#24 Florida Men’s Basketball (20-8, 10-5 SEC) at #18 South Carolina (23-5, 11-4 SEC)
Florida Game Notes<https://floridagators.com/documents/2024/2/29/2024.03.02_atSouthCarolina.pdf> | 2023-24 Media Guide<https://floridagators.com/documents/2023/10/30/2023-24_Media_Guide_Web.pdf> | Media Resources<https://www.dropbox.com/sh/iv6cc1nl98a49pv/AAD_LkZm6hKvVz7FpyboOUR1a?dl=0>
Colonial Life Arena | Columbia, S.C.
Saturday, March 2, 2024 | 12 p.m.
TV/Streaming
ESPN & SEC Network Simulcast | ESPN App<http://www.espn.com/watch/player?id=cd4b4b2b-7efc-46da-98fb-48c26f4079c2>
Play-by-Play: Tom Hart | Analyst: Jimmy Dykes
Radio
Gator Sports Network from LEARFIELD | FloridaGators.com<https://floridagators.com/showcase?Live=5336> | The Varsity Network App | SiriusXM 210 or 192 & SXM App<https://sxm.app.link/962>
Play-by-Play: Sean Kelley | Analyst: Lee Humphrey | Producer/Engineer: Steve Egan
The Tip-Off
* Florida visits South Carolina for a top-25 showdown, which marks the Gators’ fifth ranked opponent in eight SEC road games. The Gators have won nine of their last 11 games entering Saturday’s action, most recently topping Missouri on Wednesday behind Tyrese Samuel’s 28 points and 10 rebounds and Zyon Pullin’s 21 points.
* Samuel and Pullin combined for 23 of Florida’s final 25 points in the win vs. Missouri. Samuel accounted for 14 of the Gators’ last 20 points on the way to a career-high 28 points.
* Florida looks for its second top-25 road win this season (at #10 Kentucky), which would match the most in team history. The Gators have previously posted two ranked road wins in 2000-01, 2002-03 and 2017-18.
* Zyon Pullin leads the SEC and ranks second in the nation in assist/turnover ratio (4.07), and his 4.88 assists per game rank second in the SEC. Pullin scored 10+ points in his first 23 games as a Gator, tied for the third-longest double-figure scoring streak by a Gator since 1996-97.
* Florida has two of the top three offensive rebounders in the SEC in Micah Handlogten (3.7) and Tyrese Samuel (3.1). UF’s 39.4% offensive rebounding rate is third-highest in the nation, while Handlogten’s 18.6% offensive rebounding rate ranks second nationally.
* With 97 offensive rebounds, Micah Handlogten looks to become the fourth Gator to record 100 in a season, along with Dwayne Davis (114, 1988-89), Joakim Noah (102, 2006-07) and Patric Young 101, 2013-14; 100, 2011-12).
* The Gators have had 30 individual 20-point performances this season, the team’s most dating back to the 1996-97 season. Walter Clayton Jr. leads UF with 10 such games, and five Gators have at least four 20-point outings.
2023-24 Highlights
* Walter Clayton Jr. posted a four-game run of 20-point outings from Feb. 10-21, matching Colin Castleton, Tre Mann and Nick Calathes for the longest such streak by a Gator since Dwayne Schintzius’ five straight in 1989.
* Florida’s win vs. #12 Auburn marked the Gators’ 15th in a row at home vs. the Tigers. Riley Kugel’s 22 points led the Gators, along with 20 points from Walter Clayton Jr. and 19 by Zyon Pullin, while the Gators matched a season low with just seven turnovers.
* 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.
* Micah Handlogten posted 23 points and 17 rebounds in the home win vs. Georgia, while Zyon Pullin scored seven of his 20 points in the overtime period. The Gators completed the sweep in Athens for a 10th straight win vs. Georgia behind 21 points from Walter Clayton Jr. and 17 by Thomas Haugh.
* The Gators outlasted LSU at home, led by Walter Clayton Jr.’s 21 points, along with 15 points from Tyrese Samuel and 14 by Zyon Pullin. Florida overcame LSU’s 11-for-21 3-point game by scoring 20 points off 19 offensive rebounds while committing just eight turnovers.
* 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.
* 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.
* 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.
