OGT-Florida vs. Texas A&M Florida 15-6/5-3 SEC vs. Texas A&M 2/3/24 4:00 ESPN2

Florida 15-6/5-3 SEC vs. Texas A&M 3/3/2024 ESPN2
Reed Arena (12,989) | Bryan-College Station, Texas
Game 22 | Jan. 31, 2024 | 8 p.m

BROADCAST INFO
ESPN2 | ESPN App
Play-by-Play: Dave Neal
Analyst: Jon Sundvold

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

 

HEAD COACHES
Todd Golden
31-23 | 2nd season at UF
88-59 | 5th season overall
Buzz Williams
88-55 | 5th season at Texas A&M
341-210 | 17th season overall

MATCHUP BASICS
All-Time Series: 9-8
All-Time Away: 3-5
Series under Golden: 0-2
Away under Golden: 0-1
Last Meeting: L, 52-54, 1/18/23 (Away)

 

FLORIDA POSSIBLE STARTERS
# Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Min. Pts. Reb. Misc.
4 Tyrese Samuel F 6-10 239 Gr. 27.8 13.6 8.5 1.2 stl
3 Micah Handlogten C 7-1 235 So. 20.1 7.3 7.8 .667 fg%
0 Zyon Pullin G 6-4 206 Gr. 32.1 15.3 3.8 4.9 ast
1 Walter Clayton Jr. G 6-2 195 Jr. 30.6 16.2 3.7 2.4 3fg
5 Will Richard G 6-4 206 Jr. 29.3 11.6 4.1 2.0 3fg

TEXAS A&M POSSIBLE STARTERS
# Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Min. Pts. Reb. Misc.
10 Wildens Leveque F 6-11 250 Gr. 11.9 2.1 3.4 0.8 blk
13 Solomon Washington F 6-7 220 So. 20.3 5.3 5.0 0.7 stl
0 Jace Carter G 6-6 220 Jr. 23.7 6.6 5.3 0.8 stl
4 Wade Taylor IV G 6-0 175 Jr. 32.0 20.0 3.7 3.8 ast
23 Tyrece Radford G 6-3 190 Gr. 30.8 13.0 5.6 2.3 as

 

NUMBERS OF NOTE
27​

Tyrese Samuel is the first player nationally in 27 years to post 22
points, 13 rebounds and four blocked shots in a top-10 road win,
last done by Tim Duncan (26/14/4) at #10 Duke on Jan. 11, 1997.

2​

Florida has posted overtime wins in back-to-back games for the first
time since Feb. 1991, when the Gators notched a pair of overtime
road wins at Ole Miss and Auburn. 5Florida looks to bounce back in
the series against Texas A&M after.

5​

Florida looks to bounce back in the series against Texas A&M after
losing both matchups last season by a combined five points: 66-63 at
home and 54-52 on the road losing both matchups last season by a combined five points: 66-63 at home and 54-52 on the road.

 

THE TIP-OFF​

• Florida brings a four-game winning streak into Saturday’s game as two of the top offensive rebounding teams in the nation meet. Florida’s 40.3% offensive rebounding percentage ranks third in the country, while Texas A&M leads the nation at 43.8%.

• 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.

• Zyon Pullin leads the SEC in assist/turnover ratio both overall (4.4) and in conference play (5.4). His 4.9 assists per game rank second in the SEC, and Pullin has scored in double figures in every appearance this season. Pullin has put together back-to-back 20/7/7 games in the wins vs. Georgia and Kentucky, the only Gator to do so in back-to-back games dating back to 1996.

• Florida has two of the top three offensive rebounders in the SEC in Micah Handlogten (3.8) and Tyrese Samuel (3.4). Samuel has nine double-doubles, including three 20/10 outings, most recently his 22-point, 13-rebound
effort in the win at #10 Kentucky.

2023-24 HIGHLIGHTS​

• Micah Handlogten posted 23 points and 17 rebounds in the win vs. Georgia, while Zyon Pullin scored seven of his 20 points in the overtime period. Handlogten is just the fifth SEC player over the last 10 seasons to post
23 and 17 in a conference game, joining Oscar Tshiebwe, Sindarius Thornwell, Ben Simmons & Jordan Mickey.

• 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.

• Five Gators scored in double figures in the victory at Mizzou, led by Tyrese Samuel’s 17, while Micah Handlogten posted a 10-point, 13-rebound double-double.
• Five Gators in double figures highlighted UF’s win vs. Arkansas, as Riley Kugel scored 20 points off the bench to 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.

• Will Richard earned Orange Bowl Classic MVP honors as he scored 19 of his 21 points in the second half to lead the Gators vs. Richmond. Richard posted a solo 9-0 run as he hit three 3-pointers in a 90-second span that helped create separation vs. the Spiders.

• 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 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.

 

ABOUT THE OPPONENT​

• Texas A&M owns road wins at Ohio State and SMU, as well as neutral-
site victory against Iowa State. In SEC play, the Aggies have knocked
off Kentucky and Missouri at home and LSU on the road.

• Preseason SEC Player of the Year Wade Taylor IV leads the team with
20.0 points per game, 76 assists, 43 steals and 52 made 3-pointers.

• Tyrece Radford adds 13.0 points per game, while Henry Coleman III
rounds out the double-figure scorers at 11.0.

• Andersson Garcia leads Texas A&M with 8.7 rebounds per game and
14 blocked shots.

OPPONENT’S LAST 5 GAMES
Jan. 13 Kentucky W/OT 97-92
Jan. 16 at Arkansas L 77-78
Jan. 20 at LSU W 73-69
Jan. 23 Missouri W 63-57
Jan. 27 Ole Miss L 68-71

OPPONENT’S NEXT 5 GAMES
Feb. 7 at Missouri
Feb. 10 Tennessee
Feb. 13 at Vanderbilt
Feb. 17 at Alabama
Feb. 20 Arkansas

ALL-TIME SERIES (9-8)
Jan. 2, 1992 H W 73-46
Dec. 22, 1992 A L/OT 54-57
Dec. 17, 2011 N W 84-64
Jan. 17, 2013 A W 68-47
Feb. 1, 2014 H W 69-36
Feb. 14, 2015 A L 62-63
March 3, 2015 H W 66-62
Jan. 12, 2016 A L 68-71
March 11, 2016 SEC L 66-72
Feb. 11, 2017 H W 71-62
Jan. 2, 2018 A W 83-66
Jan. 22, 2019 H W 81-72
Feb. 12, 2020 A W 78-61
Feb. 15, 2022 A L 55-56
March 10, 2022 SEC L/OT 80-83
Jan. 4, 2023 H L 63-66
Jan. 18, 2023 A L 52-54