florida ranks 10th in defensive efficiency and eighth in effective field goal percentage defense nationally
(KenPom) as Florida has held SEC opponents to .372 from the field and .251 from 3-point range.

• Colin Castleton leads UF in scoring (15.6), rebounding (7.7), blocked shots (71), free throws made (96), assists
(63) and steals (22). Will Richard paces Florida with 37 made 3-pointers and a .411 3-point percentage.

• As a team, the Gators’ 6.0 blocked shots per game rank third in the NCAA. Individually, Castleton’s 3.09 blocked
shots per game rank fourth the nation.

• Colin Castleton’s 20 points and nine rebounds led the Gators’ win vs. #2 Tennessee, along with Kyle Lofton’s
14 points and four rebounds. Both Lofton and Will Richard posted a +26 plus-minus. The win marked Florida’s
sixth all-time top-2 win and matched the highest ranked home win in program history.

• Florida turned in a complete performance vs. South Carolina, where Colin Castleton’s 18 points led five scorers
in double figures and the Gators dished a season-high 21 assists vs. five turnovers. Myreon Jones flirted with
a triple-double with 10 rebounds and eight assists -- both career highs -- to go along with nine points and
zero turnovers.

• UF built a 16-point first-half lead at Mississippi State, then staved off the Bulldogs’ rally, getting a stop on
the final possession of the game to seal the win. Colin Castleton posted 13 points, while Will Richard added
12 on 4-for-5 shooting from 3-point range. Kyle Lofton and Myreon Jones combined for 11 assists and zero
turnovers, and Lofton chipped in a season-high and team-leading eight rebounds.

• Colin Castleton earned SEC Player of the Week honors on Jan. 16 behind two strong performances in the wins
at LSU and vs. #20 Missouri. At LSU, Castleton posted 18 points and five blocks with a career night at the free
throw line (12-for-15). He followed up with an all-around performance against Mizzou, tallying 16 points, 13
rebounds, a career-high six assists, three steals and two blocked shots.

• The Gators’ win at LSU snapped the Tigers’ 13-game home winning streak. As UF made its second-half run,
the Gators got timely 3-pointers from Myreon Jones and Riley Kugel, each of whom assisted on the other’s
big basket.

• The Gators had five players in double figures in their win vs. UGA, led by Kyle Lofton’s season-high 18. Colin
Castleton posted 12 points, eight rebounds, seven blocked shots and five assists, while Will Richard added 14
points and nine rebounds.

• UF’s 19-point rally at Florida State marked the fourth-largest in team history and the largest on the road since
a 22-point comeback at South Carolina on Feb. 24, 1993. Castleton scored 19 of his 25 points in the second half.

 

ABOUT THE OPPONENT
• Alabama is a perfect 11-0 at home this season and boasts a 10-0 SEC mark, led by projected top-5 NBA Draft prospect Brandon Miller. Miller is the SEC’s leading scorer (18.8 ppg) and 3-point shooter (.442, 72/163) at 6-foot-9.

• Mark Sears scores 13.7 points per game and Noah Clowney adds 10.0. Clowney also grabs a team-leading 8.3 rebounds per game, followed closely by Miller’s 8.2.

• Jaden Bradley has dished a team-leading 77 assists, while Charles Bediako has blocked 35 shots and Sears has 33 steals.

OPPONENT’S LAST 5 GAMES
Jan. 21 at Missouri W 85-64
Jan. 25 Mississippi State W 66-63
Jan. 28 at Oklahoma L 69-93
Jan. 31 Vanderbilt W 101-44
Feb. 4 at LSU W 79-69

OPPONENT’S NEXT 5 GAMES
Feb. 11 at Auburn
Feb. 15 at Tennessee
Feb. 18 Georgia
Feb. 22 at South Carolina
Feb. 25 Arkansas

LAST 20 VS. ALABAMA (15-5)
March 13, 2008 SEC L 69-80
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

UF’S ALL-TIME TOP-3 WINS (12-37)
Dec. 12, 1961 #3 Wake Forest W 71-65
Dec. 18, 1967 #3 Vanderbilt W 74-72
Jan. 17, 1984 #3 Kentucky W 69-57
March 24, 2000 *vs. #1 Duke (Syracuse) W 87-78
Nov. 29, 2002 vs. #2 Kansas (NYC) W 83-73
March 6, 2005 #3 Kentucky W 53-52
March 26, 2006 *vs. #3 Villanova W 75-62
Dec. 23, 2006 #3 Ohio State W 86-60
April 2, 2007 *vs. #1 Ohio State (Atlanta) W 84-75
Nov. 27, 2009 vs. #2 Mich. St. (Atlantic City) W 77-74
Feb. 19, 2022 #2 Auburn W 63-62
Feb. 1, 2023 #2 Tennessee W 67-54
*NCAA Tournament