OGT-MBB Florida vs Ohio 12/14 7 PM ESPN2

Dec 14 (Wed) 7 PM Gator Sports Network from LEARFIELD
Florida vs Ohio
Tampa, FL

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BROADCAST INFO
ESPN2 | ESPN App
Play-by-Play: Kevin Fitzgerald
Analyst: Mark Wise

Gator Sports Network from LEARFIELD
SiriusXM 84 | SXM App 84
Play-by-Play: Sean Kelley
Analyst: Lee Humphrey

 

HEAD COACHES
Todd Golden
6-4 | 1st season at UF
63-40 | 4th season overall

Jeff Boals
64-37 | 4th season at Ohio
119-79 | 7th season overall

MATCHUP BASICS
All-Time Series: 2-1
All-Time/Neutral: 1-0
All-Time at Amalie Arena: 8-4
All-Time vs. MAC: 4-2
Last Meeting: W, 67-62, 3/18/05 (NCAA

 

FLORIDA POSSIBLE STARTERS
# Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Min. Pts. Reb. Misc.
3 Alex Fudge F 6-9 200 So. 22.3 8.5 4.9 1.1 blk
12 Colin Castleton F 6-11 250 5th 28.5 16.1 7.5 2.8 blk
2 Trey Bonham G 6-0 170 Jr. 18.1 9.6 2.9 2.1 ast
14 Kowacie Reeves G 6-6 192 So. 21.4 9.3 2.1 1.4 3fg
24 Riley Kugel G 6-5 207 Fr. 17.5 6.3 1.7 0.7 stl

OHIO POSSIBLE STARTERS
# Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Min. Pts. Reb. Misc.
4 Dwight Wilson III F 6-8 250 Gr. 24.3 12.5 10.0 .549 fg%
23 AJ Clayton F 6-8 225 So. 24.4 9.4 7.6 1.1 blk
2 Miles Brown G 6-1 180 Sr. 27.6 10.6 3.3 2.0 3fg
12 Jaylin Hunter G 6-0 195 Jr. 28.8 9.9 3.4 4.4 ast
22 DeVon Baker G 6-2 190 Sr. 26.0 8.4 2.3 2.0 as

 

NUMBERS OF NOTE​

13​

This marks the Gators’ 13th game at Amalie Arena, with an 8-4 mark. It
will be UF’s sixth regular-season game there, holding a 4-1 mark.

17​

More than 17 years have passed since the last meeting between Florida and Ohio, a 2005 first-round NCAA Tournament game in Nashville where the 4-seed Gators
edged the 13-seed Bobcats, 67-62.

1,000​

Colin Castleton crossed the 1,000-point career scoring mark in UF’s
last outing. He sits at 911 points as a Gator, aiming to join Dorian
Finney-Smith as the only UF transfer to hit 1,000 points scored for
Florida.

 

GATORS AT A GLANCE​

• Florida and Ohio square off in a neutral-site showdown as the Gators visit Amalie Arena for the second time this calendar year after competing in the 2022 SEC Tournament at the site.

• UF last played a regular season contest at Amalie Arena on Nov. 21, 2016, when the O’Connell Center was under renovation. The Gators topped Belmont in that contest, 78-61.

• Alex Fudge has averaged a team-leading 13.3 points and 7.7 rebounds over the Gators’ past three games, shooting .500 from the field, 2-for-4 from 3-point range, and .923 from the free throw line (12-for-13).

• Florida posted a pair of wins vs. in-state foes (FAMU, Stetson) that saw five Gators score in double figures in both games, led by Trey Bonham’s 23 points vs. Florida A&M and Will Richard’s 14 against Stetson.

• Will Richard has provided efficient scoring from the wing, tallying at least 13 points in seven of his nine appearances while shooting .587 from the field, .567 from 3-point range and .947 from the free throw line.

• Alex Fudge posted his first career double-double vs. Florida A&M, tallying 16 points and 10 rebounds. All 16 points and nine of his rebounds came in the second half.

• 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). Kugel co-led the Gators with 13 points vs. UConn.

