OGT-Florida vs Mississippi State Nashville, TN 3/9/23 1:00 SECN

Florida (16-15/9-9 SEC) vs. Mississippi State (20-11/8-10 SEC)
Bridgestone Arena (19,395) | Nashville, Tenn.
SEC Tournament | Game 32 | March 9, 2023 | 1 p.m. EST

BROADCAST INFO
SEC Network | ESPN App
Play-by-Play: Karl Ravech
Analyst: Jimmy Dykes
Reporter: Marty Smith

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

 

HEAD COACHES
Todd Golden
16-15 | 1st season at UF
73-51 | 4th season overall

Chris Jans
20-11 | 1st season at MSU
163-55 | 7th season overall

MATCHUP BASICS
All-Time in SEC Tournament: 46-52
All-Time Series: 67-52
Series under Golden: 1-0
In SEC Tournament: 2-2
Last Meeting: W, 61-59, 1/21/23 (Away)

 

FLORIDA POSSIBLE STARTERS
# Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Min. Pts. Reb. Misc.
33 Jason Jitoboh C 6-11 300 Sr. 11.2 2.9 1.5 0.7 blk
0 Myreon Jones G 6-3 177 Gr. 21.3 5.2 3.3 2.1 ast
5 Will Richard G 6-4 206 So. 27.9 10.8 4.5 1.7 3fg
11 Kyle Lofton G 6-3 188 Gr. 32.2 9.0 3.0 3.5 ast
24 Riley Kugel G 6-5 207 Fr. 22.2 9.7 2.8 1.0 3fg

OPPONENT POSSIBLE STARTERS
# Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Min. Pts. Reb. Misc.
0 D.J. Jeffries F 6-7 215 Sr. 31.2 9.0 6.2 1.8 ast
1 Tolu Smith F 6-11 245 RSr. 27.4 15.4 8.3 .583 fg%
3 Shakeel Moore G 6-1 190 Jr. 25.3 9.8 2.9 2.2 ast
4 Cameron Matthews G 6-7 225 Jr. 27.4 7.4 5.6 2.4 ast
10 Dashawn Davis G 6-2 195 Sr. 29.2 8.3 2.0 3.4 as

 

NUMBERS OF NOTE
8​

SEC All-Freshman honoree Riley Kugel has eight straight games
in double figures, averaging 18.3 points over that stretch. His eight
straight double-figure games in conference play are the most by a
UF freshman since Bradley Beal had 10 in a row in 2011-12.

7​

Florida and Todd Golden have won all seven meetings to date against
other SEC progams also in Year 1 under a new head coach.

12.6​

Riley Kugel’s 12.6 points per game in SEC play mark the most by a Flor-
ida freshman since Bradley Beal posted 14.4 per game in 2011-12

 

GATORS AT A GLANCE​

• Florida enters the SEC Tournament on a two-game winning streak, wrapping the regular season with wins against Georgia and LSU, highlighted by the continued emergence of freshman Riley Kugel.

• Colin Castleton earned first-team All-SEC honors from the coaches and USA Today and second-team from the AP, as well as Defensive Player of the Year by USA Today and All-Defensive Team by the coaches.

• Riley Kugel earned SEC All-Freshman honors from the league’s coaches after finishing the regular season with eight straight games in double figures, averaging 18.3 points over that stretch. That streak marked the longest by a UF freshman since Bradley Beal had 10 double-figure SEC games in a row in 2011-12. Kugel’s 12.6 points per game in conference play was also the most since Beal (14.4 ppg).

• Will Richard also posted a big week for the Gators, dropping a career-high 24 points at Georgia, including 5-for-8 from the 3-point line, and adding an 18-point performance vs. LSU.

• With Riley Kugel’s career-high 24 vs. Kentucky and 20 on the road at Vanderbilt, he became the first Florida freshman with back-to-back 20-point games since Kenny Boynton (2009-10).

• Colin Castleton’s injury has posed a significant loss for the Gators as he led UF in scoring (16.0), rebounding (7.7), blocked shots (78) and free throws made (113). His 3.0 blocked shots per game rank fourth nationally.

• Kyle Lofton has a team-high 101 assists and 33 steals, and Will Richard paces Florida with 50 made 3-pointers and a .417 3-point percentage.

• Todd Golden is Florida’s only first-year head coach with multiple top-25 wins since John Lotz in the 1973-74 season, as UF has downed #2 Tennessee and #20 Missouri. Only Golden, Lotz and Tommy Bartlett (three, 1966-
67) have multiple ranked wins as a first-year coach in UF history.

• Prior to his injury, Colin Castleton had four straight 20-point games, including a 29-point, 10-rebound double-double at #3 Alabama. He had also led the Gators in scoring in eight consecutive contests.

• 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.

• With his outing 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.

• Florida turned in a complete performance vs. South Carolina, where 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 to go along with nine points and zero turnovers.

• In UF’s win at Mississippi State, 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.

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

 

ABOUT THE OPPONENT​

• Mississippi State is led by first-team All-SEC big man Tolu Smith, who leads the team with 15.4 points and 8.3 rebounds per game. He shoots .583 from the field and gets to the stripe with 7.1 free throw attempts per game.

• Shakeel Moore’s 51 steals lead the team, and his 9.8 points per game are second-most on the team.

• D.J. Jefferies has hit a team-leading 36 3-pointers to go along with 9.0
points and 6.2 rebounds per game.

• Dashawn Davis has dished a team-best 96 assists and leads the team
with a .350 3-point percentage.

OPPONENT’S LAST 5 GAMES
Feb. 18 at Ole Miss W/OT 69-61
Feb. 21 at Missouri L/OT 64-66
Feb. 25 Texas A&M W 69-62
Feb. 28 South Carolina W 74-68
March 4 at Vanderbilt L 72-77

LAST 20 VS. MISSISSIPPI STATE (13-7)
Jan. 11, 2006 H W 75-60
Jan. 24, 2007 A W 70-67
March 1, 2008 H L 59-68
March 4, 2009 A L 71-80
Feb. 6, 2010 H W 69-62
March 12, 2010 SEC L 69-75
Jan. 29, 2011 A L 64-71
Jan. 28, 2012 H W 69-57
Jan. 26, 2013 A W 82-47
Feb. 9, 2013 H W 83-58
Jan. 30, 2014 A W 62-51
Jan. 10, 2015 H W 72-47
Jan. 19, 2016 H W 81-78
Feb. 18, 2017 A W 57-52
Jan. 10, 2018 H W 71-54
Jan. 15, 2019 A L 68-71
Jan. 28, 2020 H L 71-78
Jan. 16, 2021 A L 69-72
Jan. 19, 2022 H W 80-72
Jan. 21, 2023 A W 61-59

SEC TOURNAMENT VS. MSU (2-2)
March 10, 1995 Atlanta W 80-64
March 8, 2002 Atlanta L 52-62
March 11, 2005 Atlanta W 80-64
March 12, 2010 Nashville L 69-75