OGT-MBB Florida at Mississippi State 1/21/2023 8:30 PM SECN

Jan 21 (Sat) 8:30 PM
SEC
Florida at Mississippi State
Starkville, MS
Radio: Gator Sports Network from LEARFIELD

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BROADCAST INFO
SEC Network | ESPN App
Play-by-Play: Paul Sunderland
Analyst: Joe Kleine

Gator Sports Network from LEARFIELD
Play-by-Play: Sean Kelley
Analyst: Lee Humphrey

 

HEAD COACHES
Todd Golden
10-8 | 1st season at UF
67-44 | 4th season overall
Chris Jans
12-6 | 1st season at Mississippi St.
155-50 | 7th season overall

MATCHUP BASICS
All-Time Series: 66-52
All-Time/Away: 23-36
Series under Golden: 0-0
Away under Golden: 0-0
Last Meeting:W, 80-72, 1/19/22 (Home)

 

FLORIDA POSSIBLE STARTERS
# Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Min. Pts. Reb. Misc.
3 Alex Fudge F 6-9 200 So. 23.2 7.5 5.2 0.8 blk
12 Colin Castleton F 6-11 250 Gr. 31.0 14.9 8.1 3.2 blk
0 Myreon Jones G 6-3 177 Gr. 17.8 4.8 2.4 1.8 ast
5 Will Richard G 6-4 206 So. 27.0 10.1 4.3 1.5 3fg
11 Kyle Lofton G 6-3 188 Gr. 30.6 8.8 2.4 3.0 ast

OPPONENT POSSIBLE STARTERS
# Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Min. Pts. Reb. Misc.
0 D.J. Jeffries F 6-7 215 Sr. 29.8 9.3 6.2 1.8 ast
1 Tolu Smith F 6-11 245 RSr. 25.9 13.8 7.9 .572 fg%
4 Cameron Matthews G 6-7 225 Jr. 23.9 6.4 5.1 2.1 ast
10 Dashawn Davis G 6-2 195 Sr. 26.4 8.1 1.7 3.3 ast
11 Eric Reed Jr. G 6-2 200 Gr. 21.0 5.6 2.6 1.1 3fg

 

NUMBERS OF NOTE
2​

Colin Castleton has blocked 58 shots this season -- 28 in SEC play --and 174 as a Gator, sitting just two away from climbing into Florida’s career top-five list and into UF’s
single-season top 10 for a second time. (His 62 blocks last season are the #9 total in Florida history.)

.400​

After six of Florida’s first seven opponents shot better than 40 percent
from the field, the Gators have held nine of their last 11 foes under that
threshold.

66​

Florida has held seven of its last eight opponents to 66 or fewer points as the Gators have climbed to 13th in KenPom’s defensive efficiency rankings

 

GATORS AT A GLANCE​

• Florida visits Mississippi State for the teams’ lone regular season meeting. The Gators have won three of their
last four entering Saturday’s contest and are ranked13th in defensive efficiency nationally (KenPom).

• Todd Golden is 3-0 against fellow SEC coaches who were hired in the 2022 cycle.

• UF looks to bounce back from a 54-52 loss in Wednesday’s defensive battle at Texas A&M. Colin Castleton posted another strong outing with 14 points, 13 rebounds and six blocked shots, and Myreon Jones added 10 points in his first start of the season.

• 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 last week. 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.

• Colin Castleton leads UF in scoring (14.9), rebounding (8.1), blocked shots (58), free throws made (74) and steals (19) and co-leads with Kyle Lofton in assists (48). Will Richard paces the squad with 26 made 3-pointers and a .406 3-point percentage.

• As a team, the Gators’ 6.0 blocked shots per game are tied for fifth in the NCAA. Individually, Castleton’s 3.22 blocked shots per game ranks third the nation.

• The Florida defense and Colin Castleton’s 18-point, five-block performance powered the Gators’ win at LSU,which 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. Myreon Jones (season-high 13 points) and Kowacie Reeves (12) both added a scoring spark off the bench, as UF enjoyed a 35-17 bench scoring edge.

• Alex Fudge had a four-game stretch from Nov. 30-Dec. 14 when averaged 13.3 points and a team-high 8.3 rebounds, shooting 18-for-32 (.563) from the field, 3-for-6 from 3-point range, and hitting 14 of 15 free throw attempts (.933). Fudge had a pair of double-doubles over that span, with 16/10 vs. FAMU and 13/10 vs. Ohio.

• Through Will Richard’s first seven appearances of the season, he displayed impressive efficiency scoring 13+ points six times while shooting .607 from the field, .586 from 3-point range and .947 from the free throw line.

• Riley Kugel made his first career start vs. Florida A&M, marking six straight seasons and 15 of the last 16 in which a freshman started at least one game for UF (every season since 2007-08 except 2016-17).

• 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.

• Castleton became the first Gator with a 30-point double-double since Joakim Noah (37/11 vs. Georgia, 3/1/06) and the only SEC player since the 1996-97 season with 30 points, 12 rebounds and five blocked shots in a game, a stat line he accomplished vs. FAU.

 

ABOUT THE OPPONENT
• In Chris Jans’ first season at the helm, Mississippi State won its first 11 games of the season, including neutral-site victories vs. Utah and Marquette.

• The Bulldogs defeated Ole Miss in SEC action and gave top-10 Tennessee a battle until the final minutes in their last outing.

• Tolu Smith leads MSU with 13.8 points and 7.9 rebounds per game and shoots at a .572 clip from the field.

• Dashawn Davis’ 49 assists pace the team, while Shakeel Moore’s 40 steals and Cameron Matthews’ 15 blocked shots lead the way.

OPPONENT’S LAST 5 GAMES
Jan. 3 at Tennessee L 53-87
Jan. 7 Ole Miss W 64-54
Jan. 11 at Georgia L 50-58
Jan. 14 at Auburn L 63-69
Jan. 17 Tennessee L 59-70

OPPONENT’S NEXT 5 GAMES
Jan. 25 at Alabama
Jan. 28 TCU
Jan. 31 at South Carolina
Feb. 4 Missouri
Feb. 8 LSU
LAST 20 VS. MISSISSIPPI STATE (13-7)
March 11, 2005 SEC W 80-64
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