OGT-Florida at Wake Forest 11/29 7:15 ESPNU

Nov 29 (Wed) 7:15 PM
Florida at Wake Forest
Winston-Salem, NC
Radio: Gator Sports Network from LEARFIELD

BROADCAST INFO​

ESPNU | ESPN App
Play-by-Play: Anish Shroff
Analyst: Richard Hendrix

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

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FLORIDA POSSIBLE STARTERS​

# Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Min. Pts. Reb. Misc.
4 Tyrese Samuel F 6-10 239 Gr. 26.2 14.5 8.3 2.0 ast
0 Zyon Pullin G 6-4 206 Gr. 30.0 14.0 3.0 5.7 ast
1 Walter Clayton Jr. G 6-2 195 Jr. 31.0 16.2 4.3 4.3 ast
2 Riley Kugel G 6-5 207 So. 30.3 13.7 4.2 2.7 ast
5 Will Richard G 6-4 206 Jr. 30.7 9.7 2.8 1.8 ast

OPPONENT POSSIBLE STARTERS​

# Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Min. Pts. Reb. Misc.
11 Andrew Carr F 6-10 220 Sr. 33.4 15.0 7.8 2.3 blk
25 Zach Keller F 6-10 228 So. 15.8 3.2 2.5 0.5 blk
0 Kevin Miller G 6-0 175 RSo. 30.5 17.3 2.7 4.0 ast
2 Cameron Hildreth G 6-4 195 Jr. 36.2 17.8 4.8 3.0 ast
23 Hunter Sallis G 6-5 185 Jr. 35.0 18.3 3.0 2.8 3fg

 

HEAD COACHES​

Todd Golden
20-19 | 2nd season at UF
77-55 | 5th season overall

Steve Forbes
53-42 | 4th season at Wake Forest
183-85 | 9th season overall

MATCHUP BASICS​

All-Time Series: 7-5
Series under Golden: 0-0
Series at Neutral Sites: 3-2
All-Time vs. ACC: 154-40
vs. ACC under Golden: 3-1
Last Meeting: W, 63-50, 12/20/14, Sunrise, Fla.

 

NUMBERS OF NOTE​

19.3
The Gators have averaged 19.3 assists in the three games since
Zyon Pullin made his debut, up from the 15.0 UF averaged over the
first three games of the season.

44.1%
Florida’s offensive rebounding rate ranks third in the nation, as UF
pulls down 44.1% on its offensive end. The Gators recorded 19 vs.
Baylor despite the absence of starting center Micah Handlogten.

17/2
Zyon Pullin has 17 assists vs. two turnovers in his three appearances
this season, adding double-figure scoring in all three games.

 

THE TIP-OFF​

• Florida travels to Wake Forest for the inaugural ACC/SEC Challenge to cap a November that served as the Gators’ own personal ACC challenge. The Demon Deacons mark UF’s fourth ACC opponent this month, following wins vs. Florida State and Pitt and a loss vs. Virginia.

• While the visit to Winston-Salem marks the lone true road game of UF’s nonconference season, the game will be Florida’s third straight outside of Gainesville, coming on the heels of two games in Brooklyn. Florida plays
six of seven in neutral or road environments from Nov. 22 to Dec 19.

2023-24 HIGHLIGHTS​

• Florida came up just short against 13th-ranked Baylor in the NIT Season Tip-Off championship game as Riley Kugel exploded for 25 points and nine rebounds, both career highs. All-Tournament Team honorees Tyrese Samuel (18 points) and Zyon Pullin (17 points) also had big performances vs. Baylor, and Pullin finished the two-game tournament with 13 assists vs. one turnover. Samuel’s tournament performance netted him SEC

Player of the Week honors.​

• The Gators topped Pitt in the first game of the NIT Season Tip-Off behind 28 points from Walter Clayton 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. Walter Clayton Jr. led UF with 19 points, while Zyon Pullin and Tyrese Samuel added 15 each and Thomas Haugh grabbed 10 rebounds.