• Colin Castleton’s double-double vs. Xavier (11 points, 10 rebounds) marked his 15th as a Gator, tying him with Joakim Noah and Chandler Parsons for fifth-most by a Gator since the 1996-97 season.

• 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.

• Colin Castleton opened the season on fire and posted back-to-back 30-point outings, notching a career-best 33 vs. Kennesaw State and 30 vs. FAU. An individual has recorded back-to-back 30-point games nine times in UF history and Castleton is the seventh different player to accomplish the feat (see page 6 for full list).

• 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.

• Kowacie Reeves stepped up with a pair of late 3-pointers in the win vs. Kennesaw State. Reeves had his strongest showing of the season with 19 points vs. Florida A&M, which included three 3-pointers and three authoritative dunks.

• Grad point guard Kyle Lofton (Saint Bonaventure), a three-time All-A-10 player who scored 1,613 points in four seasons with the Bonnies, came to Florida via the transfer portal. UF also brings in a trio of transfers who all have three years of eligibility remaining: junior Trey Bonham (VMI), sophomore Alex Fudge (LSU) and sophomore Will Richard (Belmont).

• Golden compiled a 57-36 record over three seasons at San Francisco and led the Dons to their first NCAA Tournament bid since 1998 and their first at-large selection since 1982

 

ABOUT THE OPPONENT​

• Ohio is in its fourth season under former Ohio State assistant Jeff Boals, posting 25 wins and a CBI second-round finish last season. The Bobcats pushed Michigan to overtime in Ann Arbor earlier this season and are coming off a buzzer-beater win at Youngstown State.

• Leading scorer Dwight Wilson III averages 12.5 points and 10.0 rebounds per game following his third-team All-MAC performance last season. Wilson played three seasons at James Madison before transferring to Ohio.

• Miles Brown averages 10.6 points and is knocking down 3-pointers at a .474 clip with a team-high 18 made threes. AJ Brown averaged 10.4 points off the bench.

• Jaylin Hunter has dished a team-best 40 assists, DeVon Baker has 12 steals and AJ Clayton has blocked 10 shots

OPPONENT’S LAST 5 GAMES
Nov. 25 Eastern Illinois W 78-67
Nov. 27 Alabama State W 72-58
Nov. 30 UC Clermont W 113-44
Dec. 3 at Marshall L 69-83
Dec. 11 at Youngstown State W 79-81

OPPONENT’S NEXT 5 GAMES
Dec. 17 Stetson
Dec. 21 at Delaware
Dec. 30 Chicago State
Jan. 3 at Buffalo
Jan. 7 at Bowling Green

ALL-TIME VS. OHIO (2-1)
1926-27 A L 29-38
Nov. 30, 1978 H W 96-61
March 18, 2005 NCAA W 67-62

ALL-TIME VS. MAC (4-2)
1926-27 at Ohio L 29-38
Dec. 27, 1972 vs. Miami (OH) L 72-88
Nov. 30, 1978 Ohio W 96-61
March 18, 2005 Ohio (NCAA) W 67-62
Nov. 14, 2008 Toledo W 80-58
Dec. 9, 2010 Kent State W 65-52

ALL-TIME AT AMALIE ARENA (8-4)
March 21, 2003 vs. Sam Houston St. (NCAA) W 85-55
March 23, 2003 vs. Michigan State (NCAA) L 46-68
Dec. 17, 2006 vs. Florida A&M W 72-57
Nov. 30, 207 vs. Vermont W 86-61
March 12, 2009 vs. Arkansas (SEC) W 73-58
March 13, 2009 vs. Auburn (SEC) L 58-61
Dec. 10, 2009 vs. Syracuse L 73-85
March 17, 2011 vs. UC Santa Barbara (NCAA) W 79-51
March 19, 2011 vs. UCLA (NCAA) W 73-65
Nov. 18, 2012 vs. Middle Tennessee W 66-45
Nov. 21, 2016 vs. Belmont W 78-61
March 10, 2022 vs. Texas A&M (SEC) L/OT 80-83