• Will Richard knocked down four 3-pointers in a hard-fought loss vs. Virginia and posted a team-leading 16 points as all five starters scored in double figures. Micah Handlogten (14 points, 14 rebounds) and Tyrese Samuel (10 points, 11 rebounds) both posted their first double-double as Gators vs. UVA.

• The Gators started their season hot, going on a 16-0 run over the first six minutes of the season-opening win vs. Loyola Maryland, led by Riley Kugel’s 23 points and six steals.

2023-24 OUTLOOK​

• Florida moves into its second season under head coach Todd Golden, who brought in eight newcomers with five transfers and three freshmen.

• Florida returns four scholarship players, including a pair of starters in Will Richard and Riley Kugel. Richard posted 18 double-figure scoring games last season, while Kugel shone late in the season and earned SEC
All-Freshman honors after averaging 17.3 points over the last 10 games of the season. Point guard Denzel Aberdeen and forward Aleks Szymczyk also return as sophomores looking to make a jump.

• UF’s transfer class includes guards Walter Clayton Jr., Zyon Pullin and Julian Rishwain along with the frontcourt duo of Micah Handlogten and Tyrese Samuel. The Gators’ freshmen include 6-foot-9 forward Thomas Haugh from Pennsylvania, 6-foot-11 Australian Alex Condon and Lithuanian point guard Kajus Kublickas.

 

ABOUT THE OPPONENT​

• Wake Forest is led by head coach Steve Forbes, in his fourth season at
the helm. Forbes previously faced the Gators while at East Tennessee
State in the opening round of the 2017 NCAA Tournament.

• Gonzaga transfer Hunter Sallis’ 18.3 points per game leads four play-
ers averaging 15 or more, along with Cameron Hildreth (17.8), Kevin
Miller (17.3) and Andrew Carr (15.0).

• Sallis has knocked down 17 3-pointers (.436) and Hildreth has added
10 (.455).

• Carr’s 7.8 rebounds per game and 14 blocked shots lead the team,
while Miller’s 24 assists and 10 steals pace the Demon Deacons.

OPPONENT’S LAST 5 GAMES
Nov. 10 at Georgia L 77-80
Nov. 16 vs. Utah L 70-77
Nov. 17 vs. Towson W 71-61
Nov. 19 vs. LSU L 80-86
Nov. 24 Charleston Southern W 71-56

OPPONENT’S NEXT 5 GAMES
Dec. 6 Rutgers
Dec. 9 NJIT
Dec. 18 Delaware State
Dec. 21 Presbyterian College
Dec. 30 Virginia Tech

ALL-TIME SERIES (7-5)
Feb. 13, 1936 A L 32-34
Feb. 15, 1936 A W 32-24
Dec. 18, 1956 N L 53-55
Dec. 2, 1960 A L 79-85
Dec. 12, 1961 H W 71-65
Dec. 15, 1962 H W 73-67
Dec. 29, 1964 N W 82-65
Dec. 27, 1975 N L/OT 75-78
Dec. 3, 1994 A W 81-70
Dec. 9, 1995 H L 53-77
Nov. 17, 2005 N W 77-72
Dec. 20, 2014 N W 63-50

LAST 10 VS. ACC (7-3)
Nov. 10, 2019 Florida State L 51-63
Nov. 22, 2019 vs. Miami W 78-58
Dec. 3, 2020 vs. Boston College W 90-70
Dec. 12, 2020 at Florida State L 61-74
March 19, 2020 *vs. Virginia Tech W/OT 75-70
Nov. 14, 2021 #20 Florida State W 71-55
Nov. 18, 2022 at Florida State W 76-67
Nov. 10, 2023 vs. Virginia L 70-73
Nov. 17, 2023 Florida State W 89-68
Nov. 22, 2023 vs. Pitt W 86-71
*NCAA Tournament

 

Sorry this was so late, I will do better.